Hi Technos, I'm in the middle of a crossfire here. Everybody, that is our QA and customer's QA are concerned about one rework method we are using. Because one particular connector is very capilarity prone, if we touch the leads using liquid flux, the flux ends up on the golden contacts, giving interconnection problems. I decided that we should touch the connector without using any flux, except for the one inside the solder wire. The problem is that QA is concerned about the reliability of a joint made without flux. Is the heat enough to break the oxide crust? Will intermetallics be there on both the pin and the pad? My question is: is there any experimental data available on the degree of oxidation on HASL surfaces in terms of time? After how long an exposure to ambient conditions the oxide layer is thick enough to require flux for removal? Our boards are touched within, at most, 48 hours after reflow. Is this timing long enough to ruin the solderability of the pad and the component? Once again, some hard data is what I need, since I'm dealing with QA. Thank you again for being there, Ioan ############################################################## TechNet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ############################################################## To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TECHNET <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TECHNET ############################################################## Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information. If you need assistance - contact Gayatri Sardeshpande at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5365 ##############################################################