High Frequency Board Fabrication: Working With PTFE A high frequency laminate behaves differently on the production line from the epoxy material the shop runs every day. It is softer, it expands more with temperature, and it does not accept the same drilling, plating and mask processes without changes to the…

System Level PCB Design in the Modern Project A modern board project mixes hardware and software, several power domains and a radio, and the design decisions are made before either discipline has finished. The layout has become the place where those decisions are reconciled rather than the last step of…

High Current Connections: Busbars, Terminals and Heavy Copper Above a certain current, a trace on a board is the wrong conductor. A busbar, a terminal or a heavy copper layer is the answer, and each brings its own mechanical and thermal requirements. Where the Trace Stops Working A trace becomes…

PCB Inspection Before Assembly: What to Check Most of the cost of a bad build is committed before the first panel is etched. Checking the data package, the placement and the routing before the order is placed costs an afternoon and prevents the failure modes that a re-spin cannot recover…

Conformal Coating Repair After Rework Rework after conformal coating is a normal part of production and a common source of field failures. The coating must be removed to reach the joint, and the repair must restore the protection the design assumed. Why Coating Repair Matters The coating is usually the…

AOI Programming: Reference Images, Tuning and False Calls An automated optical inspection system is only as good as the program driving it. A program built from a golden board and never tuned produces a stream of false calls, and a false call is worse than no inspection because it consumes…

Solder Paste Printing on Flexible Substrates Printing paste onto a flexible substrate is the same process as printing onto a rigid board and it behaves differently in every detail. The material moves, the carrier decides the flatness and the stencil release depends on the support underneath. Why the Substrate Matters…

PCB Tombstone Defect: Standing on End 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 tombstone defect gives you a practical advantage when you choose a…

PCB Paste Thaw Time: Bringing It Back 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…

PCB Solder Balling Defect: Little Balls Everywhere 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 balling defect gives you a practical advantage when you…