Removing debris from PCBPCB etching with transparent filmPhotoresist for PCB patterningWhat would be the...
CBP Reminds Travelers to Allow 72 Hours for ESTA. Why?
How can I be pwned if I'm not registered on that site?
Are small insurances worth it
It took me a lot of time to make this, pls like. (YouTube Comments #1)
Copying files interactively: "cp: overwrite"
Is there a better way to make addon working on both blender 2.80 and 2.79?
Called into a meeting and told we are being made redundant (laid off) and "not to share outside". Can I tell my partner?
What to do when being responsible for data protection in your lab, yet advice is ignored?
Is there a frame of reference in which I was born before I was conceived?
How to avoid being sexist when trying to employ someone to function in a very sexist environment?
Where is this triangular-shaped space station from?
How to mitigate "bandwagon attacking" from players?
How to properly claim credit for peer review?
How to count occurrences of Friday 13th
How can I find an Adventure or Adventure Path I need that meets certain criteria?
What can I substitute for soda pop in a sweet pork recipe?
When does inspiration across artforms become plagiarism
Why zero tolerance on nudity in space?
Why does Starman/Roadster have radial acceleration?
Should I choose Itemized or Standard deduction?
Unexpected behavior of Bash script: First executes function, afterwards executes alias
How to speed up a process
How to acknowledge an embarrassing job interview, now that I work directly with the interviewer?
"Murder!" The knight said
Removing debris from PCB
PCB etching with transparent filmPhotoresist for PCB patterningWhat would be the easiest method of removing FR-4 from a FCBGA chipPCB Open Via IssueAltium hide component designators in fabrication ourput gerberPCB layer sequencingPCB Panel Size for Maximum ManufacturabilityHow to create documentation layer at PBC at homeGeneral circuit debugging techniques, and my 555 timer in particularPCB plated through hole short-circuit
$begingroup$
I have a PCB with no solder mask with a very dense layout and a very fine trace spacing.
I didn't get a solder mask because it's still in the prototyping phase, and it's way cheaper.
I keep having to stop, find the new shorts that keep popping up, and remove metal fibers that are barely visible.
From what I can tell the fibers are aluminum from the pcb so a magnet is no help.
Is there a trick to remove them faster or a way to stop this from happening?
pcb-fabrication short-circuit debugging
edited 21 hours ago
Michael Karas
44.5k348103
asked 21 hours ago
TonyTony
31019
$endgroup$
|
show 4 more comments
$begingroup$
I have a PCB with no solder mask with a very dense layout and a very fine trace spacing.
I didn't get a solder mask because it's still in the prototyping phase, and it's way cheaper.
I keep having to stop, find the new shorts that keep popping up, and remove metal fibers that are barely visible.
From what I can tell the fibers are aluminum from the pcb so a magnet is no help.
Is there a trick to remove them faster or a way to stop this from happening?
pcb-fabrication short-circuit debugging
edited 21 hours ago
Michael Karas
44.5k348103
asked 21 hours ago
TonyTony
31019
$endgroup$
2
$begingroup$
Aluminum? That would be rare as aluminum is pretty much only used for the heat sink layer of a metal core pcb. More likely you're learning about Tin whiskers and would benefit from reading more about them. I don't know the answer to this question the way you've phrased it other than "better tools, use solder mask"
$endgroup$
– K H
21 hours ago
$begingroup$
compressed air?
$endgroup$
– Wesley Lee
21 hours ago
$begingroup$
Compressed air didn't help. Your right it is Tin... I looked at "whiskering" on wikipedia, that seems to be whats happening. Tomorrow I'll get some solder on the problem traces and see if that fixes it.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Who did the soldering?
$endgroup$
– Ale..chenski
20 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
Yes, there is one proven way: USE MORE FLUX.
$endgroup$
– Ale..chenski
20 hours ago
|
show 4 more comments
$begingroup$
I have a PCB with no solder mask with a very dense layout and a very fine trace spacing.
I didn't get a solder mask because it's still in the prototyping phase, and it's way cheaper.
I keep having to stop, find the new shorts that keep popping up, and remove metal fibers that are barely visible.
From what I can tell the fibers are aluminum from the pcb so a magnet is no help.
