Hand Solder Board/Component Temperature Requirements for Repair

[sbickley]

I will be auditing a hand solder re-work operation for PCB type materials. What should I look for to indicate that the repair technicians have the resources (reference materials) or knowledge about what temperature to conduct the solder activities?

Can anyone guide me to a basic reference around what temp. boards and components should be soldered at? I need a guideline to gauge if the repair techs. knowledge and practice are adequate.

All replies are appreciated!

Thanks,
Scott

 

[Jim Wynne]

I will be auditing a hand solder re-work operation for PCB type materials. What should I look for to indicate that the repair technicians have the resources (reference materials) or knowledge about what temperature to conduct the solder activities?

Can anyone guide me to a basic reference around what temp. boards and components should be soldered at? I need a guideline to gauge if the repair techs. knowledge and practice are adequate.

All replies are appreciated!

Thanks,
Scott

How does the function/company to be audited define the requriements? What reference do they make to recognized standards? In the US at least, IPC is the keeper of the flame insofar as circuit board manufacturing (fabrication and "stuffing") is concerned.

 

[sbickley]

How does the function/company to be audited define the requriements? What reference do they make to recognized standards? In the US at least, IPC is the keeper of the flame insofar as circuit board manufacturing (fabrication and "stuffing") is concerned.

An IPC standard detailing this type of requirement would be ideal. This is an internal audit, our company works with the IPC standards.

 

[Jim Wynne]

An IPC standard detailing this type of requirement would be ideal. This is an internal audit, our company works with the IPC standards.

But you can't audit against a standard that's not recognized by your company. Of course, you can make note of the fact that there is no controlling standard, then get a copy of the appropriate one from IPC and start using it, but if you don't have a standard at this point...
I've been away from PCBs for a while so I wouldn't be able to direct you to a particular standard, but perhaps someone else here would.

 

[wmarhel]

Soldering

I will be auditing a hand solder re-work operation for PCB type materials. What should I look for to indicate that the repair technicians have the resources (reference materials) or knowledge about what temperature to conduct the solder activities?

Can anyone guide me to a basic reference around what temp. boards and components should be soldered at? I need a guideline to gauge if the repair techs. knowledge and practice are adequate.

One of the largest providers of soldering/de-soldering equipment has some online manuals which may help. You can find them (broken link removed)

Here's a another little (broken link removed)

Some other things to consider is ESD and whether or not that is a factor or not in the process. Most of the guides and manuals are exactly that, a guide, and because it is a manual operation there is reliance on the operator knowing what works best for him/her. For instance, are they soldering heavier guages which requires the heat to be turned up, what kind of solder are they using, etc.

I know from experience (having gone through the military training for calibration and repair) that while everyone learns the same, there are a lot of different methods/techniques being employed in the real world (use or non-use of heatsinks, flux, tip style/shape, etc.)

I hope the links help.....

Wayne

 

[sbickley]

But you can't audit against a standard that's not recognized by your company. Of course, you can make note of the fact that there is no controlling standard, then get a copy of the appropriate one from IPC and start using it, but if you don't have a standard at this point...
I've been away from PCBs for a while so I wouldn't be able to direct you to a particular standard, but perhaps someone else here would.

Thanks everybody, Wayne's response below will cover what I am looking for. I'm not trying to audit the re-work process to a standard per se; I am looking for the repair tech's. to have the appropriate training and knowledge to do the job without causing undue damage to the fab/components. I was fishing as to whether a standard exists summarizing these guidelines, however I have found mostly guidelines only. This is fine also. I can now ask the right questions to determine if these folks have the training, knowledge and ability to determine an adequate soldering temp. to melt the solder but not fry the fab or components. If they look at me like a deer in headlights - I know where I'm at.

Thanks again.

 

[e006823]

Try IPC 7711/21A - Rework and Repair Guide. Also another good reference would be NASA-STD-8739.2 (Surface Mount) and/or NASA-STD-8739.3 both of which are available free from NASA's website (https://standards.nasa.gov/) also look at https://workmanship.nasa.gov.

 

[RCW]

Sbickley,

Another good IPC spec to reference is the J-STD-001. This has a lot of good upfront information, similar to the IPC 7711/21A that e006823 mentioned.

Yet another item to consider, especially in the fast approaching future, soldering irons used for lead-free solder operate at a higher temperature than their tin-lead cousins. Plus you shouldn't have cross contamination of irons (i.e. don't use tin-lead dedicated soldering irons on lead free work).

Wishing you success in your audit!