Solder Mask Dam Design Between Pads A solder mask dam is the strip of mask ink that runs between two adjacent pads. Its purpose is to stop molten solder from flowing from one land to the next, and its width is one of the few dimensions in a board design…

Board Handling and Scratch Prevention in PCB Assembly Most boards are damaged by the way they are moved rather than by the way they are made. A scratch across a solder mask, a chip on a panel edge, a fingerprint on a gold pad or a scuff on a finished…

Solder Balling Control In Reflow Soldering Solder balling is the scattering of small spherical solder particles around a joint after reflow. The balls range from a few micrometres to a few hundred micrometres across, they are usually attached only lightly to the surface, and they are a reliability problem because…

PCB Wave Solder Traceability: Following One Board 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 explains PCB…

Low Temperature Solder Reflow Process Control for Assemblies Reducing the peak temperature of a reflow process sounds like a simple saving, but it changes the alloy, the flux, the joint appearance and the reliability of the finished product. Low temperature solder is used because thin boards warp, because some components…

PCB Reflow Profile Limits: Where the Edges Are 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 explains…

PCB Wave Solder Improvement: Getting Better Each Lot 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 wave solder improvement from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

Dielectric Layer Thickness Selection and Withstand Voltage Testing in MCPCB Design Metal core printed circuit board, or MCPCB, is the preferred carrier for heat-sensitive electronic systems such as high power LED, IGBT modules, laser drivers, and power converters. Its core performance bottleneck often lies not in the copper circuit layer…

PCB Lead Time Planning Guide Lead time is the sum of the time a board spends being worked on and the time it spends waiting, and in most board shops the waiting is the larger part. A panel that takes four hours of actual processing can easily occupy ten working…

PCB Reflow Profile Maintenance: Keeping It Working 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 reflow profile maintenance gives you a practical advantage when you…