At the assembly level, we have found bare board cleanliness to be one of the major factors in our product reliability, particularly as we move more products into no-clean chemistries / processes. The only way we have seen incoming product reach our requirements of <2 ug/sq in NaCl equivalence is when the final cleaning process at the PCB shop is a heated (120 - 140 F) DI water process. This is increasingly true for HASL finishes. Jon Moore TRW >>> "J. Warhelere" <[log in to unmask]> 02/14/98 04:12pm >>> Technet, The recent discussion surrounding tap water versus DI for black oxide rinses begs the question Why use DI anywhere in the PCB shop? Consider the processes developers microetches rinses oxide baths oxide reduction baths golds and nickels immersion metals electroless, palladium-carbon, or conductive polymer acid cleaners tin and tin/lead acid copper baths tin strip etchers tin/lead strip In a past life a shop had a DI system that leached hydrochloric acid after regeneration and maybe still does (?). That was something in its own to deal with. What does one do when the DI unit needs regenerated for water? Shut down operations? The input of manufacturers and users is welcomed because the issue seems one of debate, and I'd like to hear some real facts. Please respond by actual experience as most manufactures recommend DI, but perhaps not all of us use DI continuously in all areas? Or better, yet, if there are alternative water improvement systems out there, what are they? Is there something more reliable and less cost intense? [log in to unmask] ################################################################ TechNet E-Mail Forum provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ################################################################ To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TechNet <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TechNet ################################################################ Please visit IPC web site (http://jefry.ipc.org/forum.htm) for additional information. For the technical support contact Dmitriy Sklyar at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.311 ################################################################ ################################################################ TechNet E-Mail Forum provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ################################################################ To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TechNet <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TechNet ################################################################ Please visit IPC web site (http://jefry.ipc.org/forum.htm) for additional information. For the technical support contact Dmitriy Sklyar at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.311 ################################################################