Is there a trick to remove them faster or a way to stop this from happening?
pcb-fabrication short-circuit debugging
edited 21 hours ago
Michael Karas
44.5k348103
asked 21 hours ago
TonyTony
31019
$endgroup$
I have a PCB with no solder mask with a very dense layout and a very fine trace spacing.
I didn't get a solder mask because it's still in the prototyping phase, and it's way cheaper.
I keep having to stop, find the new shorts that keep popping up, and remove metal fibers that are barely visible.
From what I can tell the fibers are aluminum from the pcb so a magnet is no help.
Is there a trick to remove them faster or a way to stop this from happening?
pcb-fabrication short-circuit debugging
pcb-fabrication short-circuit debugging
edited 21 hours ago
Michael Karas
44.5k348103
asked 21 hours ago
TonyTony
31019
edited 21 hours ago
Michael Karas
44.5k348103
asked 21 hours ago
TonyTony
31019
edited 21 hours ago
Michael Karas
44.5k348103
edited 21 hours ago
Michael Karas
44.5k348103
edited 21 hours ago
Michael Karas
44.5k348103
44.5k348103
asked 21 hours ago
TonyTony
31019
asked 21 hours ago
TonyTony
31019
asked 21 hours ago
TonyTony
31019
31019
2
$begingroup$
Aluminum? That would be rare as aluminum is pretty much only used for the heat sink layer of a metal core pcb. More likely you're learning about Tin whiskers and would benefit from reading more about them. I don't know the answer to this question the way you've phrased it other than "better tools, use solder mask"
$endgroup$
– K H
21 hours ago
$begingroup$
compressed air?
$endgroup$
– Wesley Lee
21 hours ago
$begingroup$
Compressed air didn't help. Your right it is Tin... I looked at "whiskering" on wikipedia, that seems to be whats happening. Tomorrow I'll get some solder on the problem traces and see if that fixes it.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Who did the soldering?
$endgroup$
– Ale..chenski
20 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
Yes, there is one proven way: USE MORE FLUX.
$endgroup$
– Ale..chenski
20 hours ago
|
show 4 more comments
2
$begingroup$
Aluminum? That would be rare as aluminum is pretty much only used for the heat sink layer of a metal core pcb. More likely you're learning about Tin whiskers and would benefit from reading more about them. I don't know the answer to this question the way you've phrased it other than "better tools, use solder mask"
$endgroup$
– K H
21 hours ago
$begingroup$
compressed air?
$endgroup$
– Wesley Lee
21 hours ago
$begingroup$
Compressed air didn't help. Your right it is Tin... I looked at "whiskering" on wikipedia, that seems to be whats happening. Tomorrow I'll get some solder on the problem traces and see if that fixes it.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Who did the soldering?
$endgroup$
– Ale..chenski
20 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
Yes, there is one proven way: USE MORE FLUX.
$endgroup$
– Ale..chenski
20 hours ago
2
2
$begingroup$
Aluminum? That would be rare as aluminum is pretty much only used for the heat sink layer of a metal core pcb. More likely you're learning about Tin whiskers and would benefit from reading more about them. I don't know the answer to this question the way you've phrased it other than "better tools, use solder mask"
$endgroup$
– K H
21 hours ago
$begingroup$
Aluminum? That would be rare as aluminum is pretty much only used for the heat sink layer of a metal core pcb. More likely you're learning about Tin whiskers and would benefit from reading more about them. I don't know the answer to this question the way you've phrased it other than "better tools, use solder mask"
$endgroup$
– K H
21 hours ago
$begingroup$
compressed air?
$endgroup$
– Wesley Lee
21 hours ago
$begingroup$
compressed air?
$endgroup$
– Wesley Lee
21 hours ago
$begingroup$
Compressed air didn't help. Your right it is Tin... I looked at "whiskering" on wikipedia, that seems to be whats happening. Tomorrow I'll get some solder on the problem traces and see if that fixes it.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Compressed air didn't help. Your right it is Tin... I looked at "whiskering" on wikipedia, that seems to be whats happening. Tomorrow I'll get some solder on the problem traces and see if that fixes it.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Who did the soldering?
$endgroup$
– Ale..chenski
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Who did the soldering?
