Hi Wade! Oh boy, wetting balance testing - as the co-chair of the JSTD-002
committee I can fill in some of your questions but  I also have a duty to
stay neutral so you should be getting other TechNet responses on specific
wetting balance vendor preferences. Some answers:

1.      Does anyone else out there have this tool and how do they like
it?

*** The wetting balance is very widely used in flux and surface finish
analysis. There are also people using it for solderability testing but only
in terms of an agreement between component vendor and assembler. The
ANSIJ-STD-002 has classified the wetting balance test as for evaluation
only. The J002 committee has spent an enormous amount of time working with
the wetting balance vendor community getting the gauge R&R value within
accepted industry ranges. The committee is now poised to work on finding a
set of industry accepted specification values. Take a look at the recently
released J002A - it contains the new wetting balance test procedure and a
new set of possible accept/reject specification values.

2.      How does this compare to a wetting balance in ease of use, cost,
and ease of interpreting the results?

*** Depends on what equipment and who's running it! I am using the oldest
wetting balance on the planet (a 1986 GEC Mark IV) which is no fun to run
but gives very good data for my surface finish investigations.


3.      Are there any other competing systems on the market?

*** Yes - take a look in section 6 of the JSTD-002A for a listing of
vendors that the committee was able to locate. This section is not an
endorsement of any particular vendor but a listing to assist people looking
for equipment.

4.      How do component manufacturers determine their product
solderability prior to sending it out the door?

*** The majority of component manufacturers are using 002A test method A -
the Dip and Look test.

5.      Does any one know of any other 'tricks of the trade' to do
solderability testing?

*** Tricks? I hope not - solderability test methodology should be a
straight forward procedure that can be done industry wide.

The J-standard for solderability testing seems quite outdated since it
specifies RMA flux and it doesn't simulate reflow soldering.  Any
comments?

*** The specification allows for the use of any flux provided the component
vendor and assembler come to a mutual agreement. The reason for specifying
the use of RMA flux is that an RMA flux from 12 different vendors is still
RMA flux (i.e. the flux chemical formulation is pretty static). That
statement can not be made for many of the Low residue fluxes in use today.
And with the use of the JSTD-004 flux specification the use of R, RMA, and
RA terminology is no longer valid. The 002A committee has a test running
right now comparing a LOR0 (RMA) versus standard low residue chemical
formulation and will be reviewing the data at the IPC Expo meeting in March
at Long Beach. Depending on the committee discussion this standardized low
residue may be put into the 002A specification.  There is also a big
difference in testing the inherent solderability of a surface versus
testing soldering-ability for assembly - they are not the same tests.

Call me if I can provide more detail.
Dave Hillman
002A CoChairman
[log in to unmask]
319-295-1615




Wade Oberle <[log in to unmask]> on 01/15/99 03:22:29 PM

Please respond to "TechNet E-Mail Forum." <[log in to unmask]>; Please respond
      to Wade Oberle <[log in to unmask]>

To:   [log in to unmask]
cc:
Subject:  [TN] Solderability Testing




Dear Technetters,
        We just brought in a MUST System II Solderability Tester for an
evaluation.  So far it seems like a good unit but a bit pricey.  A few
questions for the group:
1.      Does anyone else out there have this tool and how do they like
it?
2.      How does this compare to a wetting balance in ease of use, cost,
and ease of interpreting the results?
3.      Are there any other competing systems on the market?
4.      How do component manufacturers determine their product
solderability prior to sending it out the door?
5.      Does any one know of any other 'tricks of the trade' to do
solderability testing?

The J-standard for solderability testing seems quite outdated since it
specifies RMA flux and it doesn't simulate reflow soldering.  Any
comments?

Thanks for your replys.

Wade Oberle
Sr. Mfg. Engineer
Manutronics, Inc
414-947-3477
[log in to unmask]

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