How to Judge a Good PCB?

How to Judge a Good PCB?

Judging the quality of a printed circuit board (PCB) involves evaluating various factors that determine its performance, reliability, and adherence to design specifications. Here are some key aspects to consider when assessing the quality of a PCB:

•  Manufacturing Quality:

1.Soldering: The solder joints should be clean, evenly formed, and free from defects such as solder bridges, voids, or insufficient solder.

2. Component Placement: Components should be properly aligned, securely attached, and oriented correctly.

3. Traceability: The PCB should have clear markings for component identification and traceability, including part numbers, reference designators, and revision numbers.

• Electrical Performance:

1.Signal Integrity: The PCB should exhibit good signal integrity, with controlled impedance on critical traces, minimal noise, and proper grounding techniques.

2.Power Delivery: Power planes and traces should provide stable power distribution throughout the board without excessive voltage drops or noise interference.

3.EMI/EMC Compliance: The PCB should be designed and manufactured with consideration for electromagnetic interference (EMI) and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), minimizing radiated emissions and susceptibility to external interference.

• lPhysical Attributes:

1.Copper Traces: Copper traces should be well-defined, free from discontinuities or excess etching, and have consistent widths and thicknesses.

2.Plated Through Holes (PTH): PTH should have smooth walls, properly filled plating, and good connectivity between layers.

3.Pad and Via Construction: Pads and vias should be properly sized, centered, and free from defects like misalignment or barrel cracking.

4.Silkscreen and Legends: Silkscreen markings, legends, and component designators should be clear, legible, and accurately aligned with their respective components.

• Reliability and Durability:

1. Material Selection: High-quality PCBs use reliable materials suitable for the intended application, ensuring long-term stability and resistance to environmental factors.

Thermal Management: Adequate thermal management techniques, such as heat sinks, vias, or copper pours, should be employed to dissipate heat effectively and prevent component overheating.

2.Mechanical Strength: The PCB should exhibit sufficient mechanical strength to withstand its intended use without bending, warping, or delamination.

• Documentation and Standards:

Design Documentation: A well-documented PCB includes accurate design files, assembly drawings, bill of materials (BOM), and any necessary manufacturing notes or specifications.

Compliance with Standards: Compliance with industry standards and regulations ensures the PCB meets the required quality and safety criteria for its specific application or market.

Overall, a good PCB demonstrates excellent manufacturing quality, consistent electrical performance, proper physical attributes, reliability, and adherence to relevant documentation and standards. Evaluating these aspects will help you determine the quality and suitability of a PCB for your intended purpose.

With the rapid development of mobile phones, electronics, telecommunications and other industries. The printed circuit board industry continues to grow rapidly. At the same time, people are demanding more and more. About PCB quantity, weight, color, material, accuracy, reliability, etc. However, due to competition in the PCB market, PCB materials are also on the rise. Therefore, more and more manufacturers are trying to enhance their core competitiveness. Low prices are often used to monopolize the market.

However, behind these ultra-low costs is a reduction in material costs and production costs. This makes the PCB easy to crack, easy to scratch, unqualified and other comprehensive factors. It will seriously affect the solderability and reliability of the product. So how should we half-quality PCB? The following Rigid PCB manufacturer will come to tell you.

content:

1. Distinguish the quality of the circuit board from the appearance;

2.High-quality PCB board needs to meet the following requirements

Not sure for many electronics engineers and purchasers. In fact, there is no standard method of judgment. But you can make a preliminary judgment from the following points:

The first method is to distinguish them by appearance. The other is to judge the quality specifications from the PCB itself.

1. First, distinguish the quality of the circuit board from the appearance:

The first thing to distinguish is the material used for the plate. Then the ink discolored from the board, the copper was deposited, the surface was treated, and it smelled.

The materials are usually as follows:

The ordinary HB board 22F is the cheapest, and easily deformed and broken, and can only be used as a single panel. The surface of the module is dark yellow with irritating odor, rough copper and thinner color.

Single-sided 94V0 and CEM-1 boards cost more than cardboard but are cheaper than half-glass fiberboard. The component surface is light yellow and is mainly used for industrial boards and switchboards that require fire ratings.

FR4 glass fiber board has high cost but high strength. Basically, most double-sided and multilayer boards use this material, copper can be very accurate, and unit boards are relatively heavy.

Surface treatments include OSP boards, immersion gold boards, hot air solder leveling boards, and other processes. Everything requires that the surface of the PAD is not contaminated. Otherwise it will affect solderability.

In addition, consideration should be given to the size and thickness criteria, and the appearance of the weld. Because this may affect the soldering quality, such as 2 Sided Flexible Circuit Board Material.

Multilayer Flexible PCB 

2. Secondly, high-quality PCB boards need to meet the following requirements:

(1) Meet the electrical connection requirements;

(2) The width, thickness and distance of the line shall meet the requirements to avoid high temperature, breakage or short circuit.

(3) The copper surface should not be easily oxidized. Otherwise it will affect the installation speed and cannot be used for a long time after oxidation.

(4) No other electromagnetic radiation.

(5) The shape is not deformed. All of them are now mechanically installed. And the hole position of the circuit board and the deformation error of the design line should be within the allowable range.

(6) High temperature, high humidity and special environment resistance should also be considered.

(7) The mechanical properties of the surface should meet the installation requirements.

The above is the method for judging the high quality PCB introduced by Multilayer Flexible PCB Manufacturer.