Epec's Blog | Electronics Manufacturing Solutions

Cable assembly conductors may seem like a complicated topic, but many of the properties that govern these cables are quite straightforward. Making sense of the differences between stranded conductors and solid conductors, and even the various conductor plating specifications that are at play, is easy. You just need to keep a few key things in mind. Even a general understanding of the wire flexibility requirements, current draw, and the operating environment will help guide you toward the best bulk cable design options that exist.

There are countless details that must be explored before moving into high-volume production for custom cable assemblies. And, if manufacturing is expected to occur offshore, there are even more considerations aside from the 12-hour time change, geographical distance, and language barrier.

Scientists and engineers are sticklers about the units for any measurement, and rightfully so. The technique of using units cancellation remains one of the fundamental concepts taught in all higher education STEM courses. Whether the course is chemistry, physics, thermodynamics, or even aerodynamics, the criticality of units is ever-present throughout lecture, calculations, and lab studies.

At the conclusion of our webinar – Design Considerations for Lithium Batteries Used in Portable Devices – we had several questions submitted to our presenter, Battery Development Consultant Randy Ibrahim. We compiled these into a readable format on our blog.

Every year, post Labor Day, most of us are focusing on getting “back to work” and recovering from whatever the summer holidays brought our way. As the weather starts to cool, and the sports start to change, those of us who work in supply chain management, procurement, and shipping immediately turn our eyes to what has become the constant fourth quarter challenge: getting our companies through peak season with no delays or surcharges.

Overmolded cables are used in countless applications across almost every industry. The reasons to use an overmolded cable design are numerous, but the primary reason is to protect the electrical contacts while offering strain relief.

Although they may not seem like much of a danger on a day-to-day basis, a lot of people don't realize that all batteries are technically considered to be hazardous by their nature when it comes to the topic of shipping them. This is why, if a consumer goes to the United States Post Office to ship a package, one of the first questions they're asked by a representative has to do with whether or not their parcel contains any items like batteries that could pose a problem during transportation.

When using power sources to run embedded components, it's not always simple to pop in a fresh set of batteries. Newer technologies, from smartphones to electric vehicles to portable power tools, require batteries that can hold a significant amount of energy, be lightweight enough to carry or move, and be safe for the user. Lithium batteries offer all these benefits for portable electronics, vehicles, medical equipment, and even grid energy storage.

Battery packs - especially rechargeable ones - are assets that we tend to take for granted until it's far too late. One minute your battery pack is operating at peak efficiency, the same as it always has. The next minute, it only lasts a fraction of the time it once did between charges and you just can't figure out why.

When we talk about battery backup power systems for commercial settings, most people think about companies in the telecommunications, utilities, and healthcare industries in need of emergency sources of power when the electricity goes out. Yet, small and large companies require backup batteries for a range of operations.