Ioan, The protection comes from the combination of the sealed Moisture barrier bag with the desiccant. As far as when to bake, the standard does specify that it should always be based on the status of the HIC. I am including the applicable references from J-STD-033 : Ref : 8.1.1 Upon receipt : "If openings are found, the humidity indicator card (HIC) should be read to determine the proper recovery action" Ref : 8.5.1 Excessive humidity in the dry pack : "...The following conditions apply regardless of the storage time, i.e., whether or not the shelf life has been exceeded (this is the one year from seal date minimum shelf life)...If the 10% RH dot is blue, the parts are still adequately dry...If the 8% RH is pink and the 10% RH dot is not blue, the components have been exposed to an excessive level of moisture, and drying must be done..." The real problem right now is that not all suppliers use the proper kind of HIC (i.e. with 8%RH and 10%RH dots). My personal recommendation would be to play it safe and to keep things simple for your operators. Ask them to bake parts when in doubt about the status of the HIC. François Monette Cogiscan Inc. Tel : 450-534-2644 Fax : 450-534-0092 E-mail : [log in to unmask] www.cogiscan.com Date: Wed, 1 May 2002 10:50:34 -0400 From: "Tempea, Ioan" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Vacuum sealing equipment... So Fran=E7ois, you are basically saying that the desiccant is the main preservative. = Then, is the humidity indicator the only factor on which we base the decision = "to bake or not to bake"? Even if the bag is punctured, if the indicator is not pink, no bake? Thanks, Ioan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------