Incorrect handling and improper storage of PCBs can have fatal consequences. Contamination, moisture and electrostatic charge can irreparably damage PCBs and later electronic assemblies, reduce solderability and affect the electrical test.
Absorbed moisture in base materials can cause internal delamination, warping and warping or excessive stresses in the through-hole metallization. The reason: During soldering, the absorbed moisture evaporates explosively and delamination or other damage to the PCB is caused. For this reason, the PCBs should either be vacuum-sealed and packed airtight or stored dry in shrink-wrap in an ESD-compliant manner (see storage conditions below).
The professional storage of printed circuit boards is described in the IPC-1601 guideline. ZVEI recommendation for implementation.
We have summarized the most important Rules for correct storage summarized, to avoid moisture absorption of the printed circuit boards and to maintain optimum solderability:
- Leave the PCBs in the closed transport packaging until they are assembled
- Store under the storage conditions specified below
- Observe solderability period (see below)
- Touch the edge of the printed circuit boards with clean gloves
- Do not touch soldering surfaces directly with your hands
- Process printed circuit boards from opened transport packaging after a maximum of one week
Storage conditions:
- Storage temperature 20 °C ± 5 K
- Relative humidity: max. 60 %
- Avoid direct sunlight
Storage periods of the PCB surfaces (under the above storage conditions):
- Electroless nickel/gold: 12 months
- Immersion tin: 9 months
- HAL lead-free: 12 months
- Entek Plus: 6 months
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5 Responses
Proper storage is always important. Thank you for the detailed information on the storage of printed circuit boards. I would not have thought that there are storage periods for metal.
My uncle is an expert in PCB assembly. Because of him, I would like to do more research on printed circuit boards. It's good to know that there are certain rules for storing PCBs.
Thank you for this article on correct storage. It's good to know that you should pay particular attention to the correct storage of electrical items. I'm also going to rent a storage room.
You could possibly rent a pallet warehouse where you can store the goods safely. When I founded my start-up, I rented a lot of warehouses and it worked well. What do you think? Thank you!
Thanks for the tips on storage. It's not easy. The warehouse needs to be organized.