$endgroup$
– Ale..chenski
20 hours ago
1
1
$begingroup$
Yes, there is one proven way: USE MORE FLUX.
$endgroup$
– Ale..chenski
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yes, there is one proven way: USE MORE FLUX.
$endgroup$
– Ale..chenski
20 hours ago
|
show 4 more comments
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
The trick to stop this from happening is to order your PCB with solder mask. Do consider the cost of your time when deciding that it is cheaper to order boards without.
answered 21 hours ago
Michael KarasMichael Karas
44.5k348103
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I got this board w/ 1 day turn around time with overnight shipping for $250 vs paying over $2000 and 5 day turn around when including a solder mask for a design that hasn't been proven.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
You might also want to consider using leaded solder, as lead inhibits the formation of whiskers, if that is your problem. As long as you dispose of it properly, there's nothing wrong with using lead in your prototypes, just try to keep it out of any final products.
$endgroup$
– Hearth
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yep, that's all we use. All of our designs are just for internal use.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
Did you end up using more or less than $1750 worth of your time finding and fixing shorts, though?
$endgroup$
– The Photon
18 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
You can run an x-acto knife backward between all the traces (backward meaning to scrape, rather than to cut). That seems to clear the whiskers.
$endgroup$
– TimWescott
17 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
Your Answer
StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["\$", "\$"]]);
});
});
}, "mathjax-editing");
StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
return StackExchange.using("schematics", function () {
StackExchange.schematics.init();
});
}, "cicuitlab");
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "135"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2felectronics.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f425459%2fremoving-debris-from-pcb%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
The trick to stop this from happening is to order your PCB with solder mask. Do consider the cost of your time when deciding that it is cheaper to order boards without.
answered 21 hours ago
Michael KarasMichael Karas
44.5k348103
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I got this board w/ 1 day turn around time with overnight shipping for $250 vs paying over $2000 and 5 day turn around when including a solder mask for a design that hasn't been proven.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
You might also want to consider using leaded solder, as lead inhibits the formation of whiskers, if that is your problem. As long as you dispose of it properly, there's nothing wrong with using lead in your prototypes, just try to keep it out of any final products.
$endgroup$
– Hearth
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yep, that's all we use. All of our designs are just for internal use.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
Did you end up using more or less than $1750 worth of your time finding and fixing shorts, though?
$endgroup$
– The Photon
18 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
You can run an x-acto knife backward between all the traces (backward meaning to scrape, rather than to cut). That seems to clear the whiskers.
$endgroup$
– TimWescott
17 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
$begingroup$
The trick to stop this from happening is to order your PCB with solder mask. Do consider the cost of your time when deciding that it is cheaper to order boards without.
answered 21 hours ago
Michael KarasMichael Karas
44.5k348103
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I got this board w/ 1 day turn around time with overnight shipping for $250 vs paying over $2000 and 5 day turn around when including a solder mask for a design that hasn't been proven.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
You might also want to consider using leaded solder, as lead inhibits the formation of whiskers, if that is your problem. As long as you dispose of it properly, there's nothing wrong with using lead in your prototypes, just try to keep it out of any final products.
$endgroup$
– Hearth
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yep, that's all we use. All of our designs are just for internal use.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
Did you end up using more or less than $1750 worth of your time finding and fixing shorts, though?
$endgroup$
– The Photon
18 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
You can run an x-acto knife backward between all the traces (backward meaning to scrape, rather than to cut). That seems to clear the whiskers.
$endgroup$
– TimWescott
17 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
$begingroup$
The trick to stop this from happening is to order your PCB with solder mask. Do consider the cost of your time when deciding that it is cheaper to order boards without.
answered 21 hours ago
Michael KarasMichael Karas
44.5k348103
$endgroup$
The trick to stop this from happening is to order your PCB with solder mask. Do consider the cost of your time when deciding that it is cheaper to order boards without.
answered 21 hours ago
Michael KarasMichael Karas
44.5k348103
answered 21 hours ago
Michael KarasMichael Karas
44.5k348103
answered 21 hours ago
Michael KarasMichael Karas
44.5k348103
answered 21 hours ago
Michael KarasMichael Karas
44.5k348103
44.5k348103
$begingroup$
I got this board w/ 1 day turn around time with overnight shipping for $250 vs paying over $2000 and 5 day turn around when including a solder mask for a design that hasn't been proven.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
You might also want to consider using leaded solder, as lead inhibits the formation of whiskers, if that is your problem. As long as you dispose of it properly, there's nothing wrong with using lead in your prototypes, just try to keep it out of any final products.
