Standards & Regulations Keeping PCBs clean
Ensuring electronic components are perfectly clean is incredibly important to keep them working properly and prevent any issues throughout their lifetime. CIE editor, Amy Wallington talks to Michael Jones, vice president of MicroCare Corporation to find out more about keeping components clean during the manufacturing process
M
odern electronics are everywhere in our world, making life better for nearly every person on the planet. But PCBs need to be properly cleaned to perform as expected. Cleaning circuit boards and electronic assemblies is a difficult challenge, especially since they run hotter, are smaller and more complex than ever before. Add to that the ever- increasing number of health and environmental regulations and standards and the task may seem daunting. However, MicroCare is rising to the challenge by developing cleaning solutions that clean both safely and economically. Michael Jones, vice president of
MicroCare Corporation, says: “Keeping electronic components clean during manufacturing or rework and repair is essential. The level of cleanliness directly affects the overall function, reliability and life span of the component.” If components are not kept clean during the manufacturing process it can affect how they work. Jones talks about how the components can be affected: “Many types of contaminants including flux residue, glues, dust and fingerprints left on boards
may cause corrosion, create poor soldering connections, promote dendrite growth and add noise to the PCB, all of which can result in either poor board performance or possible board failure altogether. Unclean components can cost PCB manufacturers real money in rejects, scrapped or wasted product, production downtime, warranty claims and the need for rework.” There are standards and regulations that explain how components should be kept clean. Jones explains: “There are a number of IPC standards in place for both board manufacturing and board cleaning that should be followed. By adhering to IPC standards, PCB manufacturers help ensure that they are delivering consistent and reliable electronic components either to the end-user or to their manufacturing partners. A real challenge for the IPC going forward is to stay current with their recommendations on all the new chemistries that are rapidly being developed for the critical cleaning industry.” But is this enough? Jones thinks some of them could be made more specific. He says: “Sometimes cleaning regulations can be either too broad or too restrictive depending
on the type of PCB contaminants you encounter and the type of cleaning you need to perform. The best standards or regulations for electronic component cleaning are the performance-based standards; the ones that do not tell a company how to their clean electronic components but specify the end result they need to achieve instead. A good example of this is SIR testing, currently the gold- standard for judging cleanliness, that focuses more on the actual outcomes of the cleaning performed and less on the actual cleaning process itself. SIR testing specifically focuses on determining the reliability of an electrical component based on the strength and quality of the signal that comes through the component after cleaning.” One method of cleaning circuit boards is benchtop cleaning. Jones talks about the most effective standard for this method. He explains: “The most effective standard to follow for benchtop cleaning is one that is simple, understandable and straightforward. It is the four-step wet, scrub, rinse and dry sequence. Using this process is indispensable in making sure that your electronic components are clean and functioning properly. The added benefits of using this four-step cleaning process is that you also get faster, better and safer cleaning of your PCBs at a lower cost.” When manufacturing PCBs for different countries, there are sometimes different standards and regulations to follow. “There definitely are different electronic component cleaning fluid standards and regulations for each country across the globe and what might be allowed in one country may be restricted in another,” explains Jones. “MicroCare has 47 local distributors throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas and we take great care to ensure all our product formulations are in compliance with all of the local
38 June 2018 Components in Electronics
regulations regarding health and the environment. This includes the “F-gas” rules, REACH regulations, RoHS restrictions and the WEEE directive in Europe, the VOC-rules in Southern California and halogen regulations in Asia. In addition, MicroCare takes pains to meet GHS standards. We diligently scan emerging regulations to be sure all our product specs, labels and SDS are up-to- date and GHS compliant, ensuring not only the safe use of our cleaning solvents, but also the proper shipping, handling and storage of them too.” Jones concludes: “Sometimes the
increasing technical, economic, environmental and regulatory pressures do prevent us from developing some otherwise promising chemistries. For instance, there could be a potential new product that cleans great but is not feasible due to the health and safety restrictions in a certain country or region. However, MicroCare is finding ways to change that by researching, blending, refining and packaging unique chemistries to solve our customer’s critical cleaning dilemmas while still complying with all standards and regulations. For example, we recently developed a line of aerosol cleaning products with ultra-low Global Warming impact HFO solvents and a new “co- solvent” fluid for cleaning PCBs and removing fluxes without the use of chlorinated additives. MicroCare has a long history of eager and early implementation of regulatory requirements. We embrace both new and changing regulations and standards. We view them as both a challenge and as a new opportunity to develop new formulas, new chemistries and new processes while incorporating the new safety standards.”
www.microcare.com www.cieonline.co.uk
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