Hi Frank,
    This type of question can put many of us in a precarious position in the PWB manufacturing
operations.  I would recommend that you have some reliability testing (aging, thermal stress,
basic tape test adhesion) performed to insure that YOU are comfortable with acceptance.  You may
want to ask your vendor to visit you with their supplier and evaluate closely.  To properly
address this condition on the TechNet is impossible due to the brief description of the problem.
(Yes, I am dancing a, but just a little cha cha).  I think that this type of situation should be
solved with your vendor due to the potential business implications that could result.  If you
want to Email me off line, I can give you the name of a couple of Labs for testing.   JOHN WAITE

GuitarBud wrote:

> I recently received immersion gold finished boards from a PCB supplier where
> some of the edges of the traces were black.  The gold was flaking or had a
> bubbled appearance in areas as well.
>
> I was told that the black was lead build-up from the plating bath since extra
> lead was used to limit the reactivity of the bath.  I was also told that if we
> could live with the flaking, the lead build-up was not a reliability concern
> as long as we had good solderability.
>
> Is it likely that it is only lead and that reliability is not a problem?
>
> Frank
>
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