$endgroup$
– Hearth
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yep, that's all we use. All of our designs are just for internal use.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
Did you end up using more or less than $1750 worth of your time finding and fixing shorts, though?
$endgroup$
– The Photon
18 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
You can run an x-acto knife backward between all the traces (backward meaning to scrape, rather than to cut). That seems to clear the whiskers.
$endgroup$
– TimWescott
17 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
$begingroup$
I got this board w/ 1 day turn around time with overnight shipping for $250 vs paying over $2000 and 5 day turn around when including a solder mask for a design that hasn't been proven.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
You might also want to consider using leaded solder, as lead inhibits the formation of whiskers, if that is your problem. As long as you dispose of it properly, there's nothing wrong with using lead in your prototypes, just try to keep it out of any final products.
$endgroup$
– Hearth
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yep, that's all we use. All of our designs are just for internal use.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
2
$begingroup$
Did you end up using more or less than $1750 worth of your time finding and fixing shorts, though?
$endgroup$
– The Photon
18 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
You can run an x-acto knife backward between all the traces (backward meaning to scrape, rather than to cut). That seems to clear the whiskers.
$endgroup$
– TimWescott
17 hours ago
$begingroup$
I got this board w/ 1 day turn around time with overnight shipping for $250 vs paying over $2000 and 5 day turn around when including a solder mask for a design that hasn't been proven.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
I got this board w/ 1 day turn around time with overnight shipping for $250 vs paying over $2000 and 5 day turn around when including a solder mask for a design that hasn't been proven.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
1
1
$begingroup$
You might also want to consider using leaded solder, as lead inhibits the formation of whiskers, if that is your problem. As long as you dispose of it properly, there's nothing wrong with using lead in your prototypes, just try to keep it out of any final products.
$endgroup$
– Hearth
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
You might also want to consider using leaded solder, as lead inhibits the formation of whiskers, if that is your problem. As long as you dispose of it properly, there's nothing wrong with using lead in your prototypes, just try to keep it out of any final products.
$endgroup$
– Hearth
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yep, that's all we use. All of our designs are just for internal use.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Yep, that's all we use. All of our designs are just for internal use.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
2
2
$begingroup$
Did you end up using more or less than $1750 worth of your time finding and fixing shorts, though?
$endgroup$
– The Photon
18 hours ago
$begingroup$
Did you end up using more or less than $1750 worth of your time finding and fixing shorts, though?
$endgroup$
– The Photon
18 hours ago
1
1
$begingroup$
You can run an x-acto knife backward between all the traces (backward meaning to scrape, rather than to cut). That seems to clear the whiskers.
$endgroup$
– TimWescott
17 hours ago
$begingroup$
You can run an x-acto knife backward between all the traces (backward meaning to scrape, rather than to cut). That seems to clear the whiskers.
$endgroup$
– TimWescott
17 hours ago
|
show 2 more comments
Thanks for contributing an answer to Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2felectronics.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f425459%2fremoving-debris-from-pcb%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
2
$begingroup$
Aluminum? That would be rare as aluminum is pretty much only used for the heat sink layer of a metal core pcb. More likely you're learning about Tin whiskers and would benefit from reading more about them. I don't know the answer to this question the way you've phrased it other than "better tools, use solder mask"
$endgroup$
– K H
21 hours ago
$begingroup$
compressed air?
$endgroup$
– Wesley Lee
21 hours ago
$begingroup$
Compressed air didn't help. Your right it is Tin... I looked at "whiskering" on wikipedia, that seems to be whats happening. Tomorrow I'll get some solder on the problem traces and see if that fixes it.
$endgroup$
– Tony
20 hours ago
$begingroup$
Who did the soldering?
$endgroup$
– Ale..chenski
20 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
Yes, there is one proven way: USE MORE FLUX.
$endgroup$
– Ale..chenski
20 hours ago