Effects of reflow soldering methods on the lifetime of capacitors

The influences of different soldering methods and specific thermal profiles were investigated on the lifetime of through hole capacitors. The behavior of aluminum electrolytic, ceramic and two capacitor types with different plastic dielectric capacitors were evaluated when using alternative soldering methods instead of the standard wave soldering process, such as vapour phase or infrared convection. The changes in the values of capacitance and ESR of the capacitors were monitored before and after soldering and the influence of the different techniques on their lifetimes was assessed.