If the CCA goes through any type of AOI post reflow, then have those holes added to the inspection. Almost any AOI machine can detect any unfilled holes. Also, where is the requirement for the holes to be filled or checked in your process documentation? Is there an operation where the operator is told to verify holes are filled, and touchup if not? If they work/inspect off of the assembly print, can a print note be added? Somewhere there needs to be a documented requirement that the holes be filled. Talking to a wave solder operator and trying to get him/her to "remember" this requirement is futile. They are busy remembering what they did last Friday night. Find a means to poka-yoke the process so the holes are always filled. OR, if there is no other requirement to have any solder in those holes, leave the solder out of the holes and make a test fixture consisting of a 2x5 bed of solid nails embedded in a non-conductive material. Just plug it in when you test each board. The metal pins will seal each hole and provide electrical contact to the barrels, without shorting the barrels together. To more easily envision this, suppose you took a plastic table with ten metal legs, turned it upside down, and plugged it into the connector holes....except don't use plastic, use Durostone CAS 716, which is dissipative. If you go that route, you just need to add the masking of the holes to the process so NO solder is added. A piece of Kapton tape will work, or peelable/soluble masking. -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Carl VanWormer Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 1:01 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] Wave solder - filling of "empty" holes We have a PCB assembly with a 2x5 pin "engineering" header that is not populated on our production boards. The normal results of our CM's wave solder process yields boards with the 10 holes (.040" dia.) filled with solder. Our pointed spring-probe test fixture hits the centers of these solder-filled holes, and all is good with the world . . . Occasionally, we have some boards that do not have all of the holes filled (I can provide a picture if it helps the discussion). The test fixture spring-probes may penetrate into the unfilled holes, making only intermittent contact with the hole-walls. My final solution may be to obtain spring-probes with wider tips to bridge the hole, making contact with the annular ring, but I'd like to get opinions from the group as to my expectations of hole-filling in the wave solder process. I'm sure that 10mil holes will always fill, and 1000mil holes, will never fill. What expectations should I have with my 40mil holes (in my 62 mil thick PCB)? If the consensus is that the holes should fill, what suggestions can I give to my CM to facilitate my desired hole filling? Thanks, Carl Carl Van Wormer, P.E., AE7GD Senior Hardware Engineer Cipher Systems 1800 NW 169th Place, Suite B-100 Beaverton, OR 97006 Cipher Systems (503) 617-7447 x 5163 Direct Line (503) 425-5163 [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> This message may contain confidential and/or proprietary information, and is intended for the person/entity to whom it was originally addressed. Any use by others is strictly prohibited. If I sent this to you by mistake, please be nice and delete it, then tell me of my mistake so I can send it to the right person. ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service. 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