Hi Gaby! Do you know what the component lead surface finish is (what type/kind of plating)? Some plating types - like bright acid tin plating - could be the source of the solderballs. And yes, the 002B surface mount simulation test would be helpful in determining root cause. Dave Hillman Rockwell Collins [log in to unmask] Gabriela Bogdan <gabriela@NETVISI To: [log in to unmask] ON.NET.IL> cc: Sent by: TechNet Subject: [TN] Tin plating on leads HELP!!! <[log in to unmask]> 09/10/2004 11:24 AM Please respond to TechNet E-Mail Forum; Please respond to Gabriela Bogdan Dear friends, After assembly, on all circuits there was one fine pitch PLCC from a certain vendor which had lots of small solder balls between the leads, even on the solder mask dam between them. Other PLCC's with the same pitch were clean. We tried to see the amount of solder balls by X-ray, and found many more behind the leads. At first we thought that our solder paste was the culprit, but seeing that other components were "normal" , we looked closer to the leads by X-ray, and saw a lot of small voids only along the leads of the bad component, these voids reaching to the upper end of the leads, where the solder paste did not reach. Visually, the upper part of the leads was very rough. I suppose that the tin plating of the leads contained additives which epand during soldering, even burst out, and "spit" the molten solder all around. If this is the case,how could I reject such components during incoming inspection? Should I do a solderability test for each batch on a printed ceramic plate? Gaby --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e 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 or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) 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/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e 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 or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) 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/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 -----------------------------------------------------