As an emerging dielectric material, LCP or Liquid Crystal Polymer has gained popular attention, especially as an organic packaging material and a high-performance flexible PCB substrate suitable for microwave frequencies. Unlike widely used traditional dielectric materials such as FR-4 and polyimide, LCP substrates come with unique performance and properties. In this article, we, at Rush PCB Inc., compare the characteristics

Cost is the primary reason for comparing onshore and offshore manufacturing for PCBs or Printed Circuit Boards. When you need thousands of them, even a minor difference per board can add up to tilt the math. However, with changing tariffs, wages, and capabilities, the situation is not as clear-cut as it was earlier. For a comprehensive comparison between on and

Introduction PCBs or printed circuit boards must be made from the right materials to deliver the performance expected of them. The proper choice of materials for a PCB not only affects its final quality and cost but also its functionality and performance. Among the many types of materials available for manufacturing PCBs, two are most commonly used. These are FR4

Introduction There are innumerable types of packages available for SMD components, which complicates the choice for the designer as to the specific size that would be the most suitable for their design. In this article, we, at Rush PCB Inc., will address this issue. We will discuss the several types of packages and the reason for their existence. We will

Introduction Many modern electronic appliances nowadays use flexible circuit boards as these offer several advantages over the regular rigid variety. High-precision lasers or other mechanical tools that perform precise cutting operations on flexible circuit board materials are referred to as flex cuts. A high-precision cutting technology utilizes precision lasers or mechanical tools to create complex shapes or small sizes of

Introduction PCBs or Printed Circuit Boards are essential for almost all electronic equipment. Most mass-produced electronic equipment commonly use high-volume PCB assembly. However, startups typically manufacture products in lower quantities, for which they need PCB assemblies in low volumes. Companies that manufacture smaller quantities of PCBs experience different manufacturing difficulties compared to enterprises that work at high volume levels. Rush

Introduction During the past decade or so, PCBs or printed circuit boards have become extremely complex. They now have a high number of layer counts and very high component density, and their wiring is now more intricate. This has not only made defect detection increasingly critical but has also escalated the effectiveness of overall quality control to be that much

Introduction Eminent PCB or Printed Circuit Board manufacturers like Rush PCB Inc. often protect their boards with either a layer of conformal coating or by potting them. The choice depends on the purpose of the PCB and the amount of protection necessary. Although potting offers a substantially strong shielding barrier, it also introduces many operational disadvantages offsetting its functional benefits.

PCBs or printed circuit boards are a basic necessity in electronic equipment design and manufacturing. For PCBs to function flawlessly over their entire life span, a crucial decision lies in selecting the most suitable surface finish. Rush PCB Inc. offers numerous options, with two popular choices being HASL or Hot Air Solder Leveling, and ENIG or Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold.

The Association Connecting Electronics Industries, now known as the Institute for Printed Circuits or IPC is a trade association for the electronic interconnection industry. It authorizes high-quality electronics by developing standards that drive the success of the electronic industry worldwide. Introduction The IPC consists of over 3000 companies that design, manufacture, and assemble boards for equipment ranging from consumer, wearable

Rush PCB Inc. is a reputed manufacturer of PCBs or printed circuit boards in the US. The electronic industry uses our printed circuit boards to electrically interconnect electronic components through conductive pathways, typically known as signal traces or tracks etched onto a copper-plated board. We make the board itself from an insulating dielectric substrate. We may have to drill several

The PCB or Printed Circuit Board design process is long and complicated. Typically, it has several stages that range from the initial schematics to the final finished layout. With products becoming increasingly more advanced, PCBs are also getting more complicated with greater component densities, higher signal speeds, and tighter tolerances. Higher complexity in PCB design, if done manually, can not

Industry 4.0 is leading to huge gains in factory productivity, efficiency, and data automation. This is primarily due to parallel advancements in AI or artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing, and IoT or the Internet of Things. According to Rush PCB Inc., machines in the future will be responsible for industrial processes. This will include specific learned tasks and exploitation of closed

What are Flexible Displays and Foldable Devices? Flexible displays and foldable devices have been making the rounds of the market in recent years. Numerous phones, monitors, and other devices are now available incorporating this new and innovative technology. Flexible screens are a new spin on the traditional rigid flat-screen display—it is possible to flex and bend them. Foldable devices incorporate

With so much design and manufacturing effort going into creating a PCB, it is necessary to improve the design to avoid expensive responses due to EMI/EMC test failures. According to Rush PCB Inc., this is easily accomplished by following some basic design techniques and principles and applying modern EMC analysis software. Designers must overcome numerous challenges when designing printed circuit

Staggered and stacked microvias are standard in HDI or High-Density Interconnect boards. In fact, these boards achieve their unique density primarily because of these tiny vias and closely spaced, narrow traces. Eminent PCB manufacturers like Rush PCB Inc. create effective, efficient, and compact circuit boards by incorporating staggered and stacked microvias in the design of their boards. A rapid change

The focus of the electronic industry is on HDI or High-Density Interface boards right now. Rightly so, as the trend of the industry is to produce devices with minuscule form factors, for which, boards made with the HDI technology are of paramount importance. However, the most common question that arises is whether HDI boards are economical. Here, Rush PCB Inc.

Manufacturing HDI PCBs requires a variety of materials. They are necessary to create a layer stackup, etch the unwanted copper, apply a solder mask, apply a surface finish, and print the silkscreen. While the other materials are fairly standard, dielectric material for creating the multilayer PCB stackup must have different material properties like dielectric constant and thermal conductivity to suit

Designers can pack an astounding amount of functionality into a small device, and they have the HDI design technique to be thankful for this. HDI design techniques, including microvias design, are useful in generating compact printed circuit designs. They pack very small structures and traces in multilayer PCBs to create a high interconnect density and a high layer count. If

Eminent PCB manufacturers like Rush PCB Inc. know that a board’s stack up directly affects its cost. Additionally, there are fabrication variables that also contribute to the cost of a board. Therefore, many manufacturers are switching to additive manufacturing to circumvent the cost of a board, but without sacrificing its performance. PCB manufacturers often come across complex layouts with deadlines

PCB or Printed Circuit Board designers, targeting high-volume production, are familiar with fiducials. These are copper features, visible through the solder mask openings, typically appearing around the edge of a PCB. Automated imaging equipment uses fiducials to set the board properly against its orientation and angular skew. This helps in the accurate placement and assembly of components on the board.

For any type of PCB or Printed Circuit Board, its substrate or the material the board is made of, forms its backbone for holding the traces and the components. NEMA or National Electrical Manufacturers Association has formed FR4, a standard for laminates made from glass-reinforced epoxy resins. The FR4 has many properties that make it important as a substrate for

Rush PCB Inc. makes various types of high-quality PCBs or Printed Circuit Boards for the electronic industry. While each PCB can have an individual and unique boundary or perimeter, it typically defines the extent of the electronics mounted on that PCB. Apart from that, the perimeter can also serve other functions. The most notable function of the perimeter of a

The supply chain for electronic manufacturers is fraught with deep vulnerabilities. This is primarily due to pandemic-related disruptions and geopolitical tensions. According to Rush PCB Inc., the global shortage resulting from these vulnerabilities is also affecting governments and businesses that rely on these manufacturers. This global shortage is impacting the production of everything, including critical infrastructure, medical devices, and even

Although rigid PCBs or printed circuit boards are still the norm in most electronic equipment, flexible PCBs are swiftly making serious inroads in the industry. This is mostly because flexible or flex boards offer several mechanical advantages over their rigid counterparts, one of them being a replacement for complex wire harnesses. Naturally, there is confusion among users about whether to

Eminent PCB manufacturers like Rush PCB Inc. coat the exposed pads with a metal/organic coating, which they call the surface finish. The surface finish protects the copper pads from scratches and oxidation while boosting soldering in the reflow soldering ovens. Although there are many types of surface finishes, ENIG and ENEPIG are two versatile types. Manufacturers typically use them for

The PCB industry cannot do without CAD or computer-aided design and CAM or computer-aided manufacturing. These are necessary for the quality and accuracy that customers demand from the industry. According to Rush PCB Inc., the industry uses various formats during the design of PCBs, of which Gerber, HPGL, HPGL-2, and Excellon are a few. For reviewing the design outcomes, it

At Rush PCB Inc., we make all types of PCBs, including those with castellated holes. In this article, we will overview castellated holes, their history, applications, benefits, design attributes, challenges, and why they are required in modern electronic design. Complex multi-layered PCBs use plated vias to allow an electrical connection of traces across layers. Non-SMD boards use PTH or plate

At Rush PCB Inc., we are always under pressure to help our customers bring their new products faster to market. Rapid prototyping allows designers and engineers to test their concepts faster, iterate their boards quicker, and validate their designs more quickly before they start investing in full-scale production. We use several methods, techniques, and strategies to enable rapid PCB prototyping.

