Cleaning and Cleanliness Quantification MasterClass

Over 5 Hours of Video Content and 524 Pages of Downloadable Course Material

Preview the Course




Price $249.00

Course available on-demand for 90 days from purchase date

Course Outline

Over 5 Hours of Course Content plus 524 pages of downloadable course materials.



The History of Cleaning

Popular cleaning methods before the age of no-clean.

Our Contract with No-Clean

The context in which much of the electronic assembly industry chose to abandon cleaning in favor of a no-clean process. What’s changed since that fateful decision?

The Usual Suspects

Flux is not the only potentially harmful residue on a post-reflow circuit assembly. Contamination species from board fabrication, component fabrication, assembly processes, and human contamination will be discussed.


ECM Failure Mechanisms

Electro-chemical migration takes at least three forms, dendritic growth, parasitic electrical leakage, and conductive anodic filamentation. All three ECM manifestations will be discussed.

Harsh Environments

Many assemblies are functioning in harsh environments. What exactly is the definition of a harsh environment? We’ll discuss how harsh environments decrease a circuit assembly’s tolerance for residues.

Internet of Things (IOT)

The explosion of connect devices, many of which are class 1 devices, are subjected to harsh environments and are experiencing field failures. We’ll discuss the reasons and methods to improve reliability.


Conventional ECM Mitigation Techniques

Much of the electronic assembly industry stopped cleaning in the early 1990’s. So much has changed in cleaning processes since the introduction of no-clean flux technology. Today’s cleaning technology (equipment and chemical) is vastly different than cleaning technologies and methods of the past. Modern ECM mitigation practices will be presented. Methods to evaluate ECM failure potential will also be reviewed. 

What Could Go Wrong by Not Cleaning

Much of the electronic assembly industry stopped cleaning in the early 1990’s. So much has changed in cleaning processes since the introduction of no-clean flux technology. Modern circuit assemblies have a considerably lower residue tolerance than their older counterparts. Residue associated failure mechanisms will be presented and discussed.

What Could Go Wrong by Cleaning / Cleaning Best Practices

If cleaning is to be performed, it must be performed thoroughly. A poor cleaning process is a failed cleaning process and will result in rapid failures.


Cleanliness Quantification Techniques (New J-STD)

IPC’s new J-STD001H is a game changer. New cleanliness testing and process qualification methods are now required. We will present the new IPC cleanliness quantification requirements.

Obtaining Clean Assemblies

Cleaning circuit assemblies today is much more challenging than assemblies of the past. We will review the five basic steps to successful cleaning of circuit assemblies.

The Dirty Dozen

We will review the twelve common cleaning mistakes made when cleaning circuit assemblies. 

The Mechanics of Cleaning

Bottom terminated components, high component densities, and high reflow temperatures combine to challenge any cleaning process. We will discuss the mechanics of fluid dynamics, ensuring wash and rinse solutions are effectively delivered to all areas of the circuit assembly. 

Environmental Best Practices

We do not want to solve one problem (circuit assembly reliability) only to create another (environmental liability). We will discuss the environmental best-practices to ensure environmental responsibility when cleaning circuit assemblies.

Your Instructor


Mike Konrad began his career in the electronic assembly equipment industry in 1985. Mike founded Aqueous Technologies in 1992 in response to the Montreal Protocol and the resulting international treaty banning most popular cleaning/defluxing solvents.

Mike is an internationally known speaker on the subject of increasing reliability through contamination removal and cleanliness quantification techniques and procedures. Mike was awarded “Distinguish Speaker Status” with SMTA in 2018 and received the “Rich Freiberger Best of Conference Award” in 2019.

Mike is an elected member of the SMTA Global Board of Directors where he chairs the Communications Committee. Mike is also Vice President of Technical Programs for the Los Angeles / Orange County SMTA Chapter.

Mike is the IPC 5-31: Cleaning and Alternatives Subcommittee Vice-Chair and is the host of the popular Reliability Matters Podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and many other podcast sites.

Enroll Today

The removal of ionic residues from post-reflow circuit assemblies is a widely accepted method to improve reliability. Today’s Circuit assemblies are vastly different from those of the past. Higher reflow temperatures, smaller and more densely populated components, bottom terminated components, and the increased volume of circuit assemblies placed into harsh environments have all contributed to the decline of residue tolerance on an assembly. The fact is, modern circuit assemblies can tolerate far less residues than assemblies of the past.

This MasterClass is designed to provide the knowledge to improve the reliability of your circuit assemblies by eliminating common ECM-related failures.

Course Cost: $249.00

This Course is Also Available Live On-Site

Experience this Masterclass live at your facility. Engage directly with your instructor and maximize your experience.

Contact Mike for details and pricing:
[email protected]