In Part 1 of this two-part column series, I discussed how one can address the challenge of solder balls before completing a build or starting production build. In Part 2, I will explore the second challenge we often hear about: tombstoning.

Tombstoning defects on two-pin chips occur after reflow, but in many cases, can be corrected with stencil design. This process is very similar to performing a root-cause analysis to prevent solder balls in that first, the specific component drawing should be reviewed, and then the component outline created in Gerber. This Gerber representation of the component should be overlaid to the copper and mask layers to see how the part will sit in the solder paste after placement...