Components
By Michael Kennedy
Practical Components
10867 Portal Drive
Los Alamitos, CA 90720-1037

Why are test boards important to the process?

Test PCBs offer a convenient and inexpensive way to experiment and refine your assembly without designing and producing a board in house for the specific application. 

The Lead-Free process is significantly hotter and longer than the normal lead solder cycle causing delamination, cracking, opens and intermittent failures in normal FR-4 175 Tg circuit boards. This change requires significant changes to your process.

Test PCB boards are available specifically for applications like: Cookson Electronics Lead-Free Process Capability Validation Program,
PoP drop test board, J-STD-001C hand solder certification, IPC 7711/7721 rework certification, IPC 9850 attribute defect rate test, Indium Corporation Mixed Technology Pb-Free Kit, AIM – Test Board, Flip Chip kits, BGA kits and many others.
 
What finishes are test boards available in?
Make sure your lead free solution is compliant with RoHS and WEEE directives.  Lead-Free compatible test boards are available in a variety of finishes including:
ENIG
ImSn
ImAg
OSP HT
Lead-Free HASL

In What Lead-free Formulations are Dummy Components Available?
Lead-free dummies are available in the same various finishes as their live counterparts. (Solder melting temperatures):
• 100% Sn- (232°C)
• 95.5% Sn/ 3.5% Ag/ 1.0% Cu alloy- (217-219°C)
• 95.5% Sn/ 4.0% Ag/ 0.5% Cu alloy- (217-219°C)
• 98.5% Sn/ 1.5% Cu finish- (227°C)
• 98% Sn/ 2% Cu alloy. (228°C)
• Eutectic 63/37-(183°C).