Hello Technetters,
Don't know if this has come up before or not (nothing in the archives), but we are researching any conformal coating requirements specifying that the edges - not just the surfaces - of the boards be covered. With the emergence of automated coating equipment, i.e. moving away from the spray or dunk coating processes, we are finding it hard to identify a coating machine that can do board edges. So...

1. Is there a valid need to coat the board edges, or is this simply a customer driven requirement? (I'm waiting for an "It depends..." on this one.)
2. Are there any IPC standards that address this specific question? J-STD-001E, section 10, covers coating to "all areas designated for coverage on the assembly drawing/documentation", and does not specifically mention board edges. I don't have copies of HDBK-830 or CC-830B for reference, so am relying on your inputs and experience with this question. I would be glad to do some reading up on this if anyone has any suggestions for white papers or other documents that cover this (pun intended).

We'd really like to understand what the industry-wide requirements are for conformal coat in this regard. Might be a lost cause already as we have been getting the boards sprayed for years, so the customer is used to seeing every surface coated, including edges. But, the only spec they've quoted so far is the old Mil-I-46058C which was removed from service back in the 1990's. After reading through it though, I don't find anything that specifically addresses this question.

Any feedback would be appreciated!

Dale Ritzen, ASQ CQA
Manager | Quality Group and ISO Management Representative
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Austin Manufacturing Services

 

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