PCB Ribbon Bond Reliability: A Flat Wire Instead of a Round One Modern electronics depend on boards that are assembled correctly the first time. Every product – a phone, a charger, a medical instrument or an industrial controller – relies on thousands of solder joints that must conduct current for…

Solder Pallet Design for Selective Soldering What a Solder Pallet Does A solder pallet is a machined carrier that holds a printed circuit board during selective soldering, masking the areas that must not see solder while exposing the through-hole joints that must. It also provides mechanical support so the board…

PCB Copper Trace Etch Factor: The Shape Left After Etching Buyers and engineers often focus on the finished product and forget the production line behind it. In practice, most field failures can be traced back to process decisions made during assembly. Understanding PCB copper trace etch factor gives you a…

Flux Residue and Its Effects on Assemblies What Flux Residue Is Made Of Flux is a chemical tool. It removes oxide from the copper and the solder, lowers surface tension so the molten alloy wets properly, and then has done its job. What remains after reflow or wave soldering is…

Pad Cratering Under Area Array Packages What Pad Cratering Actually Looks Like Pad cratering is a fracture that begins inside the laminate rather than at the solder joint. Instead of the joint or the pad separating cleanly, a crack opens in the resin below the copper pad and spreads outward…

PCB Test Coupon Design: A Sample That Proves the Process Buyers and engineers often focus on the finished product and forget the production line behind it. In practice, most field failures can be traced back to process decisions made during assembly. Understanding PCB test coupon design gives you a practical…

PCB Salt Spray Corrosion Test: A Mist That Finds Weak Spots Electronics manufacturing has become a discipline of small details. Solder paste volumes, placement accuracy, temperature profiles and inspection limits all add up to the final result. This guide looks at PCB salt spray corrosion test from the perspective of…

PCB Thermal Cycling Test: Hot and Cold, Again and Again Electronics manufacturing has become a discipline of small details. Solder paste volumes, placement accuracy, temperature profiles and inspection limits all add up to the final result. This guide looks at PCB thermal cycling test from the perspective of a PCBA…

Solder Balls and Spatter on Assemblies What the Defect Looks Like Solder balls are small spheres of metal sitting on the board surface, often near a joint, sometimes inside a mask opening and sometimes on top of the mask. Spatter is a related defect, in which small particles are ejected…

PCB Vibration Test Reliability: Shaking the Board to Failure Modern electronics depend on boards that are assembled correctly the first time. Every product – a phone, a charger, a medical instrument or an industrial controller – relies on thousands of solder joints that must conduct current for years. This article…