Introducing the Cleaning and Cleanliness Quantification MasterClass

Over 5 Hours of Video Content and 524 Pages of Downloadable Course Material

Registration Now Open For:
Cleaning Forum: Equipment - Chemicals - IPC Compliant Cleanliness Testing

Subject matter experts from cleaning equipment, cleaning chemicals, and IPC-approved SIR testing meet to present best practices within their respective fields. 

Covered topics include:
Session 1 (15 minutes):

• Cleaning Equipment Best Practices
  - Cleaning methods
  - Equipment selection process
  - Throughput, facility, and environmental considerations
  - Cleaning efficacy

 Session 2 (15 minutes):

• Cleaning Chemical Best Practices
  - Advantages of cleaning chemicals
  - Chemical selection process
  - Environmental considerations

 Session 3 (15 minutes):

• IPC Compliant Cleanliness Testing
  - Obtaining objective evidence per IPC standards
  - Modern advances in SIR testing

 Session 4 (15 minutes):

• Q&A

Now Available On-Demand

Cleaning and Cleanliness Testing That's IPC Compliant

So many assemblers are returning to cleaning to improve reliability. Many assemblers haven't implemented post-reflow assembly cleaning in several years. So much has changed. Higher component densities, lower standoff heights, higher reflow temperatures, and a new cleanliness testing and process control standard from IPC are just some of the changes cleaning has seen over the past few years.

This webinar will compare and contrast past and modern cleaning challenges and review the new IPC cleanliness standards (IPC J-STD001H). The answer to how clean is clean enough has dramatically changed recently. We'll review those changes and present methods to overcome modern cleaning challenges and ensure compliance with new IPC standards.

Register for this on-demand webinar

Now Available On-Demand

The Dirty Dozen - 12 Common Mistakes Made When Cleaning Circuit Assemblies

Tech-Tuesday Webinars continue with: "The Dirty Dozen - Twelve Common Mistakes Made When Cleaning Circuit Assemblies"

Post-reflow contamination removal of circuit assemblies is a proven method of eliminating electrical chemical migration (ECM) failures. The suggestion that some cleaning is better than no cleaning is grossly incorrect. The fact is, to eliminate any chance of ECM related failures, cleaning must be performed thoroughly and correctly.

Join us for this informative webinar where we will review the dirty dozen, twelve common mistakes made when cleaning circuit assemblies. Circuit assemblies gain added reliability when a cleaning process is performed properly. When a cleaning process is performed improperly, reliability may be substantially worsened.

Now Available On-Demand

Why Are We Cleaning No-Clean?

It seems like an oxymoron. Cleaning no-clean flux? Really? Really... While cleaning no-clean flux may seem redundant, or even illogical, there are many reasons so many assemblers are now cleaning no-clean. When no-clean flux was first introduced in the late 1980's, so many things were different. The residue tolerance of circuit assemblies is substantially less today than it was when the concept of using a no-clean flux was first introduced.

This webinar will present the reasons assemblers are now cleaning their assemblies, especially those reflowed with no-clean flux. Contamination-related failure mechanisms will be reviewed and residue tolerance assessment considerations will be discussed.

Is residue removal right for your assemblies? Maybe, maybe not. Join us for an informative discussion on the subject of cleaning no-clean and determine if it is right for your assemblies.

Register for Instant On-Demand Access

Now Available On-Demand

SMT WARS - Lessons Learned by a Contract Manufacturer and Their Customer Who Sued Them

Back By Request: SMT WARS, a live webinar. Tech-Tuesday 2021 Webinars continue with "SMT-WARS - Lessons Learned by a Contract Manufacturer & Their Customer Who Sued Them". What happens when an electronic contract manufacturer follows their customer’s instructions to the detriment of the product? Product failures, blame, drama, and a really big lawsuit. This webinar and will review the trials and tribulations of a contract manufacturer and their customer. Assembly residue-related failures (ECM) contributed to product failures, product recalls, and, ultimately, a multi-million-dollar lawsuit. Misguided “best practice” techniques only made matters worse. This webinar will discuss what factors contributed to the “perfect storm” of product failures. Factors that go as far back to original product designs, printed circuit board fabrication, storage and handling, assembly, testing, and coating. While mistakes were made all along the way, product failures could have been avoided with a few simple process changes, adding mere pennies to the cost of each assembly while saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation.

Register for On-Demand Viewing Below:

Now Available On-Demand

IPC Presents: The Proliferation of Electronics into Harsh Environments and the Effects on Reliability

About the Webinar:

Since the evolution of no-clean soldering processes, many assemblers have enjoyed the cost and time savings a no-clean process affords. The proliferation of electronics into harsh environments has however, highlighted the well-established link between process residues and electro-chemical migration (ECM) caused failures. Higher operational voltages, increased component densities, assembly miniaturization, and increased reliability expectations increase the relationship between clean assemblies and long-term reliability.

This webinar will detail the relationship between clean assemblies and reliability and the reasons an historically successful no-clean process is measurably less successful on modern assemblies, especially when products are installed in harsh environments. Factors that affect circuit assembly residue tolerance will be presented as well as residue mitigation processes.

Real-world examples of residue-related failures from the automotive and communications space will be presented along with the solutions adopted by the manufacturers. Multiple residue-induced failure mechanisms will be reviewed including ECM, conformal coating adhesion, frequency distortion, corrosion, and cosmetic. Additionally, the relationship with reflow profiles and residues will be presented.

