Rules for Reusing Electronic Components

Board Talk is presented by Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall of ITM Consulting. Process Troubleshooting, Failure Analysis, Process Audits, Process Set-up CEM Selection/Qualification, SMT Training/Seminars, Legal Disputes

Phil Zarrow With over 50 years experience in PCB assembly, Phil is one of the leading experts in SMT process failure analysis. He has vast experience in SMT equipment, materials and processes. Jim Hall A Lean Six-Sigma Master Blackbelt, Jim has a wealth of knowledge in soldering, thermal technology, equipment and process basics. He is a pioneer in the science of reflow.

Transcript

Phil
Welcome to Board Talk. This is Jim Hall and Phil Zarrow, the Assembly Brothers. Here to attempt to solve your process assembly problems. Jim, what's today's question?

Jim
Very interesting. What are the rules regarding reusing a component? If you remove a component from a circuit board, and the component is functional and not physically damaged, can it be reused on another circuit board? This comes from D.W.

The answer is maybe. Used components, or reused components, are very common. In fact, there's a whole industry to supply them. But the question is how reliable are they? Are they fully functional? And are they going to stand up and meet the product expectations for either the new or repaired product.

It really depends upon what you expect for the product the reused component is going into. If it's just a consumer product, not exposed to harsh conditions, that would be one thing.

Is the reused component going to be used to repair a piece of military avionics, which is a day-to-day thing for the military? And you can't get brand new parts for it. You have to use used parts. What tests do you do? There are laboratories that validate used or out-of-date old components and they put them through a variety of tests. Some test companies go as far as original manufacturer's specified tests.

So, yes, certainly you can reuse used components or scavenged components but making sure that they are reliable enough to meet the demands can be challenging. Particularly if it's going into a higher reliability product.

Phil
And there's also a concern with the level of operator skill of the folks who will be removing the components in the first place. 

The skill of the folks performing the removal and replacement process is paramount.

Jim
High temperatures do no good to any of the electronic components or materials, so limiting and the removal process, limiting it.

If you're talking about plastic ICs, make sure they are baked before being removed because those component are sure to be saturated from atmosphere moisture.

If you're going to use a hot air system that's going to heat the whole body of the component, you need to bake the board to remove the moisture or you're going to cause moisture sensitivity damage, popcorning, etc..

Even if you can't see it - remember you can have internal delamination and cracking in a component that you can only see through x-ray. Are you going to do that to the part before you reuse it?

Phil
Well, we hope that answers your question. This is Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall saying that whether you're replacing components or you're soldering them down for the first time - whatever you do ...

Jim
Don't solder like my brother!

Phil
Please don't solder like my brother!

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