PCB Baking and Moisture Sensitivity Plastic packages absorb moisture from the air. During reflow that moisture turns to steam, and the steam has nowhere to go until it finds a path, usually by cracking the package from the inside. Baking is the remedy, but a bake is a process step…

First Article Inspection and Its Record A first article is the first board of a run inspected completely, and its purpose is to confirm that the process, the documentation and the design agree. It is the cheapest point at which a setup error can be found, and it is only…

Coating Cure Verification Methods A conformal coating that has not fully cured does not protect the assembly, and it looks the same as one that has. Cure verification is the measurement that separates the two, and it is the check that is most often replaced by a touch test. Why…

PCB Oven Zone Handover: Design and Assembly Considerations 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 oven zone handover from the perspective of a PCBA factory floor,…

PCB Oven Zone Environment: 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 oven zone environment from the perspective of a PCBA…

PCB Oven Zone Traceability: Process Details and Inspection Points 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 oven zone traceability gives you a practical advantage…

PCB Oven Zone Timing: Process Details and Inspection Points 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…

PCB Shop Humidity Records: Writing It Down 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…

Via Tenting vs Plugging: Via-in-Pad, Cleaning and Reliability A via that passes through a solderable area has to be dealt with. The two standard answers are tenting, where solder mask is printed over the hole, and plugging, where the hole is filled with a material before the mask is applied.…

Copper Balance: Design Rules and Process Limits Inner layer copper is rarely uniform, and that is a design decision as much as a manufacturing one. Where one area of a layer is solid copper and the next is bare laminate, the board behaves differently under heat, under lamination pressure and…