Reflow Soldering and Wave Soldering in the SMT Line An assembly line is a sequence, and the sequence is not arbitrary. Each station performs an operation that assumes the previous one was done correctly and prepares the board for the next, so a mistake at the printing stage cannot be…

PCB Cleaning: Flux Residue, Ionic Contamination and Test Cleaning is the least visible process in electronics assembly and one of the most consequential. Residue left on a board after soldering can be electrically harmless for years and then cause a failure when the humidity rises, an effect that appears in…

Eight Circuit Design Misconceptions and What They Cost Most circuit design misconceptions are not errors of knowledge, they are errors of habit. A rule that was true on one project gets carried to the next one, where the conditions that justified it no longer exist. The eight listed below all…

PCB Switch Life Test: Until It Stops Switching 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 switch life test from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

PCB Flex Fatigue Test: Watching the Copper Age 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 flex fatigue test from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

Microcontroller vs Microcomputer: Architecture Differences The terms microcontroller and microcomputer are often used interchangeably, which hides a real architectural difference that has consequences for the schematic, the layout and the software. One device is a complete small computer on a single die; the other is a computer assembled from separate…

PCB Bend Test for A Flex: How Many Times It Folds 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 bend test for a flex from the perspective…

PCB Board Level Reliability Test: Testing the Assembly 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 board level reliability test from the perspective of a PCBA factory…

PCB Component Salvage Rules: What Can Be Reused 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 component salvage rules from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

PCB Microscope for Rework: Seeing the Joint 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…