ANNA-B112 - System integration manual
UBX-18009821 - R09
Handling and soldering
Page 51 of 66
C1-Public
4.3.2
Cleaning
Cleaning the module is not recommended. Residues underneath the module 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
areas that are not accessible for post-wash inspections.
•
Ultrasonic cleaning will permanently damage the module, in particular the crystal oscillators.
For best results use a "no clean" soldering paste and eliminate the cleaning step after the soldering
process.
4.3.3
Potting
If potting is required for the ANNA-B112 module, it is recommended to use a material with similar
parameters as used in the module. The important parameters are described in Table 17.
The thickness of the potting should also be considered to avoid warpage of the PCB.
Parmeter
Unit
Value
Shrinkage
%
0.17
Modulus (25 °C)
MPa
20000
Modulus (260 °C)
MPa
500
Table 17: Parameters potting
If the antenna and/or antenna trace is covered by the potting, it will affect the RF characteristics of
the module. This might also affect the certification of the module and the antenna will most likely be
classified as a new antenna requiring recertification.
⚠
No hardware troubleshooting will be done by u-blox support on the potted modules.
4.3.4
Other remarks
•
Boards with combined through-hole technology (THT) components and surface-mount technology
(SMT) devices may require wave soldering to solder the THT components. Only a single wave
soldering process is allowed for boards populated with the module.
Miniature Wave Selective
Solder process is preferred over traditional wave soldering process.
•
Hand soldering is not recommended.
•
Rework is not recommended.
•
Grounding metal covers: attempts to improve grounding by soldering ground cables, wick or other
forms of metal strips directly onto the EMI covers is done at the customer's own risk and will void
module’s warranty. The numerous ground pins are adequate to provide optimal immunity to
interferences.
•
The module contains components that are sensitive to Ultrasonic Waves. Use of any ultrasonic
processes such as cleaning, welding etc., may damage the module. Use of ultrasonic processes on
an end product integrating this module will void the warranty.
