Epec's Blog | Electronics Manufacturing Solutions

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.

When you are designing a custom battery pack, it is always beneficial to understand the markets intended at the onset of the project. And as you would expect, a battery pack can be designed with several optional features that will ultimately add costs in the end. This blog post provides information on design while helping to keep costs aligned with your needs.

At Epec, engineers are expected to find innovative solutions to problems and develop them quickly and accurately so that customers can get quality product delivered on time. In this blog post, I will discuss how the 80-20 rule can be used in conjunction with our classic engineering design process to reach solutions faster.

Within the context of a discussion about batteries, defining the term "state of charge" is simple. It's a term that essentially refers to how "full" your battery is, at least in terms of its remaining energy. Compared to how much energy a battery can store at 100%, your current state of charge shows you how much is remaining, thus allowing you to predict when a recharge may be in order.

By and large, lithium batteries bring a wide range of different benefits to the table that are difficult - if not impossible - to replicate in any other way. Also commonly referred to as lithium-metal batteries (due to the fact that they use lithium as an anode), they're typically capable of offering a very high-charge density (read: longer lifespan) than other alternatives that are on the market today.

Design for Manufacturing (DFM) is critical to the success of your PCB order. Features that make your circuit board difficult to build add cost to your product and can increase the scrap rate. If you have designed a PCB that is more complex than usual, it is useful to submit files to your fabricator for review before placing your order so you will have some time to address any issues that might delay production.

At the conclusion of our recent webinar – Match Your High-Tech PCB Design To Your Supplies Capabilities – we had a number of questions for our presenter, PCB Field Applications Engineer Al Wright. We decided to compile these into a readable format on our blog.

In simple terms, cable assemblies are comprised of two primary elements: the conductor and the connector. Rightfully so, the conductor’s sole purpose is to pass current at a given voltage, while the connectors job is to affix the cable assembly securely to a mating interconnect.

Maybe you have heard of technical writing before, or maybe this is your first-time hearing about it. The chances are good, however, that you have seen or experienced technical writing already in your life. It is an established practice within the industrialized world, but what is it?