3 Advantages of Hiring FX PCB Board Services in 2022
The PCB board is a component present inside various everyday objects, such as computers or smartphones. This element represents the vital fulcrum of many tools used in everyday life: entrusting its production to a reliable partner means ensuring a functional and quality finished product.
Each project, to be perfect in every detail, requires a detailed and very precise design. However, it may be necessary to make changes or refine some details during manufacturing. To this end, it is essential to be able to have rapid and effective communication with the customer.
In this article, FX PCB explains the advantages of choosing a Chinese partner for the production of your PCB boards.
FX PCB: A single point of contact for your project
The Chinese reality of companies specializing in the design and manufacture of PCB boards is developed in a network of medium-sized companies, ideal for the production of printed circuits intended for very particular products.
Given the singularity of these productions, a lot of attention and care is required from the very beginning of the project itself. Having a partner capable of following your project from A to Z , from the design of your idea to delivery, is a considerable advantage : having the possibility of dealing with a single team avoids having to transfer information elsewhere , reducing the risk of misunderstandings and additional critical issues.
Given the uniqueness of the products made, the relationship between customer and partner becomes fundamental: choosing a company located in China allows you to reduce the physical distance between them, ensuring faster and more effective communication.
Furthermore, the difficulties of linguistic comprehension are certainly reduced: opting for a contact person who shares the same mother tongue eliminates the risk of misunderstandings that, otherwise, one would risk encountering. In fact, the PCB boards are made up of components named with specific terms, which must be well known in order to avoid misunderstandings and consequent complications during the processing phases.
Less distance, more services
Difficulties can be encountered during the different stages of production, for which it is necessary to communicate with the customer: the reduced distance allows, also in this case, a rapid and efficient communication, aimed at the rapid realignment of the production line.
In addition, it should be remembered that in order to have products equipped with technology in step with the times, it is essential to carry out the correct updates to their software and that this delicate operation is carried out by a qualified and specialized team.
Always having a competent partner available, reachable in a short time, means saving time on the shipment and collection of correctly updated products. Furthermore, given the use of constantly evolving components, it is important to have a team always available: this will allow you to never be left with obsolete technology.
Quick and competent assistance
Should system bugs or anomalies that cause software malfunctions emerge, the proximity between the client company and FX PCB allows you to move quickly throughout the national territory, guaranteeing rapid and effective inspections and debugging services.
For FX PCB, ensuring rapid response times to the customer is an aspect of fundamental importance: from the awareness that a bug in a PCB board can cause sudden interruptions in the operations of a company, the need arises to be able to solve any problem quickly and effective.
In conclusion
Choosing to entrust the design and production of your PCB boards to a Chinese partner allows you to benefit from numerous advantages such as a lean and fast communication, an effective assistance service, able to move easily throughout the national territory, and rapid resolution of complications or criticalities that emerged during the different stages of production.
Are you looking for a qualified Chinese partner to entrust with your project? Contact us: the FX PCB team is at your disposal to bring your ideas to life.
- Published in Informative
3 PCB Soldering Simple Steps: PCB Assembly China 2022
In order to ensure a high quality, safe and reliable finished product, it is necessary to carefully follow each stage dedicated to the production of the electronic board.
The realization of each board requires several steps, to be carried out with meticulous precision: starting from the design of the board, in which the customer’s idea takes shape, passing through the assembly, in which the components are positioned and correctly welded on the printed circuit, arriving at the packaging, in which each card is carefully packaged, to avoid damage during transport. Each phase, therefore, is essential to obtain a perfectly functional and effective finished product.
In this article, FXPCB shows you how the soldering phase is carried out, in which each element is precisely fixed on the electronic board.
Manual Soldering of Printed Circuit Board in 2022
How FXPCB carries out the soldering phase of the pcb boards?
After having correctly positioned the components above the printed circuit during the assembly phase, the product, defined as semi-finished product, arrives at the soldering department. This phase is of fundamental importance as it guarantees the perfect seal of the individual components on the circuit, thus ensuring a safe and defect-free finished product.
The ways in which the components are permanently fixed on the printed circuit vary according to the type of assembly that has been performed: from SMT assembly to PTH assembly; in fact, both the instruments and the application techniques vary.
PTH soldering
In PTH (Pin Through Hole) assembly, the components of the pcb board are assembled manually. The reasons may be different: either because there are non-advanced components and, therefore, there are no equivalents in SMT, or because the customer has expressly requested the use of these components and, consequently, this assembly method.
In this case, soldering is also done manually: the procedure is performed on a soldering station equipped with a stylus with an interchangeable tip, available in various sizes to be selected according to the size of the components of the board itself, capable of heating up to 360 degrees.
