Some manufacturers may decide not to require soldered-in I.C.'s (which would have ensured reliability), as the cost of repairing boards with bad I.C.'s could be reduced by using easily replaced units. This may cut parts costs, as lower cost I.C.'s might be employed in manufacturing, under the assumption that replacement of marginal I.C.’s should be uncommon.

 

Stabilant treatment of socketed I.C.’s improves the economics of repairs vs. time of serviceability. One precaution should be observed, however, in application methods.

 

In very high speed (fast rise time) memory applications, one may encounter high pin counts with closely spaced leads. It must be remembered that the capacitance between adjacent contacts is increased by any Stabilant residue on the socket insulation.

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This may be negligible, considering the reduced resistance of the contact, but this is not certain in very high speed applications. It may be necessary to remove the I.C.'s, then apply the Stabilant only to the metal contacts themselves. This can be accomplished by using a piece of thin felt (saturated with Stabilant 22A) as a multi-pin applicator.

 

Remember, only a very thin film of Stabilant is needed and is only required to be on the metal contact surfaces. We advise this care in avoiding excess in other situations:

 

Very high impedance circuits with low voltage and current are sensitive to leakage currents. Stabilant exposed on insulator surfaces is more prone to absorbing moisture from ambient humidity than the insulation of sockets, PCB’s and conformal coatings.

 

In the opposite extreme, where high voltages (e.g., over 100V) are present between conductors or contacts, we likewise recommend this precaution to prevent leakage current or arcing between conductors