Although not directly related to the adhesion of conformal coating there have, over the years, been reported instances of compromized solderability of PCBs due to their having been packaged in plastic bags.

The contention was that, in the manufacture of the plastic tubing from which the bags were made, the extrusion dies were treated with release agents to prevent sticking and these materials were, in turn, transferred to the surfaces of the PCBs rendering them unsolderable.

It is conceivable that the same kind of phenomenon could apply to the referenced anti-static material.

I am not aware of any hard data to substantiate either of these theories - they may simply be anecdotal.

Harold Hyman Consultant, VJ Electronix Harold Hyman has been involved in metallurgical aspects of the electronics industry since the 1950's, and in semiconductor development and engineering for STL, Ediswan & RCA. He later joined HTC, a pioneer of vapor phase soldering and continued industry experience Dynapert, GenRad, Teradyne, SRT and VJ Electronics.

It all depends on what the "pink material" is, and how it was manufactured and stored. The only way the contamination (if any) could happen:

• The film is physically dirty/dusty prior to use;
• The film has been surface treated with an antistat agent (such as you'd use on garments) during its manufacture, which could then transfer or abrade off of the treated surface (which would be in contact with the part); or,
• The film is made with lots of 'plasticizers', which have a nasty habit of 'blooming' to the surface over time. This contamination is most noticeable with vinyl based films, but it can occur with almost any type of film, if applicable.

All of these possibilities can be readily checked out in a lab equipped with a good FT-IR spectrophotometer, using surface analysis or IR microscope.

This is the best way to eliminate the myth, and can also be used as QA tools for qualified suppliers.

One last additional comment...

If the pink film has had contact with silicone materials, or silicones were used in its manufacture, then absolutely there is the likelihood of contamination by a part coming into contact with the film.

I cannot comment on the residue issue as I am not an expert in that area, however on the non ESD tray area I am an expert.

Your comment "tray that is not made of anti-static material. In order to minimize static issues we will place a layer of pink antistatic bubble material on the tray placing the boards on it."

You cannot minimize static issues, you either have a proper ESD system in place or you do not. A proper ESD "static dissipative" or "conductive" tray with a static dissipative mat in it would be the only safe way for this to work as any static charges created or generated as you move the PC boards around your facility are not being properly drained off to ground safely.

Ken Bliss President & CEO, Bliss Industries, Inc. Mr. Bliss has 20+ years experience creating process methods that improve profitability by maximizing hidden unused capacity and throughput. Ken has expertise in all areas of manufacturing specializing in electronics assembly.

The most likely source of contamination from this type of material would be either plasticizers used in the production of the film, or something like a release additive used toenable easy handling of the film in production.

In my experience, both of these issues are less likelyto cause issues than other materials used in manufacturing thebare board and other chemistries used in assemblysuch as fluxes and staking compounds etc.

The specific type of conformal coating and application method are also factors that will have an impact on the adhesion.

In general, high surface energy is the key to good coating adhesion. This is an easy thing to test and a Google search of dyne pen test will give you plenty of information such as can be found at http://www.accudynetest.com/adt_introduction.html.

In my experience, 35 Dynes/cm would be the minimum value I would feel comfortable with prior to coating, I prefer to see numbers in excess of 40, which is achievable, but depending upon your board shop, can become an issue to be worked through.

This is a huge area,and like most engineeringquestions, the answer is 'it depends"... It may be easier to handle offline in a phone call - please feel free to contact me directly.

Phil Kinner European Sales Manager, PVA Inc Phil Kinner is European Sales Manager of PVA, Inc.

I would say that if there was some type of release agent applied during the manufacturing process of the anti-static materials then this could contaminate your boards. But, in all fairness, then this would be a problem in many more board houses.

I hate to say it but it is time to investigate within your facility. Since it is the dead of winter in most places and dry skin can be an issue, I would suspect that some unauthorized hand lotion has made it onto your manufacturing floor. Actually it may be applied at home and carried in on your operators hands.

So going forward you will have to implement some changes:

• All employees will have to wash their hands upon arrival. (Good idea anyway, think H1N1)
• You need to supply an approved "skin lotion."
• You could also supply gloves to the operators in direct contact with the PCBs.
• You should really change the current "pink bubble material" to fresh material or a proper ESD tray.

Good luck with your investigation, I hope this helps.

Edward Zamborsky Regional Sales Manager, OK International Inc. Mr. Zamborsky serves as one of OK's technology advisers to the Product Development group. Ed has authored articles and papers on topics such as; Low Volume SMT Assembly, Solder Fume Extraction, SMT Rework, BGA Rework, Lead Free Hand Soldering, Lead Free Visual Inspection and Lead Free Array Rework.

I ran a production group that had wire bonding on PCB's for a chip-on-board assembly. This was 20 years ago. At that time I learned that the basic ingredient in the pink plastics antistatic bags is SOAP.

We did see a residue from the bags, so we changed to another brand of bag which had a metalized coating. Were concerned that the pink plastic bags would degrade the wire bonding results, and did not want to take this chance.

I think the pink bags are fine for finished assemblies, but I would be careful if you are going to overcoat the your boards. The last thing you need is an area of poor adhesion.

One way to test this would be to clean a blank PCB board, and rub the pink bag on the surface. Have another control board and coat them both.look to see if you can see a difference, after humidity testing.

Steven Adamson Market Specialist, Nordson ASYMTEK Market Specialist for Nordson ASYMTEK. Mr. Adamson worked for Kodak, Motorola and Plessey, ICL in the UK with 5 US and 2 UK patents. He was awarded a HNC in electrical engineering and was 2008 President of IMAPS. Mr. Adamson was a respected mentor in the electronics industry. He passed away October, 2011. Learn about the Steve Adamson Memorial Annual Scholarship Fund.

We are specialist in ESD material and have helped many companies.

You have two problems with Pink Antistatic Bubble Material:

1. The antistatic property would be lose after a short time interval, weeks or months.

2. Additional the antistatic effect will be produce with chemical solution inside of the material and diffuse on the surface. You have on the surface a chemical solution.

It's better you use black conductive bubble material.

Hartmut Berndt President, B.E.STAT group Mr. Burndt has been in Electronics & Semiconductor Technology since 1980 and work in the area of Electrostatic (ESD) and electronic devices. He is President of the B.E.STAT group (Germany); expert in ESD audits, trainings, failure analysis and ESD control programs.

HumiSeal are not aware of any issues related to "Pink bubble material"

My only question would be, does this material contain silicone?

Chris Palin European Manager, HumiSeal Chris Palin is currently managing European sales and support for HumiSeal Conformal Coatings. His expertise is in test & reliability, solder technology, power die attach and conformal coating.