With technology continuously getting smaller, there can be no reason to assume that the trend will stop any time soon. Therefore, designers are under constant pressure to reduce their board size. Here, Rush PCB Inc. shares some common methods we use to shrink PCB design. During the design, it may be necessary to review it several times to weed out

The role of PCB designers is an important one as far as the two areas of EMI and EMC are concerned. They must ensure laying out the design such that it generates noise below the regulatory limits. Many designs may be perfectly functional, yet unable to pass the regulatory standards because the designer has followed particular practices in the layout.

Contrary to popular belief that automation is a peril to be avoided at best, Rush PCB Inc advises dependence on the advancement of technology. In fact, without automation there will likely be no growth at all, especially in the manufacturing sector. Since Henry Ford started the first assembly lines, there has been no looking back for automation. Rather, it is

Tombstoning is an issue occurring during the soldering process when all components on a board are anchored to its bare surface. While there are many that will point fingers of blame on fabricators and assemblers for the tombstoning issue, the truth is designers also have a role to play. In this article, Rush PCB Inc discusses what tombstoning is, and

The electronic industry follows two main types of automated soldering techniques for assembling their PCBs. These are wave soldering and reflow soldering. There are major differences between the two, and the circumstances of their use are vastly different. In this article, we, at Rush PCB Inc, will briefly explain the two technologies, their commonalities and differences, and the various circumstances

When developing a functional embedded system, designers use a variety of electronic components. These include processors, memories, and peripheral devices. The complexity of the system depends on its intended objective application. The choice of the processor is one of the most intricate and involving, as it will affect the computational power of the system and the effective management of peripherals

In PCBs or printed circuit boards, stackup design must address three concerns—controlled impedance, crosstalk, and interplane capacitance. While fabricators have some control over achieving the right impedance in a stackup, they cannot account for the other two. The design engineer is responsible for them, primarily, as the designer alone knows the requirements and the method of control necessary. Here, Rush

According to Rush PCB Inc, there are infinite number of ways to connect PCBs or printed circuit boards to other boards, electronic devices or power sources. A designer has the freedom to choose from various connectors, cable assemblies, wires, etc. However, their choice of the correct interface is mainly governed by the given application. This often involves factors like environmental,

With electronics moving more into high-frequency operations, it is imperative that various devices operate without disturbing others operating nearby. When electric current flows in a closed circuit, it generates magnetic fields that can interact with other magnetic fields nearby. The capability of electronic circuits operating without disturbing or disrupting other operations is called its electromagnetic compatibility. Rush PCB Inc recommends

Any type of electronic product, even when they have been designed properly and built meticulously, are prone to problems. In the prototype stage, electronic products can have bugs and issues, and the designers must troubleshoot them before they can build the final product. However, if something is left unnoticed, it can mean huge problems for the company if the product

A variety of industries are now using machine learning for delivering actionable insights for a wide range of applications. According to Rush PCB Inc, the main reason for this being the intelligence and reasoning the domain of machine learning exhibits is very close to that of the human brain. Using machine learning ensures that the process of decision-making is trustworthy

Earlier, electronic equipment had multiple circuit boards handling different functions of the design. For instance, it was common to find a power supply board, a processor board, separate audio and video cards, and probably, a fan control board. According to Rush PCB Inc, electronic equipment are becoming smaller and are including additional functionality. Moreover, there is the added pressure to

Rush PCB Inc is a world-class PCB manufacturer, and we offer many types of high-quality printed circuit boards using the most advanced technologies for special applications. One of our next generation LED solutions is the Sinkpad MCPCBs. What is a Sinkpad MCPCB? Sinkpad is a special type of metal core PCB or MCPCB. Conventional MCPCBs have a metal core at

At Rush PCB Inc, we manufacture various types of printed circuit boards or PCBs. During manufacturing, we must pay a lot of attention on handling different tools and processes to avoid common quality issues. These issues include cold joints, brittle joints, and voids. A void is an empty space somewhere in the PCB that has an inadequate amount of material.

Artificial Intelligence or AI has been making inroads into our technological world over the last one decade. AI is a forward-looking and futuristic concept, and nearly all industries are using it widely for a vast array of applications. As a result, we now have Alexa, Siri, and many other AI-driven voice assistants, self-driving cars, Internet search engines, and many others.

Flexible substrates are characterized by being flexible and can be bent freely, but if everything is soft, it will be difficult to handle. A certain degree of thickness and hardness is required, especially for component mounting and connection. A reinforcing plate is used to harden a part of a flexible substrate like this. Most of the flexible substrates currently in

This time, we will introduce two methods for creating wiring patterns. When using copper-clad laminates (CCL), the “subtractive method” is used to combine the film and photoresist, and the wiring is formed by etching. Let’s understand that wiring that is too thin invites failure. The other “additive method” is characterized by its ability to draw patterns with high precision. Determine

Reverse engineering a PCB means analyzing the target board with the purpose of reproducing its likeness. According to Rush PCB Inc, reverse engineering can deduce and create a likeness of the design of the process flow, structure, functional characteristics, and technical specifications of a PCB to reproduce a similar board, but not its exact copy. The primary purpose here is

FFC Connector The FFC connector is an advanced version of the card edge connector. The FFC connector was developed from a card edge connector for rigid substrates, specifically for flexible substrates. The basic structure of an FFC connector consists of soldering the connector to a rigid board and directly inserting a flexible board into it to form an electrical connection. FFC

The PCB industry commonly uses substrates composed of glass fiber impregnated with resin. One of such PCB substrate material is G10. While the G in the name stands for glass fiber, the figure 10 indicates that glass fiber content in the substrate amounts to 10% of the total. According to Rush PCB Inc, the G10 material offers very good insulation,

As PCB designers, fabricators, and assemblers, we wear a lot of hats here at RUSH PCB. We’re always working to design and build PCBAs that are the best that they can be. But sometimes we are consigned product to assemble that wasn’t designed by our team, and every once in a while, we will get boards to assemble where we’re

Before the digital era began, analog circuits were the norm, and they had specific design rules. With the advent of digital circuits, many of the older design rules were no longer applicable. However, as many advanced applications are now decisively analog, or use mixed signals, Rush PCB Inc recommends revisiting the older guidelines for analog PCBs. Although all analog systems

For a customer, especially for those starting out in the electronic industry, it is imperative to talk the same language as the contract manufacturer. This ensures the possibility to create an accurate embodiment of the design intent without going through painful quote delays, board respins, and redesign efforts. It requires all stakeholders to communicate precisely for a successful board development.

Identifying both hot and cold spots on the PCBA are very important to set up right reflow profile as the Conveyor speed in the oven should allow both the hot and the cold spots to reach equilibrium by the time the PCBA assembly reaches the end of the preheat phase. In the reflow phase, the solder melts to form reliable soldered

In Lead-free (Pb-free) reflow soldering for SMT PCBAs, soldering defects associated with thermal profiling can be mitigated by a thorough understanding of the variables affecting the process, as well as the metallurgical dynamics associated therewith. In Pb-free soldering, melt temperatures are typically higher, depending on the alloy used, and solderability is generally less robust than that of traditional Pb-based soldering.

Rush PCB Inc makes multilayer printed circuit boards containing many layers. With increasing demand for greater number of layers in PCBs, each layer is becoming thinner than ever before. We recommend PCB designers to use ELIC or Every Layer Interconnect technology for creating very thin, flexible PCBs with high functional density. Such advanced HDI boards typically feature multiple layers with

Our customers at Rush PCB Inc often use jumpers in their printed circuit board designs. In fact, the use of jumpers starts early, sometimes with the use of breadboards. These are typically double-sided connectors insulated along their length. Engineers use these universal devices frequently to understand the basics of circuit analysis and networking. By plugging in these simple through-hole devices,

Rush PCB Inc makes a large variety of printed circuit boards for the computerized and mobile-activated world. Most of these PCBs carry signals to and from other devices. For proper functioning of these boards, it is necessary for them to communicate without interruption. Gold fingers on PCBs, serving as connecting points between boards, make this possible. Compared to earlier technologies,

Although eminent printed circuit board manufacturers like Rush PCB Inc insist on the use of Gerber files for fabricating boards, newcomers may not be aware of the technology. Gerber files are standard output formats that PCB manufacturers use and are essential for PCB fabrication, as they carry information about details of the completed design. It is possible to create Gerber

All electronic equipment require a printed circuit board or PCB to function to their intended performance. Eminent PCB manufacturers such as Rush PCB Inc fabricate boards for their customers in the most effective way, so that they can produce the boards most economically. One of the methods they use is PCB panelization, which involves grouping the boards such that from

High-speed serial signal transmission in excess of 1 Gbps, such as PCI-Express and serial ATA, has come into general use. Transmission paths for differential signals on a printed circuit board are often coupled two wires with a pair of +/-, and a solid plane is often used as a reference plane. It is ideal for this reference plane to be

According to Rush PCB Inc, a well-drawn circuit diagram not only looks professional, but also provides crucial information for easy traceability, signal tracing, debugging, and troubleshooting. Whether it is a single-page document, or a complex one spanning several pages, a professional schematic diagram must contain a few basic structures. The basic requirements start with: Traceability A professional schematic must be

