KYZEN has two papers at APEX conference

The paper entitled, “Does Cleaning the PCB before Conformal Coating Add Value?” will be presented during Session S20 on Feb 15. The paper was co-authored by Mark McMeen and Jason Tynes, STI Electronics, and Gustavo Arredondo, ParaTech Coating.

A recent research study of both flux activator systems and cleaning under bottom terminated components found that different no-clean flux packages have chemical properties that induce failure at different rates. The study also found that residues that were not fully cleaned under leadless components could be a reliability risk. Electrochemical methods (EIS) provide insight into the corrosion potential of a residue, in this case, flux residue. Electrochemical methods have not been commonly used for assessing corrosion potential on electronic devices. The purpose of the “Electrochemical Methods to Measure the Corrosion Potential of Flux Residues” research study is to run electrochemical methods on the four flux systems used in the SIR study to determine if EIS data findings have commonality on the SIR data findings.

The purpose of “Does Cleaning the PCB before Conformal Coating Add Value?” is to research the value of cleaning under bottom terminated components before conformal coating. A QFN surface insulation resistance test vehicle, with sensors placed under the component termination will be used for this research. The designed experiment will study both cleaning and non-cleaning before poly-para-xylene coating. These response variables will be measured by: 1) Visual Inspection of Post Soldering Residues, 2) Site Specific Ion Chromatography, and 3) Surface Insulation Resistance using the IPC TM650 2.6.3.7 test method.