Unused vias should be protected from pulling the solder off BGA pads and any other pads for that matter and this is usually accomplished by using solder mask or solder resist to tent the unused vias. Check IPC-A-600 REV G, page 40, 41, and 42 for information on how this should be requested from your board suppliers.

Leo Lambert Vice President, Technical Director, EPTAC Corporation At EPTAC Corporation, Mr. Lambert oversees content of course offerings, IPC Certification programs and provides customers with expert consultation in electronics manufacturing, including RoHS/WEEE and lead free issues. Leo is also the IPC General Chairman for the Assembly/Joining Process Committee.

Couple of ways to approach this problem.

1. Design the boards w/o via in BGA pads
2. Overprint the BGA pad with oversized aperture or thicker (step stencil)
3. Print on vias only, reflow, and then process board through printing / reflow process.

Bill Coleman Vice President Technology, Photo Stencil For over 18 years, Dr. Coleman has been the vice president of technology for Photo Stencil, working closely with customers to understand their printing requirements. His efforts have resulted in several new stencil products.

There are two common solutions; one would be to apply solder mask over the open vias, and the other is to redesign the board with dog bone shapes so that there is a small trace between the pad and the via. This will prevent the solder from migrating across the pad and down the via.

Can you turn down the temperature of the subzone of your oven? This might be the easiest solution, as solder flows to areas of highest temperature. This might just work.

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.