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This Event Begins In:

Tips and Tricks For Cleaning Circuit Assemblies
A Cleaning Bootcamp

An SMTAI Professional Development Course

Friday, October 16th, 2020 @ 8:30am-12:00pm (US Pacific)

Presenter: Michael Konrad, Aqueous Technologies 

 OBJECTIVE:

Tips and Tricks For Cleaning Circuit Assemblies This presentation will present various methods for effectively cleaning circuit assemblies. There is more to cleaning than just removing contamination. Cost per cleaned assembly, cleaning methods, environmental mitigation, chemical selection, throughput requirements, and operator safety will be discussed. 

 OUTLINE:

  • The History of Cleaning
    Popular cleaning methods before the age of no-clean.

  • Our Contract with No-Clean
    The context in which much of the electronic assembly industry chose to abandon cleaning in favor of a no-clean process. What’s changed since that fateful decision?

  • The Usual Suspects
    Flux is not the only potentially harmful residue on a post-reflow circuit assembly. Contamination species from board fabrication, component fabrication, assembly processes, and human contamination will be discussed.

  • ECM Failure Mechanisms 
    Electro-chemical migration takes at least three forms, dendritic growth, parasitic electrical leakage, and conductive anodic filamentation. All three ECM manifestations will be discussed.

  • Harsh Environments
    Many assemblies are functioning in harsh environments. What exactly is the definition of a harsh environment? We’ll discuss how harsh environments decrease a circuit assembly’s tolerance for residues.

  • Internet of Things (IOT)
    The explosion of connect devices, many of which are class 1 devices, are subjected to harsh environments and are experiencing field failures. We’ll discuss the reasons and methods to improve reliability.

  • Conventional ECM Mitigation Techniques
    Much of the electronic assembly industry stopped cleaning in the early 1990’s. So much has changed in cleaning processes since the introduction of no-clean flux technology. Today’s cleaning technology (equipment and chemical) is vastly different than cleaning technologies and methods of the past. Modern ECM mitigation practices will be presented. Methods to evaluate ECM failure potential will also be reviewed. 

  • What Could Go Wrong by Not Cleaning
    Much of the electronic assembly industry stopped cleaning in the early 1990’s. So much has changed in cleaning processes since the introduction of no-clean flux technology. Modern circuit assemblies have a considerably lower residue tolerance than their older counterparts. Residue associated failure mechanisms will be presented and discussed.

  • What Could Go Wrong by Cleaning / Cleaning Best Practices
    If cleaning is to be performed, it must be performed thoroughly. A poor cleaning process is a failed cleaning process and will result in rapid failures.

  • Cleanliness Quantification Techniques (New J-STD)
    IPC’s new J-STD001G (amendment 1) is a game changer. New cleanliness testing and process qualification methods are now required. We will present the new IPC cleanliness quantification requirements.

  • Obtaining Clean Assemblies
    Cleaning circuit assemblies today is much more challenging than assemblies of the past. We will review the five basic steps to successful cleaning of circuit assemblies.

  • The Dirty Dozen
    We will review the twelve common cleaning mistakes made when cleaning circuit assemblies. 

  • The Mechanics of Cleaning
    Bottom terminated components, high component densities, and high reflow temperatures combine to challenge any cleaning process. We will discuss the mechanics of fluid dynamics, ensuring wash and rinse solutions are effectively delivered to all areas of the circuit assembly. 

  • Environmental Best Practices
    We do not want to solve one problem (circuit assembly reliability) only to create another (environmental liability). We will discuss the environmental best-practices to ensure environmental responsibility when cleaning circuit assemblies.

 ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Mike Konrad is an industry expert on the removal of contamination from circuit assemblies. Mike has been part of the electronic assembly cleaning industry for the past 35 years. Mike has designed several automated cleaning and cleanliness testing machines, has published scores of technical articles on the subject of cleaning and cleanliness assessment has been a member of Editorial Boards for several industry publications.
 
Mike served on the US Navy’s EMPF manufacturer’s committee and is a featured speaker at industry events and technical workshops worldwide. Mike is Vice President for Technical Programs for the Los Angeles/Orange County Chapter of SMTA. Mike was honored with Distinguished Speaker status from the SMTA in 2017.
 
Mike has served as a court-approved Expert Witness in civil litigation matters concerning post-reflow cleanliness assessment and contamination-related failure mechanisms. Mike is the founder of Aqueous Technologies, a manufacturer of automated cleaning and cleanliness testing systems designed for the electronic assembly industry and has served as its CEO/CTO since 1992.
 
Mike is the host of the Reliability Matters podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and iHeart Radio.