All,

I'm Baaack....

Got another one for you all.  We occasionally have a need to 
rework a solder connection or an assembly by removing solder 
from the PTH's.  Our rework/repair operators are very 
skilled in this type of work and use the following methods 
to remove solder - Solder wick, one shot solder suckers, and 
continuous vacuum solder suckers.  Our customer is concerned 
about the use of the wick and the one shot solder suckers.  
He states that at one time they were not allowed on the high 
reliability standards (Mil-Std-2000) because of damage they 
cause.

My question:  What kind of damage do they cause except in 
the hands of an unskilled operator??  Our rework/repair 
success rate is phenomenal here.  Our rework operators (the 
only ones allowed to use the solder suckers) are trained and 
skilled in what they do.  Our customer isn't telling us we 
need to get rid of our solder wick and suckers, but I am 
sure he expects us to answer his concerns.  I would consider 
it sufficient that we simply don't have any failures 
attributed to solder rework or repair, but would like a more 
educated answer than that.

His concerns are based on a white paper he reviewed quite a 
number of years ago.  He believes the solder sucker problems 
come from a thermal shock problem when ambient air is forced 
through a hot PTH.  Some merit there, but any real-world 
problems?

Any Insight?

Thanks in advance!

Steve McBride
[log in to unmask]
(405) 624-5281

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