Printed circuit board Assemblies are the brains of all of our modern electronic devices. Currently a 58 billion dollar industry, its worth is expected to grow up to 75 billion dollars by the year 2026. PCB Assemblies are so common in all of the devices we use every day that a failure causes us great inconvenience and even some personal stress.
There are times when a PCB Assembly will give some warning that it is about to experience a failure. For instance, a smartphone might display vertical lines or other distortions on the screen and a computer can give corrupt data warnings or reboot at random. The ultimate symptoms of PCB Assembly failure include overheating, smoke, an odor of burnt electronic components, and the failure of the unit to power up at all.
These are some of the most common reasons for PCB Assembly failures.
- Manufacturing defects – Misaligned layers, crossed signals, short circuits, and exposure to electrostatic discharge (ESD) are the most likely causes of PCB Assembly failure and generally occur during the PCB assembly process.
- Component burning – Caused by incorrect component spacing, component failures, errors made by the technician, and intense heat, repairing a burned component can mean replacing the entire PCB Assembly.
- The surrounding environment – PCB assembly is conducted in a clean climate-controlled area in order to prevent heat and humidity from causing the boards to expand and warp. After the board has been assembled and is being used for its intended purpose, external debris including liquid, fibers, dust, and hair can adhere to the PCB Assembly and cause it to overheat.
- Soldering errors – The consistency of the solder as it refers to its moisture content as well as application errors result in defects including excessive solder, cold joints, component shifting, and lifted pads.
- The PCB Assemblies’ age – The average PCB Assembly can last up to 10-20 years or more. As a PCB Assembly reaches its life expectancy, the electronic components begin to break down and require repair or replacement.
Repairing or replacing the components on a PCB Assembly is delicate work requiring expert precision. The technicians at BESTProto are supervised by master instructors in IPC A610 and JSTD-001 to guarantee that all PCBs we work on will meet current electronic industry standards. BESTProto offers the following PCB repair services:
- Out of production/non-current electronic equipment and component repair
- Re-box and re-label services
- PCB troubleshooting and component level repair
- PCB testing
Please visit our website to learn more about our PCB repair services or to contact us to schedule a consultation.