@MrSlim / any others:
As mentioned - the boards will pass an electrical test at the manufacturer, so troubleshooting of the board itself will not be necessary. The immersion gold finish (as well as looking awesome) also provides better wetting & higher joint quality.
Thanks to all the 'nominal extras'!
As mentioned - the boards will pass an electrical test at the manufacturer, so troubleshooting of the board itself will not be necessary. The immersion gold finish (as well as looking awesome) also provides better wetting & higher joint quality.
Thanks to all the 'nominal extras'!
Art: Unfortunately cheaper fab houses often do simple electrical gold plating rather than the proper ENIG finish. This is indeed harder to solder, however the advantages of ENIG (Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold) as I previously mentioned include BETTER wetting & solder flow. It also provides extremely high joint reliability, which for long term performance of the amplifier is important.
The intermetallic issue is also due to poor coating technique - with comparatively thick layers of gold (3-4uM) intermetallics frequently form and worsen joint performance; however a correctly produced ENIG finish results in a very thin gold layer (0.8-1.3uM) which does not have these issues.
The gold also cannot oxidise - unlike other finishes, and the nickel under the gold actually contributes to physical joint strength also.
Any problems in ENIG finished boards are usually seen only in high-stress BGA joints - and even then are usually attributed to poor control of process parameters during manufacture.
The intermetallic issue is also due to poor coating technique - with comparatively thick layers of gold (3-4uM) intermetallics frequently form and worsen joint performance; however a correctly produced ENIG finish results in a very thin gold layer (0.8-1.3uM) which does not have these issues.
The gold also cannot oxidise - unlike other finishes, and the nickel under the gold actually contributes to physical joint strength also.
Any problems in ENIG finished boards are usually seen only in high-stress BGA joints - and even then are usually attributed to poor control of process parameters during manufacture.
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Woweee - thanks for all the payments sent last night and this morning. We have some very generous members of the community
I'll be updating all the spreadsheets asap and I'll be in touch with people if there is something that needs clarifying (a few addresses are missing, for instance).
By far the largest proportion of these nominal extra payments are going on etesting the boards. It wasn't something I would have considered but I have been persuaded and to be honest, given the extra cost per board, given how big and compicated this order is getting the peace of mind is certainly worth it. We don't want an $800+ order turning up defunct.
I'll be updating all the spreadsheets asap and I'll be in touch with people if there is something that needs clarifying (a few addresses are missing, for instance).
By far the largest proportion of these nominal extra payments are going on etesting the boards. It wasn't something I would have considered but I have been persuaded and to be honest, given the extra cost per board, given how big and compicated this order is getting the peace of mind is certainly worth it. We don't want an $800+ order turning up defunct.
Ok, I've fully updated the online spreadsheet, including who I have received payments from. If you have a spare moment, please have a wee check to make sure that the details I have recorded for you are correct.
I'm going to start sorting out all of the addresses soon. I have noticed that not all payments have address details in them so I'll be sending emails out to you if you are in that boat.
I have just finished sending little thank you emails to (nearly?) everbody. A great big public thank you to ALL of those who have made payments to the GB. It is certainly much appreciated.
I'm going to start sorting out all of the addresses soon. I have noticed that not all payments have address details in them so I'll be sending emails out to you if you are in that boat.
I have just finished sending little thank you emails to (nearly?) everbody. A great big public thank you to ALL of those who have made payments to the GB. It is certainly much appreciated.
Got it - thanks!
Got it - thanks!
You are now on the online spreadsheet
You get lumped into Israel/Rest of World. I've added you to the online spreadsheet.
No, thank you!
I have emailed everyone who I don't have an email address for.
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