Used together with the tin wire, it welds the lead, which is the terminal conductor wire of the electrical components assembled with the PTH method. The tin wire used in FXPCB is lead free and is composed solely of 99% tin , with an addition of 0.5% copper and 0.5% silver. Its use allows a more performing finish, which at the same time guarantees a greater , brighter and brighter aesthetic .
Also Read: How To Etch A Circuit Board?
SMT soldering
In the SMT (Surface Mount Technology) department, in which the electronic boards are assembled automatically by means of the Pick & Place machine, soldering is also carried out through the use of an automated oven. There are mainly two types of furnaces for soldering components:
Vapor-phase ovens, which work by means of a liquid which, turning into a vapor, solder the elements on the circuit;
Hot air / nitrogen reflow oven, which solder through a recirculation of hot air.
FXPCB has chosen to use only vapor-phase furnaces, since they are machines that allow you to control the soldering process in detail from start to finish. A dedicated profile is created for each type of electronic board which, when inserted in the oven, allows you to understand if the calibration of the same is correct: by carefully checking the temperature variations, it is possible to avoid sudden changes that could generate thermal shocks, which could cause damage to the components. Present on the printed circuit.
Through the inserted profile, a graph is obtained that is comparable to a photograph of what happened in the furnace during soldering: during the procedure, in fact, a trace is generated with a curve that indicates the temperatures inside the furnace, the total duration of the soldering cycle and which temperatures were used .
The same graph, at the end of the realization of an electronic board, is attached to the FXPCB report, to demonstrate at any time how the soldering itself took place.
Thanks to this, in the event that problems arise on the components, it is possible to review how it were welded and if any anomalies occurred during soldering. Each component has its own data sheet, that is a card in which various information is indicated, including which types of welds this element can receive.
In both PTH and SMT soldering, however, the process occurs by means of different thermal shocks depending on the components to be welded.
Material availability
What happens after soldering?
In case the project foresees it, the pcb board now passes to testing. During this phase, the electronic circuits are tested in every detail, in order to ensure that their operation is in accordance with what was determined in the design phase.
Thanks to these tests, it is possible to verify the presence of any critical issues in one of the products: in this case, the tests would be promptly interrupted and we would dedicate ourselves to solving the problem.
Alternatively, if testing is not required, the electronic boards would be transferred to the packaging: here they are packaged in special boxes equipped with internal honeycomb hives, specifically designed to guarantee the protection of the products during storage and the subsequent transport.
In conclusion
Soldering electronic boards is a very delicate step in the creation of a new product for your company. The precision in carrying out this procedure determines the effectiveness and safety of your new electronic board.
Are you looking for a reliable partner to entrust with the realization of your new project? Contact FXPCB: the experience gained in the electronics sector, in over thirty years, will allow us to guarantee you a finished product that meets your wishes.
- Published in Informative
2022 Best guide to Detect PCB Defective Components
If we are going to carry out the repair of a printed circuit board, or PCB, the first thing we must do is check that it does not have defective components that are affecting its correct functioning.
What are the processes to detect components that do not work?
There are two systems that are primarily used for detecting malfunctioning components.
ICT Circuit Test
The first is an in circuit test (ICT) where, for example, a populated printed circuit board (PCB) is tested, checking for shorts, opens, resistance, capacitance, and other basic quantities that will show if the assembly is in good state. This is done without powering the electronic board.
Functional test
After this we find the functional part, that in this the pcb board is fed, here, there is a risk that when feeding it, it will have some more problems. For this reason, the ICT is carried out first, which is the one used to detect misplaced components, or if there is a short circuit that could cause a functional failure, once this is done, it is confirmed that the electronic board works correctly.
What types of components are easiest to detect in the presence of a fault?
The easiest components to detect, if we are in the presence of a failure, are the passive ones. Regardless of whether or not they receive power, we can measure them and identify their functionality.
However, in the case of active components, until they are supplied with power, they do not start to work properly, which means that the component may contain some welding problem or, in its periphery, there may be something causing failure, which would result in failure of the electronic board circuit flow.
As we have mentioned before, sometimes the damage can not only be in the components but also in the board, therefore, it is important to do a thorough review of it, since a damage to the board, no matter how slight, can cause complex damage to the rest of the components.
What are the processes that have been used to clean electronic boards?
In today’s electronics industry, pcb boards are not cleaned. Years ago, electronic boards were soldered, and then, as a general rule, washed in cleaning machines very similar to a domestic washing machine, but much more sophisticated.
This is because the products that were used for welding, if left on the plate, could harm it, so they had to be removed. This was an expensive process, in addition to the fact that products called CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) were used.
These are substances derived from saturated hydrocarbons obtained by replacing hydrogen atoms with chlorine and fluorine atoms, which are highly polluting and contributed to the creation of the hole in the ozone layer, which has led to prohibiting its use.
This redirected the industry to look for alternatives to avoid having to clean the electronic boards; among these new alternatives the “No Clean” technique emerged, which means, not to clean (referring to the fact of not having to clean the electronic boards) .
