Post-assembly board cleaning and inspection
It is best to clean excess flux from the board shortly after soldering is complete. If the flux has an opportunity to dry out, it can be difficult or impossible to remove the residue.
If your solder paste is of the no-clean variety, you may choose not to remove the residue. No-clean solder paste leaves behind a limited quantity of flux residue, and this material is non-corrosive. It may be more difficult to remove the residue of this type of flux than to remove rosin flux.
Rosin flux should be cleaned from the board after soldering. This includes work done with rosin core solder wire and with liquid or pen-applied flux. The reasons why cleaning is necessary are as follows:
- Flux residue is visually unappealing. Rosin flux residue is a clear, shiny material with a yellow color that users of the device will notice. Customers purchasing the product may raise concerns about the quality of construction if it is present.
- The residue...
