Hi all, We just recently picked up another tool called a "Short Sniffer." It forces a small amount of current through the short, then you use a wand to scan the surface of the board. A variable pitch tone is heard when the wand is over the current path. The wand is also directional...when you rotate it 90 degrees, it goes away. Useful in determining direction the current travels. The disadvantages are you can't detect layer to layer shorts very well and large planes disperse the current. But, it does give you the area, and on line to line shorts, the exact location. Here's the web link: http://www.testecvw.com/ Glenn > -----Original Message----- > From: Crepeau, Phil [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 9:11 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [TN] Caps shorting on bottomside after wave... > > hi, > > i can't believe how helpful this listserv is. > > you all might be interested in a tool our test people use as a last resort > to find shorts. it's an infrared camera, and it requires liquid nitrogen > to cool off the ir tube. basically, low current is run through the short. > the ir camera picks up the short in real time as it heats up the board. > it dispays the image on a crt. the current levels are controlled so that > no damage is done to the board. it's paid for itself many times over. > > phil > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send the following message: SET Technet NOMAIL Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------