Manufacture of printed circuit boards is a highly complex process, which does not look very difficult on the surface. However, it actually requires high attention to detail if a good printed circuit board is to be produced. All the surface mount components to be placed on a circuit board need to be assembled and soldered in precision. This blog is designed to provide you with a quick introduction to the PCB assembly process.
Step #1: Solder stencils
In the first step, a stencil is placed over the circuit board. Stencils help in application of solder flux and paste to the areas where soldering is to be done. Stencils are used for precision works.
Step #2: Placing
Back when mechanization of processes was still a thing of the future, placing the surface mount components onto the board after fluxing was done manually. However, today, machines do all the component placement work, and everything is automated. PCB designs are fed into computers which then run the pick and place machines.
Step #3: Reflow
After placing the components onto the board, the job is to keep them at their designated places. This is achieved by passing the board through a reflow oven, wherein the PCB is heated to temperatures higher than 200°C. This melts the metal in the solder paste. Further ahead in the oven there are cooler heaters which work to solidify the molten metal in the paste. This controlled heating and cooling ensures that all the surface mount PCB components are permanently joined with the board.
Step #4: Quality examination
Checking placement and connection errors is a necessary step in the manufacture of PCBs, otherwise all the exercise above would have been for naught if the boards were to come out faulty. The checks can be manual or automated.
Assembly of PCB can be done in many ways. Manual assembly is time consuming. Automated process, if maintained and run well, is always better.
Step #1: Solder stencils
In the first step, a stencil is placed over the circuit board. Stencils help in application of solder flux and paste to the areas where soldering is to be done. Stencils are used for precision works.
Step #2: Placing
Back when mechanization of processes was still a thing of the future, placing the surface mount components onto the board after fluxing was done manually. However, today, machines do all the component placement work, and everything is automated. PCB designs are fed into computers which then run the pick and place machines.
Step #3: Reflow
After placing the components onto the board, the job is to keep them at their designated places. This is achieved by passing the board through a reflow oven, wherein the PCB is heated to temperatures higher than 200°C. This melts the metal in the solder paste. Further ahead in the oven there are cooler heaters which work to solidify the molten metal in the paste. This controlled heating and cooling ensures that all the surface mount PCB components are permanently joined with the board.
Step #4: Quality examination
Checking placement and connection errors is a necessary step in the manufacture of PCBs, otherwise all the exercise above would have been for naught if the boards were to come out faulty. The checks can be manual or automated.
Assembly of PCB can be done in many ways. Manual assembly is time consuming. Automated process, if maintained and run well, is always better.
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