Preventing Board Handling Damage in SMT Production Most assembly defects have a process signature that can be traced to a machine setting. Handling damage is different. It is caused by a person or a mechanism touching a board in a way that leaves no mark at the time, and it…

Ionic Contamination and Cleaning Verification Flux residue is not inert. The activators that make a flux work are ionic, and if they remain on the board in the presence of moisture they will carry current between conductors, corrode the metal and eventually produce a failure that appears long after the…

Thermal Interface Material Selection Guide Heat leaves a device through a chain of materials, and every joint in that chain is a pair of surfaces pressed together. Two nominally flat surfaces touch only at the tops of their roughness peaks, so most of the apparent contact area is filled with…

Analog Front End Calibration Guide Every analog front end has errors, and calibration is how a design that is built from ordinary components achieves an accuracy that no single component could deliver. The work is to know which errors are worth calibrating and which are better removed by the circuit.…

Sensor Signal Chain Calibration From the sensing element to the digital value there are several stages, and each of them adds an error. Calibrating the signal chain means measuring the error of the whole path and correcting it, rather than assuming that the sum of the component tolerances is acceptable.…

Reflow and Wave Solder Carrier Design A carrier holds a board or a panel through a process. It is often added when a board is too thin to run, and it is rarely designed with the same care as the board it carries. Why a Carrier Is Used A thin…

PCB Solder Paste Records: Writing It Down 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 solder paste records from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor, covering…

PCB Solder Paste Audit: Checking the Practice 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 solder paste audit from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor, covering…

PCB Solder Paste Checklist: What to Check 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 solder paste checklist from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor, covering…

PCB Solder Paste Training: Teaching the Team 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 solder paste training gives you a practical advantage when you…