Ask the Experts Member

Kevin Beattie

Quality Manager
Sunstone Circuits

Kevin is part of the Sunstone Management team. In his role as Quality Assurance Manager, Beattie’s 25+ year background in Printed Circuit Board manufacturing is a tremendous asset to the Sunstone team. In addition, he brings valuable experience from his previous roles in the following areas: process engineering, new process introductions, support of nearly every manufacturing process, and extensive knowledge of Continuous Improvement, ISO, IPC, and various other industry requirements.

Kevin Beattie has submitted responses to the following questions.

Exposed Copper Defect
This could also be an assembly question. From IPC-6012 For areas that are not to be soldered, 1% of the ...

Circuit Board Bow and Twist
There are factors both in the PCB manufacturing process as well as the assembly process that can have affects on ...

Solder Paste Life on the Stencil
We opt for even a shorter time than recommended. The issue with solder paste is that the flux, which acts ...

Rework for OSP Assemblies
According to Enthone, the manufacturer of the Entek Plus 106A OSP coating, the coating is more susceptible to certain types ...

OSP Poor Wetting
Some of the common solderability issues from OSP can occur:If the part in question sees multiple reflow cycles. By the ...

Wave Solder Pot Contaminated with Lead
The most efficient method to bring the solder pot back into tolerance would be to decant about 50% of the ...

Rework or Repair
According to IPC-7711B/7721B Rework, Modification and Repair of Electronic Assemblies, the removal of solder from a gold contact finger constitutes ...

Stencil Life
For the stainless steel type of stencils commonly used for solder paste application, they will typically outlive the product lifecycle ...

Fumes from Baking
Best practice would be to have the oven vented to a scrubber or to the outside. There can be residual ...

Defective Pads?
From the photo, it looks like there was some type of undercut of the solder or oxidation of the copper ...

Circuit Board Exposed to Rain
The short answer is maybe. It really depends on the specifics of the rain exposure. During manufacturing, circuit boards are ...

Free Newsletter Subscription
Circuitnet is built for professionals who bear the responsibility of looking ahead, imagining the future, and preparing for it.

Insert Your Email Address