ASSEMBLY MATERIALS

Customer: CE Analytics Case Study #5

Major Network Board Manufacturer

Problem:
Connectors from a new source showed dark staining
after wave soldering and high resistance failures
in the final assembly. Material contamination was
suspected, . It was investigated and confirmed.

Background: Investigation Details:

Customer was experiencing The customer sent the following components for analysis: six and one half
discoloration of Au plated connectors as received from the connector manufacturer, plus one half of a
connector surfaces after connector, brushed with the water soluble spray flux currently used in their process,
completing its soldering and dipped into a solder pot containing eutectic solder at about 480˚F. The customer
operation. It appeared that the also provided a sample of a lubricant that had been previously determined by an
staining on the connector outside lab of being present on the components.
surfaces was creating
unacceptable resistance through The half of a connector, fluxed and solder-dipped, was thoroughly examined on a
the mating parts. stereo microscope. It was confirmed that the gold plated pins possessed a faint
residue that more closely resembled a brownish-black stain.
The customer requested
assistance to identify the As a starting point, a solder pot dip test was conducted to determine if the staining
source, and determine the was related to a specific flux. One of the connectors was cut in half. One half was
cause of the discoloration on dipped into the currently used flux and the other half was dipped into a water soluble
gold plated mating surface of rework flux as a reference. Each part was shaken to remove excess flux, then each was
pins located on the “female” dipped into the solder pot, which was filled with eutectic tin/lead solder at
portion of the pin connector. approximately 480˚F. Each sample was immersed in the solder for about 2 seconds,
the amount of time necessary for the leads to heat up and for the solder to flow up
and wet the surface of the leads. Subsequently, the leads were rinsed with warm
deionized water and examined with a stereo microscope. The part fluxed with the
reference flux did not appear to have the brown/black staining that was present on
the part fluxed with the currently used flux. However, it should be noted that the
reference flux is an extremely viscous rework flux and not practical for use as a spray flux.

Next, a section of a part was cut off, and put into mounting compound and
metallurgically prepared for cross-sectional microscopic analysis to inspect the gold
plating. The gold plating revealed no obvious abnormalities, such as large amounts
of occluded organics that might be released and play some role in the formation of
the residue and/or contribute to the observed staining.

Since a lubricant had been previously determined to be present on the connectors,

an experiment was conducted to clean the connectors prior to fluxing and solder
dipping. The first solvents tested were isopropyl alcohol and ethyl alcohol. The parts
ASSEMBLY MATERIALS
CE Analytics Case Study #5
were cleaned in both alcohols, separately, for five minutes, in an ultra-sonic cleaning bath, then
removed and hot air dried. The amount of staining observed after fluxing, solder dipping, and
deionized water rinsing was similar with the two alcohol solvents, but the alcohol pre-cleaned
components showed slightly less staining than the components soldered as is.

The next solvent tested was trichloroethylene (TCE). The same cleaning procedure was followed
with this more aggressive solvent system. Upon examination, there was a noticeable difference in
the amount of staining on the uncleaned part after soldering and rinsing compared to the part
pre-cleaned in TCE. The TCE part was found to be free of the residue/stain. The same test was
repeated with two uncleaned and six TCE pre-cleaned parts. The same results were obtained. The
black residue was not present on any of the parts pre-cleaned in the TCE, but was still present on
both uncleaned parts. The photographs in Figures 1a through 2b, are representative of the solder
dip test results. The uncleaned parts have the same residue/brownish-black stain occurring on the
gold plated surface of the pins on the connector. The trichloroethylene cleaned parts do not have
any evidence of residue or staining on the surface of the gold plated pins on the connector.

Figure 1a – “Uncleaned” connector, fluxed, Figure 1b – “Uncleaned” connector, fluxed,

solder dipped, water rinsed and dried before solder dipped, water rinsed and dried before
examination examination

Figure 2a – “Cleaned” connector, fluxed, Figure 2b – “Cleaned” connector, fluxed,

solder dipped, water rinsed and dried before solder dipped, water rinsed and dried before
examination examination

Conclusions:
The currently used connectors supplied by the component manufacturer are now being sourced
from a new supplier. Those from a previous supplier did not exhibit any staining, even though the
process and soldering materials were exactly the same as those currently being used. Since the time
of this transition, the staining problem has become progressively more pronounced.
ASSEMBLY MATERIALS
CE Analytics Case Study #5

For this reason, it can be deduced that there must be something specifically related to the differences
in the connectors that is associated with the problem. Among the differences to be noted are the
holes in the housing into which the pins are pushed. These have been increased in diameter and
there is no longer an epoxy material being used to “seal” these openings around the pins. The epoxy
was previously used to keep excess flux from entering the housing.

In addition, there is now analytical (FTIR analysis) evidence of a synthetic lubricant being present on
the connector pins. The lubricant has the signature of a commercially available product used in the
connector fabricating shop. It is not clear whether or not the lubricant is intentionally used in
processing, or if it is deposited by some means from the environment in the area where the
connectors are fabricated or stored. Regardless, FTIR analysis has revealed clear evidence of its
presence on the pin surfaces of the connectors prior to soldering.

Based on all of the accumulated information and observations gathered from the tests conducted
during this investigation, we have reached this conclusion: It is most likely that the high resistance
connector failures have occurred as a result of some sort of interaction between the currently used
flux and the residual lubricant on the surface of the currently used connector pins. This interaction
has obviously taken place during the soldering process. It is clear that there is a synthetic lubricant
present on the currently used connectors that was not present on the previously used connectors.
Incidentally, the residue/staining problem was not encountered with the previously used
connectors, only with the currently used connectors. Upon ultrasonic cleaning of the connector in
trichloroethylene, the lubricant has likely been removed. The removal of the lubricant residue prior
to soldering seems to have resulted in the elimination of the unwanted and deleterious
residue/staining.

Recommendations:
It is recommended that the connector supplier provide the customer with connectors free of
lubricant residues. This will thereby eliminate the problem by preventing the deleterious
interaction with the flux, and the resulting formation of the residue and/or stain.

Periodic incoming FTIR analysis could also be used as a spot check to verify compliance with the
customer’s requirements.

Outcome:
Since the implementation of the recommendations, there have been no recurrences of the high
resistance connector failures and no evidence of any undesirable staining of the connector
mating surfaces following the soldering operation.

Cookson CE Analytics has a long history of solving electronics assembly problems. Our talented
laboratory staff applies its in-depth analytical and diagnostic experience to effectively detect the
root causes of problems and offers realistic solutions that help our customers meet their process
goals. We are committed to sharing our expertise – we call it “Shared Intelligence”.

www.cooksonelectronics.com

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