PCB Solder Paste Problems: When It Goes Wrong 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 problems from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

IP Camera Board Design Around a Video System on Chip A network camera is a small computer with a lens attached, and most of it now fits in one device. Designing an ip camera board means providing the sensor interface, the memory, the network link and the power for a…

ESD Packaging And Handling For PCB Assembly An electrostatic discharge is a short, high current event that begins when two objects at different potentials touch. The energies involved are small, which is why a discharge is often invisible, but the voltages are not: a person walking across a synthetic carpet…

Shielding Cans, Grounding and Board Level EMC A shielding can is a metal box soldered over a circuit that would otherwise radiate or receive. It works by providing a conductive enclosure around the source, and its performance depends on how well that enclosure is completed: a can that is soldered…

Aluminium Substrate PCB Design for LED Strip Boards Lighting boards are the clearest case where the board is part of the thermal design. An aluminium substrate carries the light emitting devices, spreads their heat and often forms part of the fixture itself. Why LED Strips Use a Metal Board A…

Low Power Wake Up Circuit Design A battery powered product spends most of its life asleep, and the circuit that wakes it up decides both how long the battery lasts and how quickly the product responds. The two requirements pull in opposite directions, and the design is the reconciliation of…

Flying Probe or In-Circuit Test: Choosing for the Build Every board that is tested electrically needs a way to reach the nets. The two established answers are a bed of nails fixture that contacts everything at once, and a flying probe machine that moves a small number of heads from…

Creep Corrosion Growth on Immersion Silver Surfaces Corrosion on an electronic assembly is usually a local phenomenon: a pad darkens, a joint discolours, a region of a trace changes colour. Creep corrosion is different. The corrosion product migrates across a surface, away from the metal that produced it, and it…

Industrial Control Board Selection for Embedded Systems An industrial control board is bought to run a machine for years, not to win a benchmark. Selecting one therefore means comparing service life, thermal behaviour and interface availability rather than processor speed alone. What Makes a Board Industrial The industrial version of…

PCB Solder Paste Cost: What It Adds Up To 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 cost from the perspective of a PCBA factory…