Hi JF -

Step #1 is to get a copy of IPC-CC-830 - no sense in repeating materials
testing which has been performed by the coating suppliers.  CC-830 will also
provide you most of the standard test methods appropriate to conformal
coatings, which gives a good baseline for your efforts.

Step #2 - contact the applications engineering personnel at the supplier of
each coating you intend to test.  They can provide accurate, consise data
regarding the care and feeding of their products.  They will also provide
good clear information regarding personnel and equipment safety
precautions - this must not be overlooked, as some of these materials can be
very unpleasant, in the long term.

Three major issues remain for the conformal coating user:

1)    Substrate compatibility with the chosen coating: This breaks down to
either cleanliness, or the compatibility of the coating with residues from
the flux system used to assemble the boards, or a combination of both.
Finger soils and that sort of thing can be a negative issue in this area.

2)    Application thickness, by the intended process.  This can generally be
done mostly on flat, clean, witness panels of FR-4 or whatever.  Usually,
your board supplier can provide scrap and cutoffs to assist in this area.

3)    Will the combination of 1) and 2)  [above] survive the environmental
testing applicable to your product.  Usually this involves actual testing of
the product as a part of final process qualification.

If you need further information contact me off line.

Regards - Kelly
-----Original Message-----
From: Jean-Francois Bissonnette <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, December 17, 1999 8:15 AM
Subject: [TN] board samples for conformal coating


>Hi everyone!
>
>I'm looking for a way to do tests with conformal coatings
>with different type of boards.  Sure we can use some scrap
>boards here (but we dont have that much of them, but I
>would like to get some kind of coupons or anything that
>would do for either making test or to send as sample of
>what I want from our subcontractor.
>
>Anyone knows where I could get some of these.  Of course
>anything with conductive traces would be perfect since I
>could test it with soledered components etc.
>
>Any hint would be appreciated.
>
>See Ya!
>
>JF
>
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