Newly updated IPC cleanliness quantification standards will also be presented in order to answer the age-old question, “how clean is clean (enough)”.

About the Presenter:

Mike Konrad began his career in the electronic assembly equipment industry in 1985. Mike founded Aqueous Technologies in 1992 in response to the Montreal Protocol and the resulting international treaty banning most popular cleaning/defluxing solvents.

Mike was a member of the US Navy's EMPF's Manufacturers Committee and has served on editorial boards for several industry publications.

Mike is an internationally known speaker on the subject of increasing reliability through contamination removal and cleanliness quantification techniques and procedures. Mike was awarded “Distinguish Speaker Status” with SMTA in 2018 and received the “Rich Freiberger Best of Conference Award” at SMTAI in 2019.

Mike was recently elected to the SMTA Global Board of Directors where he chairs the SMTA Training Committee and is also a member of the SMTA Strategic Devolopment Committee. Mike is also Vice President of Technical Programs for the Los Angeles / Orange County SMTA Chapter.

Mike is the host of the popular Reliability Matters Podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

Who should attend?

This webinar is designed for both contract manufacturers and OEM's who build products operating in harsh environments.

Special Episode of the Reliability Matters Podcast:

“The Experts”

A conversation with four of the leading consultants in our industry. Mike Konrad hosts a conversation with Dr. Jennie Hwang, Phil Zarrow, Bob Willis, and Ray Prasad.

Now Available On-Demand

How Clean is Clean Enough? Cleanliness Quantification Techniques and Methods
An On-Demand Webinar

Miniaturization, component density, and harsh environments, have contributed to the increasing in-field failures of circuit assembles caused by electrical chemical migration (ECM). Post-reflow contamination removal is one of the fastest growing reliability-enhancing processes.

How clean should an assembly be? What quantification methods are being used to determine an assembly's cleanliness?

Various cleanliness assessment techniques will be presented including SIR, ROSE, Ion Chromatography, and other cleanliness assessment methods. A review of the new IPC cleanliness testing standards will be reviewed in addition to alternate test methods. 

Factors that influence cleanliness requirements will be discussed.

This is an interactive presentation. Attendees will be able to ask questions and receive answers during the webinar. 

Who should attend? 

This webinar is designed for both contract manufacturers and OEM's who clean or are considering a cleaning process.  

Register to Watch On-Demand

Now Available On-Demand

A Guide to Cleaning Circuit Assemblies

Miniaturization, component density, and harsh environments, have contributed to the increasing in-field failures of circuit assembles caused by electrical chemical migration (ECM). Post-reflow contamination removal is one of the fastest growing reliability-enhancing processes.

How is contamination effectively and safely removed from circuit assemblies? How does a cleaning process work? What is considered to be a clean assembly? This non-commercial webinar will explore these and many other common questions related to cleaning.

Topics to be discussed include:

• Contamination Target List
• Contamination Failure Mechanisms
• How a Cleaning Process Works
• Cleaning Methods
- Manual
- Automatic
- Batch
- Inline
  - Water-Based
- Solvent Based
• How to Select a Cleaning Process to Fit Your Needs
- Throughput
- Cost (equipment - operational)
- Footprint
- Effectiveness
- Chemical Selection
- Environmental
- Safety
• Common Cleaning Mistakes 

Who should attend? 

This webinar is designed for both contract manufacturers and OEM's who currently clean or are considering a post-reflow cleaning process.  

Cost: 

This webinar is free of charge and available on-demand!

An Interview with Mike Konrad by
Judy Warner of OnTrack

Now Available On-Demand

Cleaning and Cleanliness Assessment Best Practices

Need to clean your post-reflow circuit assemblies? This webinar provides best-practice advice for cleaning and cleanliness assessment. This webinar will cover the following topics:

• Reasons for cleaning

• Cleaning methods (manual, automated, batch, inline)

• Cleaning chemical additive (Are they required? What benefit do they provide?)

• Factors to consider when evaluating a cleaning process (cost, throughput, environmental, safety, and more)

• Cleanliness standards

• Common mistakes made when cleaning

• How to evaluate a cleaning process's effectiveness

• Cleanliness testing methods

Now Available On-Demand

Cleaning To Improve Reliability
An On-Demand Webinar

The latest webinar in our Tech-Tuesday Webinar Series covers cleaning and cleanliness testing best-practices including:

• Contamination failure mechanisms

• Cleaning challenges and strategies to overcome them

• Environmental best practices (how to solve one problem and not create another)

• Choosing an appropriate cleaning method (a review of various cleaning methods)

• How clean is clean enough?

• The cost of cleaning

• Choosing an appropriate cleaning chemical (if needed)

• Cleaning "no-clean" flux

• Questions and answers

This webinar is free of charge and will last one hour and fifteen minutes.

Register and watch anytime:

Now Available On-Demand

ECM and IOT. How to Predict, Quantify, and
Mitigate ECM Failure Potential
An On-Demand Webinar

Electro-chemical migration (ECM) has become an issue for many assemblers. This webinar will address the current factors influencing ECM-related failure mechanisms and how it affects reliability. Factors that assist in the prediction of ECM will be presented as well as methods to quantify and prevent ECM and other contamination-related failures.

Register and watch anytime:

Listen to the Reliability Matters Podcast. Available on iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and -HERE-