As PCB assemblers, many times we’ve been asked the question, “Do I really need soldermask and silkscreen?” And, we’ve been asked with good reasons. To us, soldermask protects exposed metal, reduce the chance of shorts and keeps solder where solder needs to be. Silkscreen removes ambiguity, ensuring that parts go where parts need to go, […]
Power Distribution: To Route Or To Plane PC Boards
Power distribution on a PC board can come in a number of forms. The three most common methods are: You can route power and ground You can use surface layer floods You can use internal planes After component positioning, you’ll need to look at power and ground distribution. With a two layer board, your options […]
Two Questions To Ask Yourself With PCB Continuous Strips Of Parts
Sometimes you don’t want to buy a reel, full or partial, but still want your PCB parts all in one continuous strip. Everyone wants to use up their odds and ends, but once those are gone, it’s easier for you if each part is one strip. If you want to save a little money and […]
How To Tell If You Need PCB Assembly Services
If you’re attempting to cross the median of a busy four-lane highway, it’s entirely possible that there’s a Jersey Barrier in your way. In that particular setting, having something sturdy blocking your way is probably a good thing. On the other hand, I would bet that for the majority of you reading this, there are […]
3 Reasons To Use PCB Panel Routing Techniques
Most PCBs are individually routed—meaning they’re not panelized. That doesn’t mean that, sometimes, sending them to a PCB assembler in a panel isn’t a good idea or even required. Generally assemblers don’t require panels—sometimes called a pallet—but there are some cases when they do. If the individual PC board, destined for Full Proto service, is […]
The Root Causes And Solutions For Warped PC Boards
So you just got a nice big PC board back from the fab shop. You set one on your desk to admire only to discover that it’s warped. What do you do? There are two primary types of causes of board warping: process related at the fab or assembly shop, and layout related issues. If […]
QFN Center Pads On PCB Boards
The QFN (quad flat pack, no leads) package can no longer be considered exotic. It was about a decade ago, but not any more. In fact, with the wafer scale BGA, it’s one of the more common packages for new chip designs. Not all QFNs come with an exposed metal pad underneath, but most do, […]
7 Cost Reduction Design Tips For Creators
As a creator, you really need a decent price, with good quality and good service. Contrary to what many people think, you don’t need to look outside of North America for this. You can keep your gaze west of the Atlantic and east of the Pacific. Like everything else in the modern world, design decisions […]
Top 5 Things To Know When Moving From Hand Assembly To Robotic Assembly
A lot of factors go into the decision to hand build or outsource circuit boards. I hand build my own sometimes, simply because I enjoy the challenge. Of course most of the projects I design are for my own use, so timeliness isn’t that important. When I do design something that will go out to […]