Resistors are passive components necessary for use in circuit board assemblies. Rush PCB Inc uses resistors in their PCB assemblies to resist the flow of electric current. Electronic circuits use different types of resistors, such as linear, non-linear, fixed and variable. While fixed resistors have a stated value that does not change, it is possible to adjust the variable resistor

The advancement of technology is benefiting all industries, including the medical industry. Medical devices are progressively becoming smaller, yet more powerful, all the while meeting the demands of the profession. Innovations and advancements in technology are helping in the design and manufacturing of compact and complex medical devices. As the medical industry deals with the lives of living beings, they

Rush PCB Inc makes various types of hot swap printed circuit boards (PCBs) that are necessary for building custom mechanical keyboards. Typically, manufacturers use two types of PCBs for making the custom mechanical keyboards—hot swap PCBs or solderable PCBs. There is significant difference between the two. What is a Hot Swap PCB? The prospect of soldering switches on the PCB

Printed Circuit Board or PCB manufacturers like Rush PCB Inc use various materials for cladding boards. One of the most common materials for cladding is copper. The main reason for this is copper is a good conductor of electricity and heat. A PCB serves two basic functions in a device. First, it provides an adequate support for mounting the electronic

The PCB industry has been using high-frequency board materials for several reasons and for decades. These materials have several unique attributes when compared to those of the more traditional PCB materials. Rush PCB Inc recommends a proper understanding of the attributes so that OEMs and PCB fabricators can both benefit greatly. Most high-frequency applications require PCB materials with emphasis on

Before starting with PCB manufacturing, Rush PCB Inc insists on a clean and unambiguous data package. This not only decreases cycle time, but also ensures a clear understanding of requirements. To achieve this, we present a list of seven common PCB DFM issues for design engineers to address. PCB Dimensional Discrepancy One of the most common issues is dimensions in

Rush PCB Inc makes rigid-flex circuits with high mechanical bend reliability. This is related to the area of the rigid-flex circuit where it transitions from the rigid area to the flexible part or from a stiffened area to the flexible part in a flex circuit, and the bend reliability of this area can have a significant impact on the success

According to Rush PCB Inc, printed electronics is a broad term encompassing all printing methods manufacturers use to create electronic devices, including flexible printed circuit boards. This printing can be on a variety of substrates. Earlier, printed electronics meant plastic or organic electronics that made use of one or more types of inks based on carbon compounds. With the explosion

Working with Rush PCB USA saves time and inventory costs for our customers. We strive to reduce the loss of components during assembly, it is important to consider how customers buy components. Rather than buying multiple short strips or loose strips of components, buying them in large continuous strips or in reels, means we will lose less during the setup

All printed circuit boards (PCBs) use copper as traces in the core and all the layers. Even the outermost layers contain copper as the main component. According to Rush PCB USA, inconsistent distribution of copper in the layer stack-up can lead to many issues like bow, twist, and warpage. Bow PCBs can acquire a spherical or cylindrical curvature due to

Rush PCB Inc recommends a robust inspection process before concluding the assembly process of a printed board assembly. That is because the inspection process has the ability to uncover hidden defects—allowing the assembler to save precious time, while also protecting against expensive repairs at a later date. Types of PCB Inspection Processes Depending on the requirement and customer demands, the

Rush PCB Inc makes all types of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), including Flexible PCBs. Like any other types of PCBs, flexible circuits are also susceptible to interference such as RF and Electromagnetic (EM). The negative effect of EMI and RF interference can be devastating malfunctions, leading to a loss of data and increases in error rates. We address these interference

A printed circuit board is a versatile and integral component of electronic equipment. It provides mechanical and electrical support to various external components that the assembler has mounted on it. The printed circuit board also has internal components that provide it with the special characteristics necessary for it to function as intended in the equipment. Here, Rush PCB Inc provides

Rush PCB Inc always begin their design of printed circuit boards (PCBs) with appropriate material selection. The goal is always to use the right material for making the PCBs, while meeting the electrical and temperature requirements. With most electronic designs moving towards high-speed, a proper choice of  material affects the quality of the signals traversing the board. Therefore, the choice

Rush PCB Inc makes all types of printed circuit boards or PCBs starting from single and multilayer boards and including double-sided boards as well. Single-sided boards usually have a substrate bonded with a layer of copper foil on one side, whereas in double-sided boards, the substrate is sandwiched between two layers of copper foil bonded on both sides. The substrate

At Rush PCB Inc, we undertake functional testing of printed circuit board assemblies. For this, we use an FCT or functional circuit test fixture. This forms a part of our quality control environment. Using an FCT fixture, we can evaluate a PCB assembly in a powered-on mode, and in an application capacity. We achieve this by designing circuitry in these

12 Best PCB Designing Software Tools In the market there is a large variety of PCB design software available. Some are proprietary, some are free to use online, and others are industrial grade PCB software. The following is a list of software EDA tools which Rush PCB Inc has compared for their performance. 1. Altium Designer (PROTEL) This software, introduced

DIY enthusiasts, hobbyists, and college students usually find it difficult to locate a PCB manufacturer who offers low volume quantities and prototypes at reasonable prices. Rush PCB Inc understands the requirements of hobbyists. We also offer PCB fabrication and assembly services at the lowest possible costs. We focus on fabrication and assembly of prototype PCBs, and this makes us a

A printed circuit board or PCB is an essential part of any electronic equipment. It is a special component that holds together various electronic and non-electronic components on itself, allowing them to work harmoniously. According to Rush PCB USA, the constituents of a PCB include an important layer known as the silkscreen, and it offers vital printed information. The silkscreen

Apart from being used at regular room temperatures, many industrial applications require exposing or continuously operating flex circuits at elevated temperatures. Most materials for flexible circuit boards can withstand reflow temperature profiles for RoHS solder. But sometimes, the elevated temperature may be well beyond the requirements of connector or component assembly. These applications may range from short-term exposure of the

As electronic products undergo continuous optimization and upgrading, the printed circuit boards within them that hold all their components, are also under continuous improvement. According to Rush PCB Inc, the introduction of ceramic circuit boards has led to significant advancements in performance and functioning as compared to the traditional glass fiber or FR-4 boards, and other metal clad boards made

According to Rush PCB USA, for multi-layered boards, PCB prepreg and cores are interchangeable, as both are very similar in some ways, and different in others. Basically, the core is one or more prepreg laminates that the fabricator has pressed, hardened, and cured with heat. This core also has copper foil plated on each side. Usually, the prepreg material is

Printed circuit boards with ceramic substrates are boards made with a special process where the manufacturer bonds the copper foil directly to the surface of a ceramic substrate made of Aluminum Nitride (AlN) or Alumina (Al2O3). According to Rush PCB Inc., the bonding takes place at a high temperature, and the copper foil may be present on one or both

When manufacturing PCBs, Rush PCB Inc. considers PCB thickness as a very important factor, as it affects the power handling capacity of the board. As PCB design software does not provide any direct control over the printed board thickness, customers must instruct us about their requirement of circuit board thickness. Thicker copper on the circuit board increases its price, but

At Rush PCB Inc., we advise our customers on their printed circuit board design. Being associated with the design of a PCB from the beginning has a huge advantage for us. We assure ourselves and our customers that the move from design to production will proceed without meeting any challenges. In this article, we have consolidated the advice we offer

Rush PCB recommends maintaining a clean PCB during assembly. This offers a circuit board the foremost chance of success, apart from ensuring maximum longevity for the product. Although contamination observed on the PCB may be only cosmetic, but it can cause corrosion or functional issues, leading to a failure of the product. For any contaminants on a completed PCB assembly,

Rush PCB Inc makes all types of PCBs, starting from simple ones, to complex multi-layered ones, and HDI types. Apart from multiple layers, a complex HDI PCB can have hundreds of components with thousands of solder joints and traces covering almost the entire PCB surface. Printed circuit board users expect each component on the board to perform according to the

By Akber Roy – Chief Technical Officer at RUSH PCB Assembling a Printed Circuit Board is attaching all the components and connectors on an unpopulated PCB. The finished product is a Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA). Include in the assembly process is automate optical, electrical, and X-ray testing, and sometimes the application of a conformal coating. PCB, PWB, PCBA A

Rush PCB Inc. makes several types of switches on flex circuits. One of the popular momentary switches is dome switches. They are useful as they provide tactile feedback when operated. Many applications need a dome switch along with a flexible circuit board. For instance, these applications can range from a few simple switches on a handheld device to large panels

Most printed circuit boards from Rush PCB have holes in their periphery. These are Tool Holes, Locating Holes, or Mounting Holes, necessary for fixing the board on different machines during assembly. The tool holes allow the board to achieve the expected functioning for proper manufacturing. Although the tool holes present on printed circuit boards are very ordinary, they are regular

Rush PCB Inc. makes various types of PCBs, including those for keyboards. Many customers would like to know what makes a better keyboard, and whether they should use plate mounted or PCB mounted switches. Both types of switches are meant for mechanical keyboards, and the difference between the two can be somewhat confusing. Therefore, we will discuss the merits and

Rush PCB uses several ways of plating the exposed copper surface of a printed circuit board. However, the main function of any plating is to protect the copper from deteriorating, as any damage to copper tracks on a board will make it unfit for use. Another function of plating on a PCB is it helps to create a solderable surface

Rush PCB Inc. is one of the most advanced PCB manufacturers. We also make fully assembled PCBs. Most people are mystified when confronting a fully assembled PCB. Although it looks more like a board with decorations on it, it is in fact a printed circuit board with several small electronic components mounted on it. Such boards with components mounted on

Rush PCB makes several types of printed circuit boards, along with PCB assemblies. For our customers it is necessary they can identify common circuit board components. This identification may be necessary even for assemblers, testers, and those involved with troubleshooting printed circuit boards in the field. Circuit Board Component Identification—Broad Classification Primarily, there are two types of components on any

Rush PCB places great emphasis on proper PCB etching techniques, as etching is one of the most important processes in PCB manufacturing. PCB manufacturers use etching to decide the amount of copper remaining on the laminate, Etching defines the copper lands and traces that make the circuit on the laminate. PCB manufacturers use copper clad laminates to fabricate circuit boards.

