Advances in Cleaning of Surface Mount Assemblies

Abstract

Non‐corrosive rosin fluxes have historically been used for telephone communications assemblies because they provide a measure of reliability even if the flux is not totally removed from the assembly. While cleaning is not always necessary from a reliability standpoint, testing issues, product appearance, operating performance and customer requirements must also be considered when making the decision whether or not to clean. As the electronics industry packages more and more functionality on less and less real estate, soldering yields need to increase in order for the assembly process to remain profitable. This requires not only attention to the product's design for manufacturing but it may also require aggressive fluxes to be used in the assembly process. When aggressive fluxes are employed, the necessity for cleaning is greatly increased. The particular combination of flux and cleaning option depends on product design, process capabilities, end point requirements, and environmental considerations. Pending restrictions on the production and use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and the potential for tighter controls on chlorinated solvents and aqueous detergent effluents, are certain to add to the cost of standard processes. For these reasons alternative cleaning processes have been explored. The evaluation and subsequent use of water soluble flux with ‘water only’ cleaning, terpene cleaning of rosin flux residues, low solids flux ‘no‐clean’ wave soldering and ‘no‐clean’ assembly using reflowed rosin based solder pastes within AT&T are reviewed. A user's assessment of aqueous and semi‐aqueous cleaning is presented which indicates that there are acceptable alternatives to CFCs.

Citation

Wenger, G.M., Guth, L.A. and Dickinson, D.A. (1990), "Advances in Cleaning of Surface Mount Assemblies", Circuit World, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 36-46. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb046086