Printed circuit board failure doesn’t happen very often, but when they do, they’re typically caused by one of 4 reasons. We’ll touch on these four causes below. Be sure to check out our infographic at the end of the article for an illustration of these causes too! Defects There are a

It’s nothing short of amazing that so many items in our everyday lives are now run by printed circuit boards. Here are a few common items you may use that frequently depend on PCBs: Consumer electronics (cell phones, TVs, speakers, alarms) Automotive components (navigation systems, so

It’s Friday night and the whole family is getting ready to have a fun night playing with their vintage arcade dartboard cabinet. As you reach for the power switch on the backside of the cabinet anticipating that familiar “DING” as the game starts up, instead you hear

As the year comes to a close we still are seeing shortages of various kinds. The electronics industry is one that is experiencing a particularly pronounced chip shortage due to the sheer number of products that utilize electronic components. This problem has persisted and evolved so l

Every now and then we get requests from some customers to repair some arbitrary circuit board and we must then switch our hats from design or assembly to a diagnosis and treatment-oriented one.  Depending on the circumstances, solutions can be quick and easy, but sometimes there are m

In our last installment about soldering, we cover how to solder many common types of components using a traditional iron. A good soldering workstation is however incomplete without hot air rework. No one can argue against the versatility of the iron, but hot air can be indispensable w

The pandemic has left few industries unscathed as significant disruptions in manufacturing, shipping and supplies have rippled through the work. PCB manufacturing is no exception, which is why PCB manufacturing costs could rise soon. Here are a few reasons that could contribute to the

In our last soldering article, we wrote about some details about the materials used in soldering as a conceptual introduction to how soldering is done and when to choose different materials or tools. Here, we will cover a more practical side to soldering, showing how some common types

After fabricating a PCB either by making one or ordering from a fab house, the next logical step is to solder whatever electrical components onto the board. Depending on the part count per board and the total number of boards, the maker has a few options for final soldering assembly.

Seems like every time you read the news, there is yet another article about how the pandemic is impacting our lives. Unfortunately, the printed circuit board and assembly industry has not gone unscathed by the pandemic as ongoing global shortages are impacting printed circuit boards.