Rush PCB assigns great importance to the correct sizing of PCB traces during PCB design. This involves not only the PCB trace width but several other important factors as well, like trace length and style. Importance of Trace Width PCB traces connect all kinds of electrical signals from one junction to another. The signals may be analog, digital, or power.

For protecting a PCB, Rush PCB offers a few options—potting with encapsulation resins or conformal coatings. For both, we use organic polymers to provide the necessary chemical and thermal resistance, along with the inevitable electrical insulation to the PCB assembly. Although there are several similarities between the two, there are many differences as well. It is necessary to understand the

Rush PCB Inc. makes rigid-flex printed circuit boards with the distinct advantage of being both rigid and flexible at the same time. The rigid portion allows mounting of components while the flexible part allows the printed circuit to bend and follow a contour. With the advancement of technology, users are increasingly requiring rigid-flex PCBs with higher interconnection and smaller form

With most electronic equipment trending towards compact designs, printed circuit boards inside them must hold a substantial number of components per unit square area. With components packed so close together, designs are usually on the extremes and manufacturers must follow tight PCB fabrication tolerances. Another feature of these designs is the use of components with very high pin count, leading

Rigid-flex printed circuit boards from Rush PCB Inc. have the characteristic flexible sections along with rigid sections in the same board. So far, they were not popular with many designers, as their designs mostly used rigid boards. With electronic equipment design trending toward high-density, more designers are looking for printed circuit boards that can actually bend. This is where our

Printed circuit manufacturers use various types of PCB inks on the boards they manufacture. These mainly include liquid inks for the solder resist or solder mask layer and for the surface printing or silkscreen layer. Eminent PCB manufacturers like Rush PCB Inc. select liquid PCB inks carefully, after considering various factors for their performance. These factors include several technical parameters

Rush PCB makes two types of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), one with non-metalized edges and the other with metallized edges. Earlier there was not much demand for metal-edged PCBs, but now more customers are demanding it. There is greater attention for higher quality of PCB metal edging as it enhances the functioning of several products that use these PCBs. The

As any PCB manufacturer knows, it is easy to fabricate a wide trace on a PCB. During fabrication, it is easy to etch long traces spaced away from other copper entities. Therefore, Rush PCB recommends making traces as wide as possible. For instance, when etching a 20-mil trace, it can tolerate greater metal loss, but a 2-mil trace is not

With low-frequency circuits, PCB designers can place components on the board in almost any orientation they prefer. If while routing a part, a trace takes a long path around the board, it is not a big concern. They can handle thermal management easily, as component spacing is not an issue. However, as circuit boards are now shrinking in size and

All printed circuit boards manufactured by Rush PCB have a surface finish to protect the solderable copper pads from oxidizing and deteriorating, making the PCB unusable. The surface finish is a critical interface between the pad and the component. Essentially, the surface finish protects the exposed copper pads and provides a solderable surface during the assembly process. With most countries

Rush PCB makes printed circuit boards (PCBs), some of them very complex and diverse. These include multi-layered boards with up to 40 layers, but mainly boards with 4 to 12 layers being more popular. The stack-up holds the layers together. This includes copper cores with prepregs or dielectrics separating them. Although dielectrics have insulating properties, unlike insulators, dielectrics allow electric

Industries are now embracing the Industry 4.0 standards in a big way. This is because of the huge gains Industry 4.0 promises them. The gains are mainly in automation of factory data in efficiency and productivity. This also includes artificial intelligence or AI and the Internet of Things or IoT. The future envisages industrial processes where machines are responsible for

Rush PCB handles a large variety of components suitable for Surface Mount Technology (SMT) while designing and/or assembling PCBs for our customers. This is because almost all the electronics we mass-produce today use SMT components, as they offer several advantages. Component manufacturers offer SMT components in many packages, and they standardize the packages so that assemblers can use them easily

Electronics are becoming smaller while it is getting faster. For enabling smaller component footprints on high-density printed circuit boards or PCBs, Rush PCB recommends considering the integrity of solder joints on each component for improving the producibility. This calls for proper processing temperature, suitable to the solder type underuse. As the board density increases and component size reduces, manufacturers tighten

The current belief in the industry is that traditional low-cost printed circuit board materials are not useful for producing next-generation high-speed designs. For instance, modern technological requirements for, say PCI 5.0, are one of the most challenging for board designers and manufacturers, High-Speed Boards with Less-Expensive PCB Materials. At Rush PCB, we have examined the materials and methods involved in

Rush PCB ensures the integrity of flexible printed circuit boards ,Testing Flex PCBs through an essential step—testing. We verify the quality of raw materials going in to making the PCBs and the finished products in different ways, such as following the guidelines from IPC-2223, IPC-6013, and IP-FC-234 and their successors. Likewise, for testing flexible printed circuit boards, we follow the

As Rush PCB makes increasingly smaller printed circuit boards or PCBs, we are using fewer through hole components, while using more of surface mount technology or SMT components. Accordingly, we are allocating less of the precious space on the board for relatively large plated through holes. With the increasing use of SMT components, rather than plated through holes, our modern

With electronic equipment trending towards smaller and thinner form factors, engineers must use tiny Surface Mount Technology or SMT components on Printed Circuit Boards or PCBs. Most often, the board has a mix of fine pitch, medium-sized, and large SMT components. For effective assembly of such boards, Rush PCB recommends using step stencils. What is a Stencil? Assembling SMT components

The electronic components manufacturing industry has been developing several types of fine-pitch components in recent years. These ultra-small integrated circuits include packages like FC, CSP, BGA, TOFP, VSOP, SSOP etc. The printed circuit board or PCB industry has followed the development of such components with fine-pitch boards. Rush PCB is gradually increasing application of BGA, CSP, and FC packages in

High Density Interconnect or HDI PCBs offer more functionality within the same or a smaller area. At Rush PCB, we use the latest technology for increasing the use of HDI in computer products and mobile phones. Using HDI PCBs has resulted in revolutionizing the electronics industry with several new products such as 4G communications and touch-screen computers. It even benefits

PCB manufacturing and PCB assembly are two different industry fields, conforming to different IPC and other standards. While PCB manufacturing concerns the fabrication of the bare circuit boards, PCB assembly concerns the placement of various components on the bare board and soldering them. As a leading turnkey PCB manufacturer and assembler, Rush PCB handles all types of boards like rigid,

Rush PCB designs PCB panels or arrays such that the constituent smaller PCBs remain securely attached during manufacturing and assembly. However, our design also allows easy depanelization into individual boards for shipping to our customers. PCB panelization involves bringing together several smaller individual PCBs to form a large panel, usually of standard dimensions. This helps in mass production or quick

The electronics industry is presently using thinner printed circuit boards (PCBs) and smaller SMT electronic components than they did earlier. The trend comes from increasing customer demands for smaller form factor for electronic devices. According to Rush PCB, the use of thin multi-layer PCBs of less than 40 mils (1 mm) and very small SMT components is also leading to

The latest development in fabricating PCBs is following the same trend that integrated circuit manufacturers are. They are packing increasing amounts of functionality into smaller spaces. However, the smaller the spacing is, greater is the difficulty in making precise manufacturing, as high-density PCB design requires following strict DFM rules. Currently, Rush PCB is following three key processes as the latest game-changers in

The electronics industry defines fine-pitch PCB assembly as those with a significantly high number of components per unit area. That means the components on the board are very close to each other, bordering on the tolerance limits of the fabrication processes. Rush PCB advises following some simple rules of thumb that makes it possible to successfully execute such high-density PCB

Selecting lead-free PCB manufacturing materials or rather, those that comply with the RoHS Directive, also requires considering the capability of the material to withstand high temperatures, and the compatibility of solder and PCB pad coatings. The primary objective of the RoHS Directive is to limit the use of cadmium, mercury, polybrominated biphenyls, hexavalent chromium, and polybrominated biphenyl ethers in restricted

