Mike,
My first reaction is to suggest you check to see that you really have a silver surface finish.  XRF or Auger depth profiling can identify the surface finish and how thick it is.  I'd also do Don's suggestion to check for discoloration and dullness.
 

Regards,
George

George M. Wenger (908)-546-4531 [log in to unmask]
Celiant Corporation
40 Technology Drive
Warren, New Jersey 07059

-----Original Message-----
From: Don Vischulis [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2001 3:19 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [TN] Solderability of Organic Silver PCB's

Mike:
 
I don't believe the laminate will affect the solderability of the board.  The only time I've encountered solderability problems with a silver finish was when a subcontractor forgot to turn the rinse water on while processing boards through the silver line.  Is there any discoloration or dullness of the silver that might indicate contamination or oxidation of the pads?  Have you performed solderability testing on the boards?  If Dave Hillman is out there, he might want to comment on the ability of SERA or other methods to evaluate the surface finish.
 
Regards,
Don Vischulis
 
 Hi all,
 
I am currently having a few problems with soldering an Organic Silver finished PCB.  The PCB is a Rodgers material, but I have no information on the exact type.  I am using Multicore X33-12i no-clean flux, but this appears to have no effect on the pads.  All of the joints are partial, and have very poor wetting, if any!!  Has anyone had similar problems to this???  Any suggestions on how to fix this??  Unfortunately I can't use a clean flux as I don't have the facility to clean PCB's.
 
Cheers
 
Mike