Dirty PCB the new norm?

[nakedhand]

First time I noticed dirty looking PCB on a new and factory sealed product was a couple of years ago. Now I see it all the time and with all sorts of different brands.

Does anyone know if this is due to new and "improved" production methods, lack of prioritizing a clean finish, mishandling, or simply a matter of me (and others) being very unlucky?

What does it look like? It looks like someone spilled flux all over the PCB. Instead of the regular clean, high gloss look, you see the PCB covered fully or partially in a milky hazy residue. Fingerprints are often found printed into this filth. I am not pulling out my latest example (GTX 660Ti) to photograph it, so here is an old picture:

 

[munkle]

Fairly common now days, I guess they have no reason to clean the excess flux off since it doesn't really affect anything.

 

[nakedhand]

Fairly common now days, I guess they have no reason to clean the excess flux off since it doesn't really affect anything.

Too bad. But good that it does affect anything. I would think that flux would not be the best coat for longevity, but then again who cares about longevity?

 

[nakedhand]

Need more votes people. I am very curious to see if there is going to be an overabundance of "multiple times" after more votes has been cast. Remember, this is poll science! The most reliable kind...

 

[larrymoencurly]

Is it due to the use of "no clean" flux that's designed to not harm anything even if left on the PCB?

OTOH I've seen other boards with regular flux left on them. They weren't motherboards or PCI** cards but PCBs in USB hubs, external drive enclosures, and power supplies. The worst case was an Ultra (Wintech) PSU with rosin covering most of both sides.

 

[sinclair-zx81]

What is the world coming to... Those 10 year old kids assembling the boards have no work ethic.

 

[nakedhand]

What is the world coming to... Those 10 year old kids assembling the boards have no work ethic.

Thanks for sharing man..

 

[LigTasm]

I've seen it a lot lately, and I don't think it is flux residue. I would suspect some kind of chemical bath or something that the PCB went through, the soldering the automated machines do really don't leave very much flux behind.

 

[cyclone3d]

This stuff was on older boards as well. It just wasn't as visible on green boards as it is on darker colored boards.

I also don't think it is flux. Most of the parts are surface mount and the parts are put on by robotic machinery.

The only thing that is really done by hand is the loading of the boards and components into the machines.

It is kind of unlikely that anything at all is manually mounted on the boards.. including the heatsinks.

If it is flux, then it is because the nozzles on the flux machines (if they even use those anymore) are partially clogged or the nozzles are the wrong size. I kinda doubt that they would let that keep happening as it will increase production costs.

 

[blu3flannel]

I've seen it on almost everything I've purchased. I find it a bit unsettling, really. Even though everything (usually) works fine, I sometimes wonder if the quality could have been better.

 

[jorojr]

I have what looks to be dried water stains on both my 7970's. At first, I thought about taking some 90%+ isotropyl alcohol to clean it up, but after 9 months of usage, I haven't even thought about it.

 

[stryke297]

I think it's because they don't have the super glossy finish any more. I haven't found anything covered in flux, but they're always covered in finger prints.