Surface mount DC/DC converter attachment to printed circuit board

This thesis describes the design and development of a new DC/DC converter. The new converter will replace the current Pin Through Hole converter in order to eliminate the wave soldering need for the attachment of DC/DC converters to printed circuit boards at Celestica Inc. Four alternative solutions have been considered for this application. The candidate solution, a Surface Mount converter has been described in details.; The new Surface Mount converter is designed with a surface mount header and lead-free solder. The new header is designed to meet the need of the current surface mount manufacturing process. Three lead-free solder paste candidates have been evaluated for use with manufacturing of the new converter.; The solder joints from the lead-free solder paste candidates have been examined for their mechanical strength. They show better mechanical strength than the current Sn/Pb solder joints. A list of additional tests has been provided for future work.