Samtec SEARAY™ SEAM, SEAF Series solder joints are now classified as Class 3 in the IPC-A-610 Rev F Standard. Class 3 is for high performance/harsh environment electronic products. This includes products where continual high performance or performance-on-demand is critical, equipment downtime cannot be tolerated, the end-use environment may be extremely harsh, and the equipment must function when required. Common examples include flight controls on an aircraft and life support or other critical medical systems.
Thanks to our friends at Rockwell Collins for testing these products and allowing us to share their summary.
View the Rockwell Collins’ white paper.
SEARAY™ products include tin-lead or lead-free solder charge terminations for ease of processing. The method used to solder these high density interconnects is the same used for many BGA devices.
Learn more about processing SEARAY interconnects with solder charge technology.
Please note this Class 3 qualification does NOT apply to the SEAM8/SEAF8 Series solder joints as they are different from the SEAM/SEAF Series solder joints in some significant ways. This is still under review.
Bob Wettermann says
Class II is the general commercial standard: items produced and inspected to IPC-A-610 Class II are deemed quality for typical commercial applications. Class III are deemed to be appropriate for hi-reliability and mission critical applications. Also, for small volume applications, IPC Class II workmanship and inspection will be just fine. But for some with tighter reliability requirements, e.g. aerospace, military, medical, harsh environments, class III workmanship, and inspection may be required.