LEA-6 / NEO-6 - Hardware Integration Manual
GPS.G6-HW-09007-A
Preliminary
Product handling
Page 40 of 62
3.2.4
Cleaning
In general, cleaning the populated modules is strongly discouraged. Residues underneath the modules cannot be
easily removed with a washing process.
•
Cleaning with water will lead to capillary effects where water is absorbed in the gap between the baseboard
and the module. The combination of residues of soldering flux and encapsulated water leads to short
circuits or resistor-like interconnections between neighboring pads.
•
Cleaning with alcohol or other organic solvents can result in soldering flux residues flooding into the two
housings, areas that are not accessible for post-wash inspections. The solvent will also damage the sticker
and the ink-jet printed text.
•
Ultrasonic cleaning will permanently damage the module, in particular the quartz oscillators.
The best approach is to use a "no clean" soldering paste and eliminate the cleaning step after the soldering.
3.2.5
Repeated reflow soldering
Only single reflow soldering processes are recommended for boards populated with u-blox 6 modules. The
reason for this is the risk of the module falling off due to high weight in relation to the adhesive properties of
the solder. This also applies to soldering processes with the module upside down.
Repeated reflow soldering processes and soldering the module upside down are not recommended.
3.2.6
Wave soldering
Base boards with combined through-hole technology (THT) components and surface-mount technology (SMT)
devices require wave soldering to solder the THT components. Only a single wave soldering process is
encouraged for boards populated with u-blox 6 modules.
3.2.7
Hand soldering
Hand soldering is allowed. Use a soldering iron temperature setting equivalent to 350°C and carry out the hand
soldering according to the IPC recommendations / reference documents IPC7711. Place the module precisely on
the pads. Start with a cross-diagonal fixture soldering (e.g. pins 1 and 15), and then continue from left to right.
3.2.8
Rework
The u-blox 6 module can be unsoldered from the baseboard using a hot air gun.
Attention: use of a hot air gun can lead to overheating and severely damage the module.
Always avoid overheating the module.
After the module is removed, clean the pads before placing and hand-soldering a new module.
Never attempt a rework on the module itself, e.g. replacing individual components. Such
actions immediately terminate the warranty.
3.2.9
Conformal coating
Certain applications employ a conformal coating of the PCB using HumiSeal
®
or other related coating products.
These materials affect the HF properties of the GPS module and it is important to prevent them from flowing
into the module. The RF shields do not provide 100% protection for the module from coating liquids with low
viscosity, therefore care is required in applying the coating.
Conformal Coating of the module will void the warranty.
3.2.10
Casting
If casting is required, use viscose or another type of silicon pottant. The OEM is strongly advised to qualify such
processes in combination with the u-blox 6 module before implementing this in the production.
Casting will void the warranty.
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