Homebrew PCBs

James,

Bertho is correct.  Most IC's I worked with came in vacuum packed
backs with desiccant and a moisture indicator.  When re-flow soldering
you really should bake them if the moisture indicator is reading too
high but for hand soldering you shouldn't have any problems.

I've had issues with lots of LED's failing when heat curing silicone
conformal coating.  Be careful not to heat them up past spec...ours
started dying around 195 F but really starting giving out after 212 F.
 Turns out someone had cranked up the heat to cut the drying time in
half.

--
Erik L. Knise
Seattle, WA

On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 8:57 AM, Boman33 <boman33@...> wrote:
> Some electronic components can absorb humidity and when going through the
> thermal soldering cycle the humidity can expand and cause microscopic cracks
> that later allows more humidly to get in and possibly degrade internal
> circuits.
>
> Baking is a common requirement for some complex ICs but I have not seen it
> for LEDs.  For non-military-medical ... applications I would not worry about
> it for hobby use.
>
> Bertho
>