Important Considerations While Manufacturing A PCB Assembly - Miracle Electronics

PCBs are the integral part of almost every electronic device that we use on a day to day basis, which tells electricity where to head to, so that our electronics are brought to life. But, have you ever thought about how these tiny boards are made to function so effectively at such high levels?

Direct plating

Plating is an electrochemical process that involves depositing metal onto the surface of the PCB, and inside the plated through holes. Direct plating is an environment-friendly low-cost process, which eliminates the use of heavy metals, against the alternative electrochemical plating.

Etching

When a copper layer is applied onto the board, etching out the unwanted copper from the prefabricated laminate is an important step, which is done using various kinds of materials, the two most common ones being Ferric Chloride and Ammonium Persulphate.

Photographic processing

Photographic processing is another important process, which involves covering the copper on the bare board with a thin lining of photo-resist, after which it is exposed to light through a photographic film, which details all the relevant tracks that will now be on the new board.

Screen printing

Screen printing is where a silkscreen layer is added onto a PCB, in order to identify all the components of a board, along with the logos, warning symbols, test points, and other marks. Silkscreen can be applied using a variety of ways, like manual screen printing, direct legend printing, and liquid photo imaging.

Reflow Soldering Technology

Reflow soldering technology is the process of applying solder paste as a means of temporarily attaching thousands of small electrical parts to the contact pads, which is then subjected to controlled heat for reliable soldering.

Selection of PCB assembly equipment

You need the right PCB equipment suitable for every job. Using substandard tools and equipment might bring to you faulty products. Some of the best equipment that you must use include –

• Solder paste printing machine for screen printing of solder paste to the PCB
• Dispenser for dispensing adhesives on the PCB
• Pick and place machine for picking and placing components onto the PCB
• Reflow soldering machine and wave soldering machine for soldering
• Functional Verification Test device for verifying the device under test functions
• In-Circuit Test fixture for checking shorts, opens, resistance, and capacitance
• Solder Paste Inspection machine for quickly and efficiently inspecting the accuracy of the solder paste on the PCB

Selection of photographic tools

PCB assembling is a very long process that involves a number of steps like fabrication, material inspection, solder paste printing, reflow soldering, X-ray inspection, wave soldering, manual soldering, and more. All these steps require the use of the right photographic tools such as milling machines, paper slitting cutting machines, and post-press equipment.

PCB testing procedures

PCB testing is absolutely essential to prevent any errors or mishaps in the future, and ensure that the manufactured products won’t fail or experience a shortened shelf life. While the selection of a test depends upon what the designer wants to achieve, some example of functional tests include X-ray inspection, micro-sectioning analysis, PCB solderability test, solder float test, peel test, and PCB contamination test.

With all such processes in place, a reliable PCB assembly manufacturer from India like Miracle Electronics can bring up PCB assemblies that are of the best quality, meeting the highest benchmarks, following RoHS and REACH compliance, and meeting standard ISO certification criteria.