Conventional pattern
plating in an acid bath is a difficult process to control.
The surface to be plated must be computed accurately, and
limitations are placed on applications that require durablity or
operate at extreme temperatures. Also, brighteners and
additives can cause unseen failures like cracking, due to Z axis
expansion or separation of the plated copper from the base copper
or hole wall. Further, the waste products with additives
from acid baths are difficult to dispose of.
Eddy Electronics
avoids all of these problems by implementing a pyrophosphate
copper plating bath as opposed to the acid bath.
Pyrophosphate plating produces copper of exceptional ductility and
elongation strength (i.e. elastic, will not crack). In a
pyrophosphate bath, panel plating is used as opposed to pattern
plating, which avoids the need for any calculations.
Pyrophosphates are far less damaging to the environment, as they
are easily recycled and replenished, rather than routinely
flushed.
Efficient Copper
Etching
Compared with
conventional methods, our high efficiency etching consumes less
energy and chemicals per ounce of copper, is less toxic and is
completely recycleable.
High Performance
Surface Finishes
The electronics
packaging industry is keenly pursuing new alternatives to tin/lead
plating and solder. As a conventionally made panel cools
after reflowing, warpage can occur if there is a difference in
conductor density between sides. A ground plane on one side
of a board can cause a bend as the solder freezes. Large
areas of solder can cause areas of soldermask to chip off and
allow potential shorts during wave soldering.
Eddy Electronics'
silver immersion process offers high quality alternatives to
tin-lead. Our silver coating outperforms nearly all other
lead free alternatives: tin, organic coatings, palladium, nickel
gold, nickel tin, and bare copper.
Environmentally
Safe Materials
Tin-Lead plating is no
longer the only option for surface finishing.
Environmentally, this old standard has been our industry's
greatest liability. A conventional circuit shop produces
hazardous toxic waste from plating, rinse, reflow and etch which
all contain lead. The boards become hazardous waste even as
they come to the end of their service life. This waste takes
the form of gaseous exhaust, liquid effluent and solid waste and
can be very complicated to treat. Unfortunately, in many
countries this waste is simply discarded.
Our silver has none of
these environmental hazards.
Recyclable Waste
Products
Our claim is probably
unique: all of our metallic waste is recyclable. In our
processes, waste exists only in recyclable form. Our
competitors accumulate metal solids and sludge. All of our
processes are selected for their lowest possible environmental
impact and highest possible quality.
