Patty, Pete and John Confront "The Big O"
Patty, Pete, and John prepare to do battle with “The Big O.” Patty and Pete were able to squeeze in 9 holes of golf, though it was really ...
Wave Solder
Pb-Free Bar Solder Dilemma: Price vs. Performance
Many consumer electronics transitioned to Pb-Free 4-5 years ago. However, there are still a substantial number of electronics being built with S...
Patty and Pete: An Audit on Their Own
Folks, Patty was eating her lunch at her desk while reading Golf Digest. She had been training with weights, performing stretches, and getting less...
Pb-Free Solders are Not the Cause of Tin Whiskers
Tin Whiskers growing between pure tin-plated hook terminals of an electromagnetic relay. Image courtesy of nepp.nasa.gov ......
Dispelling 10 Myths about Nitrogen Reflow (part I)
In my twenty years in the electronics manufacturing industry, I have heard a lot of claims made about the use of nitrogen in inerted soldering ...
Is Sn/Cu Alloy a Good Choice for Solder Paste?
Folks I was chatting recently with Indium Corporation’s Mike Fenner about Sn/Cu alloys for solder paste. Mike has many years of experience ...
Surface Finishes 2: Soldering to Copper and Soldering to OSP
Soldering to copper has been around since the beginning of soldering itself. Copper wiring and copper pipes are where soldering began, and copper is s...
WF-9945: Truly Halogen-Free Wave Flux
Indium Corporation has just released a completely halogen-free wave solder flux that performs in a Pb-free process similar to its halogenated counterp...
Lead-Free Solder has Secondary or Less Impact on Tin Consumption
Folks, A few years ago, Prismark estimated that the world electronics usage of lead was 18,500 tons per year. Assume most solder at the time was ...
Viscometry 101 (Ball Attach Flux - Cone & Plate or T-bar?)
Photo courtesy of www.chemistryexplained.com As you may have seen on product data sheets or specifications, each flux is......
Beam it down from space
Solar PV in Space Have you recently thought about any creative ways to harness solar power? Tandem Cells, Portable Power, Concentrators, Solar Tracker...
History of 2/3rds of Defects from Stencil Printing
Folks, In my recent SMT column, “It Pays to be Data Driven,” I asked if anyone new the source of the well accepted industry adage that 2/3...