Designers using BGA or Ball Grid Array ICs need HDI or High-Density Interconnect PCBs to make the most effective use of these high-density packages. Using multiple BGA components, when some of them are high pin count types, requires special routing techniques, known as escape routing strategies, for routing traces to connect to and from the balls or pins under these

Designers generate ideas that fabricators and assemblers subsequently convert into reality. While it is an important responsibility for fabricators and assemblers to faithfully follow the instructions provided by the designer, it is obligatory on the latter’s part to document their ideas in a manner suitable for others to follow. For getting PCBs or Printed Circuit Boards fabricated and assembled, designers

The ITU or International Telecommunications Union considers the high frequency range of electromagnetic waves to extend from 3 MHz to 30 MHz, beyond which, the range extends to VHF or Very High Frequency, UHF or Ultra High Frequency, and more. The electronics industry considers high frequency radio waves as extending from 100 MHz onwards. Rush PCB manufactures RF and high-frequency

Rush PCB recommends using multi-layer rigid flexible printed circuit boards for reducing the weight and size of the assembly, improving circuit board reliability, PCB assembly flexibility, avoiding wiring errors, and achieving three-dimensional assembly under different conditions. As rigid-flex boards are thin, light, and flexible, and they meet the interconnection technology of integrated circuits, the communication and electronics industry values them

From being purely mechanical assemblies, automotive vehicles have progressed to include electronic parts. A top brand automotive vehicle today contains about 150 control units consisting mostly of sensors and processors. According to a study, more than 60% of the electronics exists within the dynamical system, the body, and the chassis of the automotive vehicle, while most of it concerns digital

What is Warpage For proper placement of SMT components, it is necessary that the PCB remain perfectly flat. For accurate placement, the pick-and-place machine must release the SMT component at the same height above the board for all components. If the board has warpage, that is, it is not flat, the machine is unable to maintain a constant height when

Most IC packages have soldering pins along one, two, or all four of their edges. While some have them positioned away from the body, for some the manufacturers bend the pins back under the package body. These packages have names such as SOP, TSOP, QFP, TQFP, and more. With rising demand for increasing functionality from ICs, manufacturers have introduced a

Rush PCB, our customers and most others are accustomed to seeing and handling Integrated Circuits or ICs. However, what everyone sees and handles is really the external packaging, as the die or the chip itself is tiny, fragile, and susceptible to damage by the environment. Moreover, handling the chip itself would be very difficult for the users because of the

A designer uses electronic components for building up the circuit so that it functions properly. Rush PCB recommends dividing the entire exercise into three distinct activities: Component Selection Component Sourcing Component Placement A mistake in one or more of the above steps can cause major project complications. It can even lead to non-functioning products, causing delays and holds in a

At Rush PCB, most of the printed circuit boards (PCBs) we assemble have surface mount components (SMCs) on them. Our customers want their boards assembled with SMCs primarily because SMCs offer several advantages, major ones being substantial improvements in quality and reliability, compared to boards assembled with through-hole components. All through-hole components require holes drilled into the PCB, one for

According to the assembly and testing experience gathered by Rush PCB, there can be several reasons why the newly assembled PCB fails to function as intended during testing. We list below the most likely broad causes for a non-working PCB. However, each of them may be due to several independent issues. Bad Component Wrong Design Assumptions Overheating Bad Power Supply

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) getting increasingly more complex, and this is evident from the mixed-performance that OEMs demand from them. These requirements lead to a diverse set of highly sensitive components PCBs feature, with shrinking real estate cramming them on the board. It is important these components are compatible and the PCB manufacturable. According to Rush PCB, these requirements make

Definition and Scope of DFA As design decisions can have a significant effect on the cost and efficiency of PCBs during the assembly process, they can also affect the overall reliability and quality of the finished product. Design for assembly is a specific method by which design can take into consideration the cost and efficiency of the assembly process, as

For increasing their market share, OEMs are resorting to bringing out new products and reducing their time-to-market. However, with component packages getting smaller, assembly designs getting denser, and assembly process margins getting tighter, Printed Circuit Board (PCB) designers are facing increasingly tougher challenges. Designers need to resort to specific checks at each step of the design to ensure the final

Most industries use DFMA or Design for Manufacturing and Assembly techniques to mainly minimize product cost through improvements in design and process. Two procedures make up the term—Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA)—with many differences and similarities between the two. Rush PCB explains why DFMA techniques are essential in the PCB industry. DFM & DFA — Differences

Although manufacturers must deal with several variables when fabricating a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) including the solder mask, silk screen, copper width and weight, laminates form the foundation of the boards. Depending on the application, fabricators use different laminates, and this is a critical choice. Manufacturers make laminates from thin layers of various materials such as fabric, fiberglass, or paper,

Early radio receivers built using valves had a metal chassis for mounting the valves, dials and switches. Engineers placed all other electronic components under the chassis. Since the total number of components were very few, and all were with leads, it was easy to solder them while they hung from terminal boards and interconnect them with wires. However, this procedure

In the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assembly process, the most important part is the deposition of solder paste on the board. The aim of the process is to deposit an accurate amount of solder paste onto each pad on the PCB. The operator achieves this by screen-printing the solder paste through a stencil or applying it via a jet printer.

Whether a printed circuit board (PCB) goes inside a water analyzer, a spacecraft, or on an airplane, it is easy to measure the cost of failure—in terms of the number of lives or the number of dollars lost. For these situations, Rush PCB recommends that designers pay special attention to the design choices they are making. This is because high-reliability

Although the electronic industry uses a Bill of Materials (BOM) to indicate a list of ingredients a product uses, the concept of a comprehensive BOM is still elusive to most people. To create a proper understanding, Rush PCB is hereby providing a guide to generating and qualifying a proper BOM. Typically, a BOM is a list of raw materials, components,

Electronic systems use solder joints in multiple locations including connectors, components, and mechanical support points interconnecting printed circuit boards (PCBs). Rush PCB identifies system-level reliability as the dominant failure mode and isolates the critical location on the PCB as the most susceptible to failure. Accordingly, we list failure mechanisms in solder joints as occurring due to: Mechanical Loading—Overstress and Mechanical

Rush PCB recommends using solder resist (the green coating) on the printed circuit boards (PCBs) as a primary protection against oxidation and corrosion. The presence of the solder resist improves the quality of the PCB as it guards against the degradation in its performance and a reduction of its normal operational lifetime of the device. Furthermore, the solder resist offers

Rush PCB offers several surface treatments on bare printed circuit boards (PCBs) to ensure proper electrical properties and good solderability. PCB traces and pads are made of Copper, and exposed Copper is unlikely to remain in its raw form for very long, as it tends to oxidize when it comes into contact with air—creating a surface that is non-conducting and

Rush PCB is a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacturer in the US, and we specialize in providing professional services starting from prototyping to manufacturing of PCBs. We also source electronic components for our customers and take up PCB assembly. We offer turnkey services for our customers involving all aspects of any PCB project. We provide our customers products they can

OEMs look for the best Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacturer possible when they want to source boards for their products. An Internet search for popular PCB manufacturers within a specific region may throw up several options. For high quality PCBs, it is important to choose the most suitable PCB contract manufacturer that will fulfill all the requirements. One must consider

While at Rush PCB we manufacture and assemble various types of printed circuit boards (PCBs) for our customers, we also recommend professional and timely inspections for preventing failure issues. On the PCB side inspections can weed out failure issues such as due to delamination, cracks, and wettability, assembly side inspections bring out problems with solderability and component mounting. We implement

The demand for smart products from consumers has led to a high level of production and consumption of printed circuit boards (PCBs) in the electronics industry. Apart from industry demands, to a great extent this need is for gadgets that control or monitor common activities in which people usually engage. Requirements of enhanced capabilities and functionality are constantly increasing from

At Rush PCB, we face this question from almost all our customers. They want to know how they can reduce their expenses when assembling their printed circuit boards (PCBs). Those assembling a large number of PCBs know how the expenses can pile up, and therefore, any reduction, however small, really helps in the long run. As one of the leading

Rush PCB understands that the modern telecommunication industry involves a lot more than just telephones and their related networks. The industry deals with many forms of communication devices, networks, and their security. For instance, security in the telecommunication industry is in a burgeoning state and includes the latest in technology such as bio-metrics for facial recognition and retinal scan systems.

