SMT Reflow Solder Joint Thermal Cycling: Heating and Cooling the Joint 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.…

Baking PCBs Before Assembly: Moisture and Popcorning Why Moisture Matters FR-4 and the other laminates used in boards are not impermeable. The resin absorbs water from the air, and the amount it holds depends on the relative humidity, the temperature and the time it has been exposed. At room conditions…

PCB Surface Finish Corrosion Resistance: How the Pad Survives the Air 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 surface finish corrosion resistance from the perspective of…

PCB Cleaning After Assembly: Residues and Methods What Is Actually Being Removed When an assembly comes out of the reflow oven it carries more than solder. Flux residues, activators, metal salts, solder spheres, dust and, in a poorly controlled process, skin flakes and fibres are all sitting on the surface,…

SMT Component Placement Nozzle Size: The Tip That Fits the Part 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. The same discipline applies to SMT Component Placement…

PCB Test Points: Design Rules for Assembly and Test Testability Is a Layout Decision By the time a board reaches the test department, the layout is frozen and the fixture can only touch what the designer exposed. That is why the test point decision has to be made during placement…

PCB Fiducials: Design and Placement Rules What a Fiducial Is For A fiducial is a small, sharply defined mark that a machine uses to find its position on a board. The stencil printer, the pick and place machine and the automated optical inspection system each need to know where the…

PCB Via Drilling Quality: The Clean Hole 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 via drilling quality gives you a practical advantage when you…

SMT Reflow Solder Paste Viscosity Test: Measuring How the Paste Flows 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 SMT reflow solder paste viscosity test from the perspective…

Measuring PCB Copper Thickness: Methods Compared Why Copper Thickness Needs Measuring Copper thickness appears on a drawing as a weight, such as one ounce per square foot, which corresponds to about thirty five micrometres of foil before processing. What the finished board carries is a different number, because the plating,…