PLEASE forgive me but; when is a solder ball a problem? 4 micron or 5 micron? Please introduce me to the amazing individual who can differentiate visually between the 2 sizes. You produce solder balls, and they are a potential reliability issue - FACT! Having just returned from the French Brasage (Soldering) conference, a good deal of time was frankly wasted, deliberating on the issue of solder balls: how they are formed, why they are formed, whether they represent a defect and if so, at what size do they become an issue - For goodness sake, if you clean, this is no longer an issue. The influence of a solder mask and its propensity to produce solder balls is only a small part of the problem. Are you sure you are producing reliable circuits? How do you know? You clean to < 10 microgrammes/inch2 NaCl equivalence - so that means it's OK to leave that amount on every square inch of your assembly? Graham Naisbitt Concoat Ltd Email: [log in to unmask] Alasan House, Albany Park Tel: +44 (0)1276 691100 Camberley, Surrey GU15 2PL UK Fax: +44 (0)1276 691227 -----Original Message----- From: TechNet On Behalf Of Brian Moe Sent: Monday, September 29, 1997 6:05 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TECHNET] Re[2]: [TECHNET] solder-ball free LPISM? We do not experience any problems with solderballs in our manufacturing process. We are using LeaRinol or Probamere soldermasks. Our wave solder machine is using RMA type flux applied by a spray fluxer. With the addition of a hot gas knife at the end of our process solderballs and bridging defects have practically been eliminated. ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: Re: [TECHNET] solder-ball free LPISM? Author: Phil Bavaro <[log in to unmask]> at ccgate