Hi Nick,
The hotter the soldering iron the faster the soldering operation. Contract
assemblers get paid by the piece, ergo higher iron temperatures. The down side
is, that these high manual soldering temperatures put the highest stresses
into your PTH/PTV interconnect structures and can cause PTH/PTV barrel
cracking and innerlayer interconnect separations (post separations); I have
been an expert witness on a number of litigations resulting from this.
I would recommend specing a lower soldering iron temperature to your contract
assembler.

Werner Engelmaier
Engelmaier Associates, L.C.
Electronic Packaging, Interconnection and Reliability Consulting
7 Jasmine Run
Ormond Beach, FL  32174  USA
Phone: 904-437-8747, Fax: 904-437-8737
E-mail: [log in to unmask]

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