Vladimir, Would my SEM perform this type of flux detection test, or what kind of equipment would I use? Leland -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Vladimir Igoshev Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 8:36 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Birth of a Solderball Hi Leland, Cross-section won't tell you much. If you wave solder was "contaminated" over time with Cu, you can try to use EDS to compare both of the solders. Another hope is the elemental composition of the fluxes. If they are different, then you can use the same EDS to tell them apart. Regards, Vladimir ------Original Message------ From: Leland Woodall Sender: TechNet To: [log in to unmask] ReplyTo: TechNet E-Mail Forum ReplyTo: Leland Woodall Sent: Oct 28, 2009 07:54 Subject: [TN] Birth of a Solderball TechNetters, Is there any possible way to determine the origin of a solder ball? We've had a failure because of one, and we're trying to determine whether it came from our SMT or wave soldering process. We use SAC305 at both, so using the SEM to determine alloy composition is not really helping. The ball itself is spherical with no "tails" and quite shiny in appearance. If we cross section the ball, will we see a difference in grain structure due to the differences in cool down rates? Is there anything else we can use or do? Thanks in advance for your help! Leland --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 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 ----------------------------------------------------- SENTEC 11 Canadian Road, Unit 7. Scarborough, ON M1R 5G1 Tel: (416) 899-1882 Fax: (905) 882-8812 www.sentec.ca --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 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 -----------------------------------------------------