Wave and Selective Soldering Where Wave Soldering Still Fits Wave soldering remains the efficient way to solder through hole components at volume. A board passes over a standing wave of molten solder, and every joint on the underside is made in one pass, which is far faster than touching each…

PCB Copper Trace Signal Reflection: The Echo on the Line 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…

Reflow Profile Development and Control What a Profile Is A reflow profile is the temperature of the assembly as a function of time, and the oven’s settings are only a means of producing it. The distinction matters because two boards in the same oven can see different temperatures, depending on…

X-ray Inspection of Hidden Solder Joints Why Some Joints Cannot Be Seen As packages have moved to area array terminations, the solder joint has moved out of sight. A ball grid array, a chip scale package and a land grid array all connect on the underside of the body, so…

Line Clearance and Setup Verification Changeover Is a Risk Event Changing a line from one product to another is the point where the highest number of avoidable errors enter a factory. Feeder positions are re-loaded, programs are selected, stencils are swapped and the first boards of the new product are…

PCB Dielectric Thickness Measurement: Checking the Layer Depth 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 dielectric thickness measurement from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

Solder Paste Storage, Thawing and Working Life Paste Is a Chemical Product Solder paste is a suspension of alloy powder in flux, and its behaviour depends on the chemistry as much as on the metal. The flux controls the oxides, the tack and the slump, and it changes with temperature…

Thermal Imaging for Board Bring-Up Why Heat Tells the Story Every electrical fault leaves a thermal signature. A shorted device draws current and gets hot, a high resistance joint dissipates power, a component that is marginally rated runs warmer than its neighbours, and a reverse polarity part can be found…

SMT Reflow Solder Joint Shear Force: The Force That Breaks It 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 SMT reflow solder joint shear force gives…

New Product Introduction for Electronics What NPI Covers New product introduction is the process that takes a design from the engineer’s bench to a repeatable production line, and its output is a product that can be built at the target cost and quality by people who did not design it.…