Conformal coating of the sites where the edge card extractors are installed
will depend on a few things.

1. What type of coating is it?  Are the thickness tolerances going to allow
the extractor to fit over the coating? ( A 3 mil thickness per side,
coating both sides, will increase the thickness of the substrate by 6
mils). Will the extractor still fit?

2. What type of coating process? If it is a dip method, the area of
extractor attachment must be to the opposite end of the board otherwise
the drip segs caused by the dwell/drip mode after withdrawn from the
coating bath will not allow the extractors to fit. If it is a spray method,
and you have the dimensional tolerances after coating, you could get away
with putting them on after the coating is cured.

3. Speaking from experience, I would recommend installing the extractors
after coating. The main reason being the labor and off-line activities
associated with masking and demasking these sites. Also keep in mind that
most extractors have some degree of swivel. This would mean masking the
extractor to the extreme positions of travel. If it is of the Calmark type
of board extractor, it may not swivel enough after coating to allow
insertion and removal of the board in the slot, unless the sites are "over
masked". Also be carefull that the retaining clip will still fit through
the ID of the hole in the board after coating. (Inside hole diameter will
decrease a minimum of 6 mils for a 3 mil per side thickness.)

I hope this helps you out.

Barry

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