PCBs: HASL, Lead-free HASL or ENIG finish?

.... try a smd practice board

I plan to test my smd-soldering mettle by trying to desolder and then resolder a bunch of parts on a pcb that came out of my DAC as part of an upgrade. I've read/watched about the the difficulties of desoldering those millipede iC's, so this should be "fun".  Liberal use of a heat gun may be involved (for desoldering).  What I lack in skill I make up for with dogged determination (aka stubbornness), so I am weakly confident that I'll figure it out.   

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Contact us to discuss your requirements of lead-free hasl. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

Also, purchase extra small parts.  You sneeze or cough and a 603 resistor will be gone for good. 

That already happens to me with parts that are an order of magnitude larger! Although usually not from sneezing. So I've ordered enough of the small cheap parts (wow are smd parts cheap compared to through-hole!) to populate 10 boards and enough of the more expensive ICs to complete 5. I've ordered the min 5 boards, but only need 1. So with luck I'll have a surplus of spare parts and have enough left over to complete at least 1 or 2 of the other boards.

cheers and thanks, Derek

More good advice. Much appreciated!I plan to test my smd-soldering mettle by trying to desolder and then resolder a bunch of parts on a pcb that came out of my DAC as part of an upgrade. I've read/watched about the the difficulties of desoldering those millipede iC's, so this should be "fun". Liberal use of a heat gun may be involved (for desoldering). What I lack in skill I make up for with dogged determination (aka stubbornness), so I am weakly confident that I'll figure it out.That already happens to me with parts that are an order of magnitude larger! Although usually not from sneezing. So I've ordered enough of the small cheap parts (wow are smd parts cheap compared to through-hole!) to populate 10 boards and enough of the more expensive ICs to complete 5. I've ordered the min 5 boards, but only need 1. So with luck I'll have a surplus of spare parts and have enough left over to complete at least 1 or 2 of the other boards.cheers and thanks, Derek

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Immersion silver (IS)

Although immersion silver finish has been widely used for over 20 years, it is the newest of all the commonly used PCB surface finishes. It is now the most popular finish of all. It is low cost, and simple to process. It is also an environmentally friendly process. The finish is flat, and there is no heat-shock to the PCB. It is wire bondable and suitable for keypads. The general shelf life of IS finished PCBs is 6 months although they will keep fresh longer if kept sealed from air. Any oxidation will manifest itself with a greying of the silver layer. In practice, this does not prevent effective soldering because the flux in solder paste will easily penetrate this layer. This finish is multi-step soldering tolerant.

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