タグ: IPC

IPC-A-610 Class 3 vs Class 2: Which Does Your Build Need?

A customer once sent a drawing marked only “IPC standard, high quality.” Their assembler built to Class 2, the industry default, and the first field returns came from a ventilator program that should have been Class 3 from day one. IPC-A-610 Class 3 is the high-reliability workmanship standard: it demands 100% inspection, complete solder wetting, and void limits roughly half of what Class 2 allows. Choose it when a failure can hurt someone or ground a system — medical life-support, aerospace, defense, automotive safety. For industrial controls, telecom, and commercial electronics, Class 2 is the right call. Short answer up front: IPC-A-610 Class 3 is not a premium badge you […]