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August 1998

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Subject:
From:
"Stephen R. Gregory" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
TechNet E-Mail Forum.
Date:
Thu, 6 Aug 1998 14:35:45 EDT
Content-Type:
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In a message dated 8/6/98 8:39:16 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Hello,

      I am interested in a solution to installing tantalums in reversed.
      Plus symbols, silk-screen marking, etc. have proven inadequate.
      Failures come after many hours of reverse polarity in some
      applications.

      Are there any ideas on how to physically or otherwise prevent this.

      Thank you, Rich. >>

Hello Rich,

       Do I sense a bit of frustration? I know where you're coming from,
believe you me...

I gotta question, are these tantalums machine placed or hand loaded?

If they're machine placed, in my opinion it's a little easier to deal with.
You've got specific, cut and dried areas to correct and then you're done with
it. But if it's hand loaded and you gotta deal with humans, hoo-boy,...that's
another story.

If you're putting out any kind of assembly aids or some sort of documentation
that clearly shows the polarity, and/or the silkscreen is clear, then as much
as I hate to say it, it's time to find out who is loading them backwards and
suggest they find another line of work.

As long as people have been given adequate training, and provided with the
proper tools and documentation, there should be no excuse for errors such as
that. Those of us that get tasked to correct problems like this on the floor
are told a lot of times to do something to make a process or procedure "fool-
proof" (a more polite term than what I've heard in the past) in order to be
able to hire production workers at minimum wage.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that everybody that works for minimum wage
is less competent than someone who is getting paid more, but I have heard
comments such as this; "Why should I care, I only make five bucks an hour, I'm
not getting paid enough to care..."

I guess the point I'm trying to make, is that if the problem is coming from
hand loaded parts, and you've given them all the documentation they need
and/or the PCB is clearly marked, then it's an attitude problem with the
people...they don't care enough. You're lucky that the boards only fail...I've
been standing next to an ICT station when a board was powered-up with wrong
polarity caps...the test technition was extremely lucky that he didn't lose an
eye after the caps exploded with enough force to blow holes clean through the
PCB...

-Steve Gregory-

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