Data Logging for Reflow Process Verification Data logging turns a reflow oven from a machine with setpoints into a process with evidence. A zone temperature display tells you what the oven was asked to do, while a logged profile on a production panel tells you what the assembly actually experienced,…

Feed Rate and Gantry Control on SMT Placement Machines Feed rate and gantry settings sit between the two things every placement line is asked to deliver: speed and placement accuracy. A feed rate that is set too high advances the tape before the nozzle has cleared it, while a gantry…

Board Thickness Variation Control in Lamination Board thickness variation is a lamination problem that surfaces as an electrical one. A panel that is 0.08 mm thicker at one corner than at another will show a different dielectric thickness on the same layer, and a controlled impedance design that was simulated…

Panel Plating Thickness Uniformity and Current Density Control Panel plating deposits copper over the whole surface of the panel and into every hole at the same time, before the outer layer pattern is formed. It is the simplest way to build a reliable barrel, but it is also the step…

PCB Guide Hole Control: Tolerances for Panel Alignment Guide hole control is about the tooling holes that hold a panel in place while it is drilled, laminated, imaged or routed. When they are right, the panel drops onto its pins with a light push and every layer lines up. When…

PCB Desmear Maintenance: A Practical Manufacturing Guide 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 desmear maintenance from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor, covering maintaining…

Solder Paste Tack Test and Print Quality Control A tack test measures how strongly a solder paste resists being pulled apart, and the property it describes decides whether components stay where the placement machine put them. Paste that has lost its tack will release the parts during the transfer to…

PCB Desmear Setup: A Practical Review for Manufacturing Teams 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 desmear setup from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

PCB Desmear Defects: What Matters on the Production Line 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 desmear defects from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

Insulation Resistance Test for PCB Assemblies: 6 Rules Insulation resistance is the resistance measured between two conductors that are supposed to be separated by an insulator. The measurement is simple in principle and difficult in practice, because the value depends on the test voltage, the dwell time, the temperature, the…