Bannockburn, IL - For electronic interconnect industry manufacturers stressing over the planning for lead-free electronics manufacturing, stress no more. The IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries has announced a lead-free revision of two assembly standards. Two D Revisions of the industry’s most popular assembly standards, IPC-A-610, Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies, and J-STD-001, Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies, are now available and include lead-free requirements.
“Much of the new lead-free information was received from the largest electronics manufacturing service companies in the world, including Jabil Circuit, Sanmina-SCI, Solectron, and Flextronics,” says Jack Crawford, IPC director of certification and assembly technology. “These companies build millions of lead-free assemblies and shared their expertise with our standards development committees.”
Adds Tino Gonzalez, co-chair of the IPC-A-610 standard development committee: “Publishing these documents is a real credit to the active members of the committee as well as the volunteers and staff of IPC. These are very complex and very widely used documents, covering all aspects of acceptability. It’s very important for the industry’s ability to work through the lead-free transition, so we absolutely needed to set requirements straight. Companies who use the document should be very pleased with this latest version.”
Though Crawford admits there were quite a few additions, clarifications and some formatting changes, the changes from Revision C to Revision D were relatively few, making the transition easier for both documents. Format changes for both documents include the grouping together of common elements of connection criteria (lead forming, placement and solder, and so forth) so users don’t have to look in multiple chapters. Other changes include the addition of new chapters specific to through hole with subsections for supported and unsupported holes. The revisions also provide criteria for intrusive soldering (pin and paste).
In the IPC-A-610D revision, the solder chapter now combines the solder anomalies previously detailed in multiple chapters. A new chapter combines component damage criteria previously covered in multiple chapters. Requirements common to the entire assembly such as conformal coating, marking, cleaning, and conductor/land damage are now addressed in a single chapter.
With regard to the J-STD-001D revision, the defect summary table was moved to an appendix. Moving this table clarifies that users are to reference only requirements in each clause and not an abbreviated summary table. Appendices to an IPC standard are not binding criteria unless separately and specifically required by the procurement documents.
Examples of content changes in both standards include: addition or modification of pictures and illustrations for clarity or criteria changes and to criteria for lead free; BGAs, solder balls, connection of wires/leads to terminals; plastic “no-lead” packages such as PQFN; and components with bottom thermal plans terminations such as D-Paks.