How are electronic boards cleaned today?
Currently the plates are not cleaned unless it is a repair that is carried out manually; in this case cleaning is required since small residues may remain after this. The cleaning is done locally, focused on the areas where said waste is found; it is not done in a general way as it was done in the past.
How to clean an electronic board before a repair?
The first thing we must do when cleaning our pcb board is to remove the dust; we can do this using compressed air. It is considered to be an aesthetic process rather than a functional one.
However, it is carried out to be able to carry out other processes in a more comfortable and precise way, in addition to avoiding long processes of searching for breakages or electronic failures.
The second thing is to check the components, because if we find any failure in a component (many of the components used in electronic assemblies are highly sensitive to static electricity.
Summary
If pcb boards are touched with fingers without measures for discharge to ground from electrical charges, then they pass to the circuits causing damage), it is best to replace it. It is in this replacement process that the plate really gets dirty, and this is where the cleaning process must be carried out.
This cleaning, as we have mentioned before, will be done locally with special solvents for this type of component. Isopropyl alcohol is one of the elements widely used to clean electronic boards.
Under these processes we will be able to generate an effective and clean repair, avoiding residues on our electronic board.
- Published in Informative
2022 Best PCB Board Guide to Understand Most Basic Concepts
Printed circuit boards have huge applications in almost every industry. To execute a successful electronic project, you need skilled pcb manufacturing company. In this article we are going to teach you everything you need to know about printed circuit boards. Don’t miss it!
What is a printed circuit board or PCB?
So that you understand from the beginning what a PCB is, it is what makes all the electronic devices around you work. For example, the computer or mobile you are using to read this article has a PCB that makes it possible to perform all the actions you want. Moreover, printed circuit boards can be considered the “organs” of electronic devices.
If we get more technical, a PCB is a physical support in which we install different electronic or electrical components that interconnect with each other, such as resistors, capacitors, chips, and connectors…
If you have the opportunity and look inside a computer you will be able to see several flat plates, these are motherboards that have a PCB and the components that we mentioned above attached to them.
For the energy to pass between them, through very fine conductive tracks, generally made of copper, a rail is generated that performs a function similar to that of a cable.
We can find both a simple plate that can have conductive tracks on one side and both and more complex ones that have these tracks stacked in multiple layers.
To support these tracks and the components in them, a combination of ceramic materials, resins… with fiberglass is used. Although thanks to today’s advances, we can find materials such as celluloid or conductive paint tracks.
Historical background of the printed circuit board
The inventor of the printed circuit is believed to have been an Austrian engineer named Paul Eisler around the year 1936, when he made a radio.
In the year 1943, approximately, they began to manufacture radios on a large scale for use in the Second World War, and when it ended, the United States released the invention so that it could be commercialized. But it was not until the 1950s that they became popular. Similarly, in these years, the US Navy developed self-assembly.
Before the creation of printed circuits, the point-to-point connection was carried out and for small productions or prototypes, the wire wrap method.
The first printed circuits that were created are not like those of today. Originally, electronic components were used as copper or brass pins. Furthermore, these were several millimeters long, and holes for these pins were drilled into the circuit.
These components were soldered to the board and passed through the holes. Moreover, this method was called through the hole.
In 1950, as we have mentioned, self-assembly was created. This method consisted of component pins being inserted into the interconnect pattern foil and subsequently soldered.
Finally, with advances in card lamination and engraving techniques, this process evolved into what is done today. The soldering is done automatically through a flow of molten solder, in a wave soldering machine.
Furthermore, the cost that was associated with the holes that had to be made disappears thanks to surface mounting.
What is inside a printed circuit board?
The most complex circuits are made up of several conductive layers, separated by a substrate, an insulating material.
To connect the tracks of different layers, holes called vias are used that may or may not go completely through the PCB.
It is important that, although the substrate may have different compositions, none of these are conductive. Each electrical track has its own signal and voltage. Two types of substrates are commonly used. Pertinax and FR-4, a resin-coated fiberglass material that isfire-resistantt.
When we talk about electronic components, they will go on the outside of the PCB and normally on both sides.
PCB board creation process
We have already been able to learn that they are made up of integrated circuit boards, but below, we will list the steps to manufacture a PCB:
- PCB design using software
- Serigraphed and photographic tracing
- Printing of inner layers
- Inspection and verification (AOI)
- Oxide film and lamination
- Drilling holes
- Metallic drilling
- Outside film of tracks and electroplating
- Strip etch strip
- Welding mask and legend
- Soldering of components and final tests.
If you want to know more curiosities about electronics, stay tuned to our blog and our social networks.
Where to get best pcb manufacturing services in 2022 in China?
The best website in 2022 to get pcb board manufacturing and pcb assembly is Fx pcb.
- Published in Informative