Selective Solder Paste Printing for BGA 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

And welcome to Board Talk with Jim Hall and Phil Zarrow of ITM Consulting. Up here high above Mount Rialto at ITM intergalactic headquarters, where we are here to answer your process, material, component questions.

Jim, today we have a question from A. J . We use common BGA packages on many of our low-end products. Could we print paste only on the pads that have functional requirements? Could we print all the perimeter pads at 120 pin BGA, but skip printing on 50 or more of the interior pads since they serve no function?

The cost of solder paste is just so extreme. You just have to pinch pennies wherever you can.

Jim

I agree. When you think about all that paste being used in printing and cleaning the stencil and the losses and everything, that is a small amount of paste. It is hard to imagine it could be a significant cost.

But if you are printing a high volume, consumer product where you are printing a lot of these, maybe it is.

One technical thing that I want to raise to cite the example, we could print the perimeter pads on the 120 pin BGA and skip the 50 interior pads, are you sure they are non-functional? They may be non-functional electrically but they may be very functionally thermally.

Before you write off those center balls, make sure they are not required for thermal cooling of the package, in which case you definitely want to solder them down to the pads of the board.

You may even want to put through-holes in those pads to dissipate that heat down into the board. Your component manufacturer should give you those instructions.

Phil

So, the answer to your question A.I. is yeah, you can. But assuming that those balls don't indeed have a function, be sure of that. Beyond that, is it really worth it? That is for you to decide, the economics of it.

Jim

One other concern, which I don't think is applicable here, but in a high rel situation you would be concerned about, by not soldering all of the balls, the long-term reliability of that part, the thermal cycling, vibration and so forth.

But with these cost considerations, I am assuming that this is a low-end product or that would not be a concern.

Phil

That is what he basically states, a low-end product so I have to wonder about the economics as well.

You have been listening to Board Talk with Phil Zarrow and Jim Hall. I would just like to add that however you are soldering your balls, please don't solder like my brother.

Jim

Don't solder like my brother.

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