Dye penetrant analysis is a technique used to find open solder connections and fractures on devices such as BGA . It's a relatively simple technique which involves injecting a red dye, under a BGA which has suspect solder connections. After injecting the dye, it is cured in an oven . After being cured the PCB is flexed in order to break all of the good solder connections. After breaking the good connections, the BGA is pried off of the PCB.

Any solder joints or traces that were originally open will show red. The joints that were good will either show normal solder gray coloring or in many cases actually pull the Cu PCB pads out and show copper color. There are numerous reasons for open joints on BGAs including PCB pad Ni/Au separation, non adhesion to the applied solder on the PCB, intermetallic fractures at the BGA substrate solder pad, etc.

Even though this is a destructive test, it does provide a very quick method for finding the root cause of grid array soldering problems

If you would like for BEST to help you troubleshoot BGA production problems or would like for BEST to provide refereeing or inspection or sorting services place a call to Laura Ripoli at BEST at (847)797-9250 or email lripoli@solder.net

The BEST Epoxy Repair Kit can be used to repair lifted pads and traces as well as build up and repair edge corner or other laminate damage to PCB's.

BEST epoxy repair kits are designed by artisans who have been repairing circuit boards for many years; therefore the right tools have been included in this general epoxy repair kit. This kit includes (10) 2 gm packs of resin/hardner, orangewood sticks assist with forming and bending traces , and a stainless steel dental pick. The resin/hardner is pre-measured to ensure every epoxy mixture will achieve optimum results.

BEST provides sound rework solutions for LGA and leadless devices such as QFNs and other MLFs. Our engineers have developed better processes to make LGA rework more repeatable, consistent and reliable. We have been reworking LGAs, QFNs and other MLF packages for many years, and continue to stay current with the latest package styles and techniques to rework them.

The key to successful LGA, QFN and MLF rework is the proper solder paste printing of the land areas. BEST has the experience to properly design the stencils, even when large ground planes exist on the device. In addition BEST has the ability to "bump" the lands of the devices using its patented StencilQuik(TM) stencil printing technique.

Call us today to discuss your leadless device rework challenges at (847) 7979-9250 and ask for Laura Ripoli.

Another resource for QFN rework can be found here.

Drink glass charms can add a bit of interesting flair to your wine, martini, and margarita glasses. They can be something fun to look at, play with, and (yes) keep track of which one is yours. There is a terrible irony of using such cheaply made trinkets to decorate nice wine or martini glasses, doubly ironic since you're most likely to be using wine charms-- and serving the good stuff-- when guests are over. Secondly, since drinkcharms are such a good idea, to use the mass-produced ones is to waste an opportunity for art.