Technical Bulletin January

 

 
What standard should I be using for
  application and inspection of conformal
coating?
 

 
First, you need to distinguish between application
  and selection of coating, and qualification and
manufacture of coating. As a rule the first is for
  the user of the end coating product and the
second is for the manufacturer of the coating.
 
The Interconnections & Packaging Conference How long do I have to cure my coating and
  (IPC) standards are very good for both these why do I need to bother?
areas and their details can be found on
  www.ipc.org

  For manufacturing you need IPC-CC-830B which
details all the hoops a manufacturer has to jump
 
through to self-certify the quality of their product.
In your case, for production purposes you need
  the IPC–HDBK-830. This handbook is a
compilation of the conformal coating industry’s
  practical knowledge and will help designers &
  users of conformal coatings to understand the
practical implications of selection, application
  and inspection, explaining in detail how to
achieve the best results.
 
 
 
Curing is dependent on the material type used.
For instance, for solvent based acrylic coatings
you generally have a three stage curing
mechanism. This is tack free, cured enough to
handle and fully cured. Typically, the timescales
are approx 10-15 min, 30-90 min and 3-4 weeks,
respectively but can vary depending on factors
such as coating, extraction rates, temperature of
the coating room and thickness of application.
Therefore, a coating could be applied to a PCB
and after a period of two hours look fully cured.
However, there will still be trace solvents in the
film which have not evaporated at that point
and which may be affecting the coatings
electrical properties enough that the PCB may
fail in test.

 
What do we provide?
SCH Technologies can offer conformal coating services, equipment, consultation and Humiseals great
  range of conformal coating materials. We will be happy to answer any of your questions and we’ve
got the experience to solve any of your conformal coating headaches. Don’t hesitate to contact us
with the details on the following page and we’ll help to ease the pain of conformal coating.  

 
   
Hence, the answer to the question “when is a
 
coating fully cured?” is when it stops affecting
the performance of the PCB.  
Thus, curing is only critical if the PCB needs to be  
operated, tested or calibrated and the coating
cure level affects these tasks.  

If this is found to be the case then the key issue is

to accelerate the cure process enough by
baking the coating for an extended period at an
elevated temperature according to the material
TDS instructions. Typically, 12 hours at 70°C works
effectively to fully cure a coating but it will
My coating is “puddling” or running off the
depend on the coating thickness, the material
itself and other factors. tops of QFPs. How can I prevent it?

I have been told water based coatings don’t

adhere as well to PCBs. Is this true?
It can be true that water based coatings can be
less effective in adhesion compared to solvent
based coatings. This is because the solvents in
the coating “clean” the surface of the board
more effectively than water and bonding of the
coating to the board is slightly improved.
However, in most cases the water based coating
wets perfectly well and there is no issue. If
adhesion is a factor, then SCH can recommend
a selection of coatings in the Humiseal range
that could help.
Sometimes mould release agents are still present
on the top of components such as QFPs. These
agents are used when forming the plastic body
in the mould and can cause de-wetting of the
coating. The simplest method is to clean the
whole board in a cleaning system or if it is a no
clean process locally clean the top of the device
with a cotton bud and solvent such as IPA or
coating thinners and that can be very effective.
Alternatively, heat the board up to approx 50°C
before spray coating and then coat whilst warm.
This can help stick the coating quicker by
evaporating the solvents faster.

  Finally, change the coating. Use a coating like

Humiseal 1R32A2 or 1B31S which have adhesion
 
modifiers added to aid sticking to solder resists
  and difficult components.

SCH Technologies is a Trading Name of SCH Services Limited

Newburgh Building, McLintock Way, Barnsley, South Yorkshire. S70 6BF
Tel: +44 (0)1226 297711 Fax: +44 (0)1226 297733
www.conformalcoating.co.uk SCH Technologies are ISO9001 and ISO14001certified