Rush PCB expects a huge impact to the electronic industry from the Implementation of 5G in electronic devices, especially as the new technology offers very high data rates, leading to the expectations of a multi-fold jump in data traffic. However, handling this kind of quality and scale will call for an equally innovative manufacturing requirement. The industry is expecting the

That Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) have copper tracks and planes on them is a fact that all users of printed circuits and those within the PCB industry know. If left unprotected, the copper surface easily oxidizes, tarnishes, and deteriorates, making the circuit board unusable. Therefore, eminent PCB manufacturers such as Rush PCB provide a surface finish on their PCBs, forming

Eminent Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacturers such as Rush PCB offer two distinct types of service—PCB prototyping and standard PCB production. This is because electronic designs have historically followed a clear evolution. Engineers first make and create a design on a breadboard or computer to test its functionality. Then they prepare a board layout and test with prototypes. They incorporate

The design of every Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is unique. Each PCB has its own requirements, and individual trade-offs on its design. Rush PCB recommends using basic guidelines for component placement on PCBs that turn the design into a professional endeavor making transition from design to production an easy process. According to Rush PCB, one of the basic concepts of

Considering that almost all modern electronic equipment make use of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), seemingly, PCB failures are hard to avoid. Although most PCB failures are unique in some way or the other, and analyzing the failures can point to different root causes, eminent Printed Circuit Boards manufacturers and assemblers such as Rush PCB generally classify PCB failures into two

Almost all users prefer smaller, thinner, and more manageable gadgets. To pack more functionality into their electronic products, designers use multi-layered printed circuit boards (PCBs) and smaller electronic components. Unfortunately, manufacturers cannot make very small leaded components, and instead, they have resorted to making surface mount devices (SMDs) that do not require extended leads—leading to very high component density of

Most of the solder the electronic industry uses today is of the lead-free variety, as use of lead has been recognized as a health hazard. Lead-free solder melts at a higher temperature, and has introduced a variety of challenges. Rush PCB has compiled a list of solder defects that can help managers, designers, engineers, and operatives recognize these everyday problems

Looking at a complicated Printed Circuit Board (PCB) such as the motherboard of a computer, you are likely to find several tracks going nowhere, and terminated rather abruptly. However, a closer inspection, preferably with a magnifying glass, will reveal more details at the point of termination of the track. Most likely, you will see it ending in a small PCB

Rush PCB is a leading PCB manufacturer and assembler in the US. With several decades of experience in contract manufacturing and assembling PCBs, Rush PCB uses the latest and most effective processes, machinery, and techniques for providing customers the best quality products. However, a successful PCB project does not depend on the manufacturing process alone. A successful PCB project is

Unprotected printed circuit boards (PCBs) corrode easily, making corrosion a major cause of failures for PCBs. Corrosion increases the resistance of copper tracks on a PCB, and when sufficiently corroded, result in the board working inefficiently or stop working altogether. Fortunately, there are some common causes of PCB corrosion and taking care of them in time can allow PCBs to

For Rush PCB, line efficiency is an extremely important business parameter. The faster a manufacturer turns out fully assembled PCBs that work as intended, the more its financial turn-over increases. If the PCB manufacturer operates continuously at low efficiency, before long they will be courting business failure, unless they can identify the root cause of the problem and remove it.

Rush PCB offers the first article assembly of PCBs at the most cost-effective rates compared to that from any other turnkey PCB assembly house. First article assembly and approval by the client represent the most significant steps for the successful layout design of a PCB. Approval of the first article circuit board answers almost all queries related to its fabrication,

On Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) made by Rush PCB, the copper weight of a trace bears a direct relationship to the current it can carry. The current carrying capacity of the trace depends primarily on the cross-sectional area of the trace and its length, the amount of time for which the current flows, and the temperature rise on the trace.

Designers at RUSH PCB try to maximize the performance of printed circuit boards (PCBs) they make. Applications demand higher power densities and operating temperatures that can literally cook conductors and dielectrics. Apart from outright failure, elevated temperatures affect electrical and thermal performance of PCBs, causing systems to behave erratically. Cracking and connection failure can result from unequal expansion and shrinking

Improvements in laminate materials, routing density, and assembly techniques continue to drive the evolution of printed circuit boards or PCBs from eminent PCB suppliers such as Rush PCB. A metallization process is at the core of these PCBs, necessary for making the drilled holes conductive, thereby creating interconnections for achieving the functionality of the finished board. High volume manufacturing lines

Rush PCB understands the importance of customers auditing the PCB supplier—an effective tool that potential customers use for assessing the qualifications of a supplier, one that helps build a stronger relationship between the OEM’s and the supplier’s teams. As OEMs are experts in their respective fields, and may not have extensive knowledge and information about the design and fabrication of

Use of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) in ultra-high vacuum environments and during wave or hand soldering can release gases trapped within them. This is a concern when using PCBs in outer space, medical facilities, and laboratories, as vapors escaping from the PCB can condense on the rest of the equipment. Even when the vapor is relatively harmless and familiar, such

At Rush PCB, one of the requirements of designing high-speed electrical channels on a PCB is the evaluation of its performance. For instance, one may have high-speed data lines from the IC pins to the pluggable connector at the edge of the PCB, forming a channel. Note that several factors may affect the integrity of signals traveling along with such

ESD or ElectroStatic Discharge damages both printed circuit boards (PCB) and electronic components. This happens when there is an accumulation of positive or negative charges on insulators or unconnected conductors. The amount of charge accumulating depends on the stored capacitance on the insulator or conductor with respect to nearby objects having a corresponding opposite charge. The charge is static as

With the field of PCB manufacturing evolving constantly, eminent manufacturers such as Rush PCB are continuously improving their technology, making innovations, and evolving better manufacturing methods. The pace of advancement is very high, such that methods commonly in use yesterday are considered as obsolete today. Keeping up with the new trends in the PCB industry is a tough challenge. Complexity

The surge in popularity of fitness trackers and devices in the last few years has led to eminent PCB manufacturers such as Rush PCB produce Flex PCBs for wearable technology. The huge demand for smaller and lighter products has brought more focus on fulfilling the technical requirements through flex PCBs. Applications in the medical sector offer an understanding of the

Rush PCB can increase the functionality of your PCBs within the same or reduced area by using the latest technology—High Density Interconnect or HDI. The new PCB technology takes advantage of the trend in miniaturization of semiconductor and other component packages leading to revolutionary new products that support advanced features. Typical consumer applications include computers, smartphones and cameras with touch

The world is steadily moving towards cleaner and more sustainable production of almost all types of products, including electronics. It is no wonder that the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) that forms the most crucial part of any electronic product is also undergoing a sea change in both its basic construction materials and the processes that manufacturers use for fabricating and

PCB design is a complex process typically requiring several considerations, sometimes with no single correct way of achieving a functional outcome. Engineers need an in-depth understanding of the printed circuit board (PCB) design process along with the knowledge of pros and cons of various options available to them for making the best design choice for achieving an optimum balance between

The increasing demand for higher functionality and smaller size requires Rush PCB to fit capabilities such as high speed or high power into small and often oddly shaped spaces. The reason may be to add new functionality or to make a choice between a module-based or a custom PCB design. Oftentimes, the challenge may lead to a better outcome or

Initial design work for large, dense Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), especially the High-Density Interconnect (HDI) types, requires the designer to define the appropriate stack up. HDI PCBs that use multiple large and dense Ball Grid Arrays (BGAs) benefit from a proper focus on PCB stack up design, as this enables the creation of an effective board. It is necessary to

As long as electronic products were large, conventional printed circuit boards (PCBs), even complex PCBs, sufficed. However, with the advent of modern smartphones, wearables, and the Internet of Things (IoT), the tendency to go for thinner and smaller products is prevailing. Component manufacturers have responded positively to this trend by making their products ever smaller. Now, increasingly, everyone wants smaller

The field of advanced PCB manufacturing is in a state of constant flux, driven mainly by two factors—improvements in technology, and innovations in electronics. These are forcing complex PCB manufacturers to develop better manufacturing methods. The pace is so rapid it makes methods commonplace yesterday to become obsolete by today. Some improvements and innovations in technology and electronics that are

Market research into electronic market trends in electronic manufacturing indicates a promising future for the printed circuit board (PCB) market. The research expects major opportunities for PCB manufacturing industries in fields such as communication, automotive and computers. The research forecasts a global growth of the PCB market at a CAGR of 3.2% from the year 2107 to 2022, reaching an

The term Internet of Things (IoT) is an umbrella term that covers a broad range of technologies, applications, and use cases enabled by connecting objects and devices via an Internet Protocol (IP) address. Underneath this umbrella of IoT technology fall a variety of terms such as the Internet of Everything, the IoT for home, the Internet of Medical Things, Industry

Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacturers typically follow three types of stackups for boards they will assemble with high-density packages: Standard Lamination with Vias or Plated Through Holes Sequential Lamination with Plated through, Blind, and Buried Vias Lamination Buildup with microvias Among the three above, the last is especially suitable for High Density Interconnect PCB (HDI PCB). Rush PCB Inc., eminent

Although potential electronics manufacturing services (EMS) partners usually look into capabilities and equipment lists, carrying out a comparison can be a daunting task as most EMS partners opt for different brands of equipment, specifically for surface mount assembly (SMT) equipment. Therefore, it is more useful to compare technologies such as flying probes and ICT, and convection and vapor phase reflow.

Eminent PCB fabricators such as Rush PCB Inc. use different types of prepregs and laminates for their PCBs. The manufacturers of these materials offer a number of fiberglass fabric styles. They base their selection on the thickness that the finished laminate or printed circuit board will take. It also depends on the amount of resin that will be present for

Fabricators of printed circuit boards (PCBs), such as Rush PCB Inc., know that throughout the working life of PCBs, the bonding between the copper traces and the laminate is very important. Copper pads or traces detaching and lifting off the board may be damaged easily, and cause the board to fail. In applications where the device is likely to fall,

Rush PCB Inc. makes different types of flex and rigid flex PCBs starting from single sided to double sided, and multi-layered. These boards are special in the sense they can be bent either once, such as when they are being installed in a miniature camera, or bent multiple times such as when attached to the head of an inkjet printer.

