Current Sense Shunt Layout: Kelvin Connections and Noise A current sense resistor converts current into a voltage that an amplifier can measure. The conversion depends on the resistance between the two points the amplifier actually connects to, and that is almost never the resistance of the resistor alone. Kelvin, or…

PCB Shift Handover: Passing the Line On 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 shift handover from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor, covering running…

PCB Setup Reduction: Changing Over Faster 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 setup…

PCB Classification and How Each Type Is Made The word printed circuit board covers a very wide range of products. A single sided board in a power supply and a twenty layer backplane share the same manufacturing logic but almost none of the same process steps, and a flexible circuit…

Solder Joint Voiding: Causes, Measurement and Acceptance A void is a gap inside a solder joint where the metal did not form. It looks alarming on an X-ray image, it is present in almost every joint to some degree, and the difficult part is knowing which ones matter. Where Voids…

ADC Reference Noise and Layout Design Every conversion an ADC performs is a comparison against its reference, so the reference is as much a part of the measurement as the input itself. A stable input with a noisy reference produces a noisy result, and a reference that takes too long…

Squeegee Pressure and Print Speed on SMT Printers Squeegee pressure and print speed are the two settings that operators adjust most often and understand least. Turn the pressure up and the deposit looks fuller; run the blade faster and the cycle time drops. Both adjustments feel like improvements until patches…

Solder Mask Loss: Why Adhesion Fails And What To Do Solder mask loss is the failure of the polymer coating to stay where it was applied. It appears as flaking around a pad, a blister that lifts after reflow, or a patch that peels away when the board is handled.…

What Is Solder Mask And What Does It Do? Solder mask is the coloured layer that covers most of a finished circuit board, and because it is so familiar it is often taken for granted. It is a polymer coating applied over the copper and the laminate, with openings where…

PCB Bottleneck Analysis: Finding the Slowest Step 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 bottleneck analysis from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor, covering finding…