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I am reflowing a design using an electric skillet. When the uC and LEDs arrived they were in moisture sensitive packaging. They were in sealed bags with moisture indicator cards. After I opened them I put them in sealable sandwich bags. Now one of my products is failing and I am wondering if moisture damage during reflow could be a culprit. Any ideas what kind of failure would result from a part taking on too much moisture?

PeterJ
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Bill
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The biggest issue with moisture is that it can cause popcorning during heating to soldering temperatures. The water in the package boils and explodes the package. There are other ways moisture can make a device fail, but most likely if you didn't get popcorn when you heated the parts, that's not the cause of your problems.

Olin Lathrop
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  • What would popcorn look like? I saw a uC over voltaged once and it popped with a pinhole with smoke coming out. If I am looking for popcorn damage, would I hear a pop and maybe see a pinhole? – Bill Jul 02 '13 at 23:22
  • @BSEE: There would usually be visible damage. Most of the time there is really obvious visible damage. – Olin Lathrop Jul 03 '13 at 12:23