OEMs, especially those requiring only a few boards to be assembled, may want to outsource their Printed circuit boards to a professional PCB prototype assembler, rather than assemble the boards in-house. Instead of investing in expensive production equipment, they would prefer to obtain their product from a PCB prototype manufacturer, and have an expert assemble it, so that they have reliable

Using a consultancy such as Rush PCB Inc. for PCB manufacturing services has its own advantages. PCB manufacturing involves several processes including etching, engraving, multi-layer processing, drilling, masking, surface treatments, and electrical testing. Most OEMs are specialists in the products they manufacture, but have limited knowledge about the PCB itself that they use in their product—its technology or the processes

As a US based Printed Circuit Board Manufacturer, RushPCB delivers the utmost quality and value, both for low number PCB prototypes or large volume production lots. We can proudly confirm that our PCB manufacturing methods offer unbeatable prices for quick turn-around lead times at the best product quality. Simply leave us your specifications, and let our experienced sales support personnel

At Rush PCB Inc., the production of printed circuit boards (PCBs) involves so many diverse and varied possibilities that they complicate the process of estimating the factors affecting the cost of manufacturing them. Essentially, the considerations for the cost factor depend majorly on the various production strategies manufacturers use, different production equipment they employ, and the multitude of technologies available

Printed Wiring Materials (PWBs) from Rush PCB Inc. are available in huge diversity and wide range of applications. This has made the concept of any ideal laminate very fuzzy, to say the least. For instance, a material suitable for a high temperature application may be impractical for high-speed digital design such as in a microwave. Therefore, although it is possible

For anyone involved in the electronics industry, the process followed for manufacturing Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) is very important. This is because PCBs are the very basis of all electronic circuits, being used to provide the mechanical basis on which circuits are built. PCBs come in different forms—rigid, flexible, rigid flex, and High Density Interconnect (HDI), the difference being mainly

The world over, a majority of designers and fabricators follow the Gerber RS-274X as the de facto standard when designing and fabricating their PCBs. The evidence of its popularity notwithstanding, Gerber has a number of practical limitations. Often, these limitations lead to a variety of problems when fabricating PCBs. Brief History of the Gerber File Format Ucamco developed the Gerber

With several industries now increasingly using flexible printed circuit boards (PCBs), it is becoming necessary to focus on the requirements, processes, education on terminology, and best practices for maintaining a high probability of first-pass success for making flex PCBs. As the name suggests, these designs consist of multiple layers of flexible circuit substrates. Compared to the design for rigid boards,

In RF circuit design, it is necessary to select the proper Printed Circuit Board (PCB) material for the application. In this context, modern simulation tools such as Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) help engineers by predicting the electrical behavior that circuits exhibit on various types of PCB materials. The tools use material parameters in their calculations, with dielectric constant (relative) being

The advent of revolutionary new products, driven by miniaturization of components and semiconductor packages supporting advanced features, is driving the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) industry to increase the functionality of their boards within the same or reduced areas. This includes products such as the hand-held touch-screen computers, 4G network communications, and industrial and military applications such as smart ammunitions and

Delays in your printed circuit board fabrication can be costly and time-consuming. Delays in your printed circuit board fabrication can be costly and time-consuming.  In today’s world, they are a commodity that there is never enough of.  Believe it or not, there are steps you can take to avoid those dreaded delays during your fabrication process.  We are going to

A new high-density direct connection for printed circuit boards has been placed on the market by Phoenix Contact.  Dubbed the SDDC 1.5 connection system it offers four to thirty-two conductors using “SKEDD” plug-ins.  Using the SDDC 1.5 eliminates the need for a header and soldering during the manufacturing process, saving money.   Using a push-in spring connection allows wires to be

But although these 3d printed structures are cheap and easy to implement they can lack efficiency. They can be made complex, but for the moment complex 3d printed PCBs are difficult to produce in large volumes. Essential Steps to Know about BGA When working with PCBs there can be many terms and acronyms that are confusing, and one such term

PCBs are the cornerstone of just about all modern electronics, and they evolve along with the rest of the field. So what is the future of the PCB? The first things we’re likely to see is PCBs shrinking to meet the increasingly intense demand for thinner, lighter, and more powerful electronics. But these changes are just the tip of the

Control Humidity in PCB Assemblies A Printed circuit board is quite literally an insulated board on which wire is laid to create a circuit. They are a critical and very necessary part of all electronic products. They are in everything from complex computers to basic smartphones. Since they are the base for the circuits that transfer electricity, if they were

A printed circuit board   by itself is a very simple piece of technology: it is a board on which a circuit is laid out. However, oftentimes when people refer to a PCB they are also referring to the components that form the beginning of the circuit. The circuit is essential to the entire piece of equipment the board is in,

Industry Trends in Electronic Manufacturing The Electronic Manufacturing Services Industry only truly became a profitable business around the 1970s, when Solectron, a company that would provide custom parts for other companies, including printed circuit boards and other necessary parts for high-tech products. This allowed companies to focus on product design rather than spending additional money and resources on building and

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If you are shopping around for a printed circuit board fabricator it is a good idea to do your research so you can equip yourself with the proper information.  Understanding the different types of PCB, their functions and capabilities will help you communicate better with your manufacturer.  You also will want to gain an understanding or brush up on the

Solder bridges aka shorts have become more challenging to deal with for those who fabricate or manufacture printed circuit boards.  A solder bridge or short occurs when a solder is connecting and crossing one lead to another lead improperly.  What makes them difficult to deal with is the fact that they are microscopic, which means that they can’t usually be

If you have been looking forward to what’s next in our electronics industry, you have landed in the right place!  There are always new and exciting advancements on the horizon that people everywhere are just waiting to find out about.  Some of the industries that will be experiencing these advancements are the automotive, medical, green, and American reshoring industries.  Of

The fabrication or manufacturing of printed circuit boards are the backbone of every computer operated piece of machinery on the market today.  The importance of the PCB should not be overlooked, without it we would not be able to enjoy all of the gadgets that have become a part of our daily routine and important part of our lives.  Just

Avoiding PCB (Printed Circuit Board) file errors begins in the very first stage of creating the PCB, the design process. If there is an issue with the original concept or PCB design it usually is not discovered until it has reached the manufacturing stage. Relying on an expert team that will catch any errors in the design is a key

Things to Avoid for Quickturn PCBs There is no doubt about the importance of your quickturn project, deciding which fabricating company will determine just how successful and quick it will be. The truth is that the company you choose will determine the success of the project and the peace of mind you will have during the process. Keeping this in

There are several options for programming for PCB production. The choice of which option to use will generally depend on the form factor of the device being produced, and the size of the assembly run. Each method has strengths and weaknesses. Dedicated Headers The most common way to program devices is using dedicated programming. The process provides the option for

On-Demand Manufacturing Pros To understand the advantages of On-demand manufacturing, the first step is understanding what this process is. When a customer places an order for a custom-made product that can be immediately fulfilled, the process is called On-demand manufacturing. Within the scope of the facility and process, a nearly unlimited range of products can be manufactured in a short

Importance Of Solder Paste Inspection Unfortunately, in PCB manufacture there is always the risk of solder joint defects. It has been estimated that over half of all such defects are the result of improper solder paste printing. There are variations based on the print volume. For smaller volume printing, good solder paste printing practices can be acceptable. For larger printing

Through-Hole Vs Surface Mount PCBs Semiconductor packaging is constantly evolving. There are increased demands for increased functionality, added utility, and smaller sizes. There are two main methods when mounting components on a PCB. These are Through-Hole Mounting (THM) and Surface Mounting (SMT). Through-hole mounting involves leads being placed into holes that have been drilled into the PCB board. The technology

Embedded Systems Intro We are all familiar with the concept of a computer. Modern computers are able to perform a wide variety of tasks, and have input from their users in the form of a keyboard, touch screen or mouse. When a computer system is designed to function as a component within a larger system it is called an embedded

An introduction to Microelectronics Electronics is a general term for the field of science that involves managing electric currents through circuits. Microelectronics is one of the sub-categories of electronics. Microelectronics specifically relates to manufacture of very small electronic circuits. It also incorporates the study and engineering of the circuits. Fundamentally, the term ‘micro’ relates to the measurement scale of a

In any manufacturing process, testing is a central element of the operation. Without robust testing processes, there is a risk of not identifying defects that could potentially cause products to fail, once they’re in the market. The long term outcome will be a poor reputation for your brand, and reduced customer confidence. PCBs are central to the effective operation of

When considering flex and rigid-flex circuits, there are benefits for both the manufacturer and the OEM to both be involved in the concept development and design of PCBs. Developing an initial understanding of the project details will be crucial in delivery of an effective PCB development project. Communication between the customer’s project management and engineering team should be an early

