SMT Reflow Oven Airflow Control: Moving the Heat Around 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…

PCB Solderability Testing: Methods and Criteria What Solderability Actually Measures Solderability is the ability of a surface to be wetted by molten solder within a defined time and at a defined temperature. It is not a measure of how much solder a joint will contain, and it is not a…

Copper Balance and Thieving in PCB Panels Why Copper Distribution Matters Every layer of a board is pressed from copper foil and resin soaked glass under heat and pressure, and then cooled. Copper and laminate expand and shrink at different rates, so a layer with a large area of copper…

PCB Laminate Dielectric Strength Test: Stressing the Insulation 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 laminate dielectric strength test from the perspective of a PCBA factory…

Impedance Coupon Design and Placement Why a Coupon Exists Controlled impedance cannot be measured on a finished product board in any practical way: the traces are under components, the reference planes are buried, and the geometry that must be verified is inside the laminate. The industry solution is to build…

SMT Stencil Paste Printing Speed: How Fast the Blade Moves 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…

PCB Tooling Holes and Panel Design What Tooling Holes Are For A tooling hole is a non plated hole that a machine or a fixture uses to locate a board or a panel mechanically. Fiducials tell a vision system where the board is; tooling holes physically hold it there, and…

PCB Copper Trace High Frequency Loss: The Signal Lost in the Copper 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 copper trace high frequency loss from the…

Solder Paste Volume: Why the Deposit Decides the Joint The Volume Is the Specification A solder joint is not made by the reflow oven or by the flux; it is made by the amount of solder that was printed on the pad before the component arrived. The paste consists of…

Solder Joint Voiding: Causes and Acceptance Limits What a Void Is and Why It Happens A void is a cavity inside a solder joint, filled with gas that was trapped as the solder solidified. It is not the same as insufficient solder, and it is not the same as a…