Dear Andy, it's obvious you've not been in the Marine. Never heard of semaphoreing? Just showed you one phone, you need two. And....moreover...the blue and green LEDs on the phones can be used for morse signalling. Ingemar -----Original Message----- From: Andy Chamberlain [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: den 18 november 2004 11:12 To: TechNet E-Mail Forum; Ingemar Hernefjord (KC/EMW) Subject: RE: (Archive Copy) Re: [TN] Alternatives to Conformal Coating? Just Curious Ingemar, but how EXACTLY, do your friends make or answer a call whilst diving??? Front End Engineering Dept. Circuit Manufacture Ltd Units 9-12 Hales Ind Park Rowley's Green Lane Longford Coventry CV6 6AG -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Ingemar Hernefjord (KC/EMW) Sent: 18 November 2004 09:41 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: (Archive Copy) Re: [TN] Alternatives to Conformal Coating? John, We studied some units from the car industry. Cheap but efficient way of making tough electronics. Seems as your product fits into your category. I would buy thinwall stainless steel open boxes, bring that card in and pot with silicon and use a silicon rubber protected cable to communicate with the outside. Omit the thought of connectors. The power transistors can be mounted directly to steel box. And mount them with open side down. I have a friend who designs the electronics for handheld motorsaws, his units can be drowned in petrol, water, oil..anything. Same idea as I mentioned above. Simple and cheap..no? Then I have the cheapest of all, used by diving friends: http://phoneus.ronniebou.net/phone/waterproofelectroniccase.html Ingemar Hernefjord Ericsson Microwave Systems -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of John Parsons Sent: den 17 november 2004 20:08 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] Alternatives to Conformal Coating? Greetings all, We are a fab shop and are looking for a solution to a problem being experienced by one of our customers. They have a board which resides in a somewhat hostile environment - steam/salt water vapour - board carries 20Amp current - susceptible to multiple thermal excursions which put further stress on the unit The problem, as one might expect, is that the soldermask is not man enough for the job. Some units have exhibited significant solder mask flaking from the conductors after as little as 4 hours of operation. FYI, board is double sided with 3oz base Cu. The product is currently only in the prototype stage but production volumes are expected to be in the 100,000-250,000 units annually. We have proposed the obvious solution of utilizing a conformal coating post assy but that is an option they would initially prefer to avoid due to the inherent costs involved. They would like us to first exhaust any possibility that the problem can be averted from the pcb fabrication level. I should also mention that the expected lifespan of the unit is a maximum of 1000hrs and likely only several hundred hours. Some options that have been discussed are; (in no particular order of likelihood to succeed of fail!) - multiple coating of soldermask - micro etch of copper prior to mask application (currently pumice scrub) - conductor pacification with oxide alternative. If this does not provide additional bite for the mask it may provide additional protection from corrosion once the mask has pealed off. Any ideas from the lot of you? Are there properties to specialty solder masks which might be beneficial in this application? Any options to conformal coating?? Regards John Parsons --------------------------------------------------- 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 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- 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 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- 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 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------