PCB Trends The first concept for a printed circuit board (PCB) was developed in the 1930s. The concept became commercially viable by the 1950s, and since then, PCBs have moved into just about every phase of our lives. They surround us, and have changed out lives in many ways. In the 2000s, trace was reduced to 3.5-4.5mil, and Flex and

When PCBs are designed, the intention is to ensure they are robust and able to function effectively over the long term. However, PCBs can be damaged, and engineers need to be aware, and set risk management plans in place to avoid the risk of damage to PCB. There are two factors that can lead to damaged PCBs. These are environmental

    Almost every electronic item around you consists of one or more Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs). PCBs hold components and also provide connections between these components. So, if you’re an Electrical or Electronics engineer, the chances are that you will design PCBs at some stage in your career. Despite this design being a key function of electrical engineering, it’s

CAD programs provide a very effective tool for designing PCBs. Even with an effective program. A wide range of ideas/tips help you design your board efficiently. Use Block Diagrams A block diagram is a diagram of the overall system of your board where the main parts or functions are shown as blocks. Lines are used to connect the blocks to the relationships of the blocks. If

Image Source: http://www.zowyeh.com/PCBA/PCB%20Fabrication/process.html PCBs have been developing since the 1950s. During the last sixty years, there have been ongoing changes in technology, and in the manufacturing of PCBs. Key changes in the fabrication of PCBs have included the development of double-sided boards, the ongoing miniaturization of the components, the establishment of standards for PCBs, and the use of surface mount

At Rush PCB we understand that your circuit board fabrication and assembly order is your number one priority, and it’s ours, too. We strive to provide the highest-quality products, produced with the latest techniques for fabrication, and deliver all of our work with efficiency in mind. For projects needing High Density Interconnect components, we are at the cutting edge of

What are Stencils? Surface-mount technology (SMT) is a method of producing PCBs where the components are mounted or placed directly onto the surface of the board. The stencil is designed to allow a smooth transfer of material (solder paste) onto the bare PCB. It is crucial in ensuring that the material is placed with precision. It is also vital in ensuring that deposits

There are many steps to finalizing the design of a PCB. Engineers who are aware of the risks in design and can plan for them will have a more productive output. These are some of the common ways of avoiding errors in designing PCBs. Plan! Make sure that you’re using the right tools. While there are many EDA packages available,

Parts Shortage – PCB While assembling SMT PCBs for a customer, the line unexpectedly ran out of 01005 package size resistors during the production run. This was due to an error on the customer’s part; they simply did not provide us with enough. But the customer still expected the finished product in-hand by the due date, and we did not

PCBs – Interesting Facts PCBs are older than you’d think: The concept of a PCB is 80 years old! The first PCB was designed by an Austrian (Paul Eisler) inventor in 1936. He used the board in a radio set. The boards only became common from the 1950s, when mass production of electronics such as radios and television sets changed

A mirror can bring bad luck, it is said. In this PCB assembly challenge, it certainly did when a mirrored pad layout for a transformer made it impossible to mount the component to its intended location on the top side of a PCB in its usual orientation. The component’s footprint, it turns out, would work fine if it were on

In the first half of this column, we began a discussion of the pros and cons regarding the use of conductive inks versus nonconductive inks to fill vias. The images below show cross-sections of a via-in-pad with nonconductive ink on the left and VIP with conductive ink on the right. In that column, we discussed a design that required a nonconductive

Manufacturers are rapidly adapting to the increased demands for printed circuit boards, specifically where the data transmission speeds are becoming a matter of life and death. With a growing number of applications and equipment using PCB technology, it is crucial that you communicate your needs with your manufacturer to ensure that the final product meets or exceeds the expectations. Uses

    FR4 Has Been the Standard FR4 has long been considered the standard for performance in printed circuit boards.  Composed of woven fibreglass with epoxy resin, the fire resistant nature of this component has made it very popular for application in high electrical insulation as well as consistent mechanical performance even in very diverse environments.   While also popular

  This PCB assembly challenge involved attaching a solar panel to one side of a pad using solder paste with a pass through an SMT reflow soldering oven.   The attachment or bond itself wasn’t the issue; but after the first trial runs, it was clear that solder wicking through the unmasked vias was going to be. Solder would wick

This is a little bit like the old college prank of trying to see how many kids can squeeze into a telephone booth. Pretty soon everyone’s too close for comfort! In this PCB assembly challenge, someone made a mistake and created a layout for rows of dual-flat no-leads (DFN) SMT packages without taking into account the size of the component

Finding just the right PCB partner is often a daunting project, especially when there are so many options available world-wide. There are so many things to consider that making the right decision can seem to be impossible, but it is something you have to do in order to achieve the results you want, which are profits for your company.  

Money is the most common problem in any type of business, and many American companies are looking for ways to cut costs, but still make sure they end up making a profit. They also want to ensure the quality of what they produce remains the same, or exceeds present quality, and in the electronics sector this is essential for staying

The surface you choose to use on your printed circuit board is actually the most important decision you will make. This finish will make all the difference when it comes down to the reliability of the product, the quality, the manufacturability, and of course, the cost.   The final finish process used to be relatively simple just a few years

As recently as 2000,filling a via was considered a specialty process limited to a small group of product applications and almost exclusivelyto one material, i.e., conductive ink. Furthermore, this process was dominated by one primary filling material, DuPont CB100.The through-hole vias were filled so that a copper cap could be plated over the via surface to create a solderable land

A printed circuit board (PCB) is the foundation of any electronic product and if its quality is not up to par, the entire machine will not be operational. But how can you know if your PCB has been assembled correctly? How can you tell if your product is made with the highest of quality? Here are some ideas to let

If the shoe doesn’t fit, can you still wear it? You might have to if they are the only shoes available. In this case, the SMD packages for this PCB assembly application are actually wider than the PCB footprint itself. There are any number of reasons for this, from changes in component design to substitution issues, but we won’t get

The surface tension of liquidus solder exerts a considerable pulling force on a component during reflow. This is why, once upon a time, small components could be relied on to self-align on SMT pads during reflow. They still can, of course, providing that all things are equal, such as pad dimensions all around. But if they’re not, you can expect

In another PCB assembly challenge, the customer’s BoM called for a through-hole header part to be installed on a circuit board, a mixed technology (SMT and PTH) assembly. A problem became immediately apparent with the first PCB that our operators began to assemble; this was a very thick circuit board (12.15mm thick), but the part specified and received did not have

Harmful chemicals and the need to eliminate them from the environment is an issue that is becoming increasingly important now. Exposure to these toxins is not only harmful to the workers in the factories, but also to the consumers who buy the products. Companies who manufacture printed circuit boards, or PCB’s are working hard to make sure the chemicals once

Sometimes, in PCB assembly, it’s not the layout of the SMT PCB that creates issues, but the design of the part itself, or the plan for the part’s location, given its dimensions. We have to ask ourselves, sometimes, “What were they thinking?” In this case, a customer’s BOM called for a part (an RF200 module with through-hole pins) to be

Double-sided SMT PCBs are usually no problem to solder; two passes, and the bottom-side components are held in place with SMA adhesive. But occasionally, a large or heavy component on the bottom side, such as an inductor, poses a problem because it will drop off during top-side reflow. In one particular case, an inductor with an open bottom (with inner

Damaged and/or lifted BGA pads on a PCB Assembly are a common problem during BGA rework. Lifted pads are most commonly the result of overheating during the rework process, and also occasionally due to poor adhesion of the pad to the base material of the PCB. Saving a PCB with lifted pads goes beyond rework and into the realm of

1. Problem: Insufficient solder, i.e., ‘Starved’ solder joint on one of the SMD pads. In the first close-up photo of a PCB assembly, It seems as though solder has flowed ‘down the drain’ and away from the solder joint where it’s needed; and in fact it has, because the customer has inconveniently located a via right through the center of

The use of power supplies for industrial and control applications requires careful consideration of the operating conditions, environment, materials and power loads. Here is a listing of some frequently overlook considerations when selecting ac-dc power supplies.Click to see more …

Into one side of the manufacturing process goes the design and materials for a project, and depending on the desire of the designer, out the other side of the process is the complete fabricated Printed Circuit Board (PCB)/Assembled Printed Circuit Board, (PCBA)/Finished-product (Box Build). Between the input and output of the process, the manufacturer is: Using software to check the

A common example of cases where the solder barrier was insufficient is seen in the graping defect, or its relative, the head-in-pillow defect. If you are experiencing one of these defects, a solder paste with better oxygen barrier properties is bound to help.

A final finish, which was already introduced more than ten years ago, is now receiving renewed attention because of its suitability for both Pb-free soldering and wire bonding applications, namely Electroless Nickel / Electroless Palladium / Immersion Gold (ENEPIG). Brittle fracture on BGAs is also no issue with this combination of metallic layers.

In order to maintain the solderability of PCBs over a period of storage time, it is necessary to protect the copper surface mount pads with solderable surface finish. Up to now the most common finish is eutectic tin-lead alloy by hot air solder levelling (HASL) method because it has the most desirable properties of ideal PCB surface. Unfortunately this coating

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