Baking parts sometimes necessary?

Question

I ordered a couple of samples from TI and was surprised to find one bag of the parts in a moisture-barrier bag with a "Bake prior to vapor or IR soldering to reduce the chances of damage" warning label. The other, seemingly similar, part came in a standard anti-static bag.

REF5040AID - in vapor barrier antistatic bag REF5020AID - in standard antistatic bag

These parts, IMHO, are pretty darn similar considering that only the voltage is different. Is there any special reason one was tagged as needing baking and the other wasn't?

I checked the TI web site for moisture-sensitivity info and the "rating" for both parts was the same:

REF5020AID MSL Level-2-260C-1 YEAR REF5040AID MSL Level-2-260C-1 YEAR

From the TI site: "MSL (Moisture Sensitivity Level): is a JEDEC industry standard classification that defines the length of time products can be safely exposed to the ambient environment prior to high-temperature reflow soldering."

It appears that they are both as sensitive (or not) to moisture, so I'm a bit confused as to why the REF4040AID part was vapor-barrier bagged. Not really important?

Thanks for any help you can give me, John

John · Accepted Answer

Just to be clear, there's no way I'm baking any components before using them. :-)

I was just wondering why similar components might be marked different ways. I'll order different parts if I find that any really require baking just for playing-around and low-volume device manufacture....no mil or high-rel applications here.

John

Tim Wescott · Answer

At sample quantities it's quite possible that someone was careless about putting the tag on the bag.  If you're not reflowing them they probably don't need to be baked -- if you _are_ going to reflow them, think of popcorn.-- Tim WescottControl systems and communications consultingNeed to learn how to apply control theory in your embedded system?"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" by Tim WescottElsevier/Newnes,

John · Answer

Yea, you're probably right.I do like popcorn though.  :-)John

Baking parts sometimes necessary?

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