Epec's Blog | Electronics Manufacturing Solutions

We sit at the height of the largest e-commerce boom in the last twenty years. The way we approach shipping both personally and professionally is changing. Before the brick and mortar stores can even start playing their Christmas music, e-commerce sites are advertising shipping schedules to “guarantee delivery” for free shipping for various holidays. So what does this have to do with buying electronics? A lot.

This topic is mainly focused on properly shipping lithium ion batteries due to shipping regulations, but could also apply to Ni-MH where appropriate.

It is important to be aware that certain applications will have battery packs that may be exposed to corrosive elements such as acidic, salt, and on occasion conductive substances and fluids. Over time this type of exposure can slowly corrode the PCBA, components, and solder joints. This type of corrosion can cause premature failure, short circuits, and or dangerous conditions that could lead to fire or even an explosion.

Recently I spent the weekend at a family member’s home and experienced two failures of everyday human-machine interfaces (HMI) devices that truly perplexed me. One was a collapsed dome switch on a spa controller; the other was a graphical display error on a touchscreen coffee maker.

Any supply chain consists of the different activities that transform natural resources, raw materials, and components into a finished product to be delivered to an end customer. In the case of the electronics supply chain, it typically involves the procurement of raw materials and equipment, development of product that is either shipped directly to a customer or to another link in the supply chain to be assembled into the larger product.

When a lithium battery pack is designed using multiple cells in series, it is very important to design the electronic features to continually balance the cell voltages. This is not only for the performance of the battery pack, but also for optimal life cycles.

When designing and manufacturing battery packs, it is important to recognize that there will be limitations when dealing with specific cost and performance parameters. You may encounter circumstances where you will have to increase the cost of your battery pack or decrease aspects of the overall performance. We'll help detail some of those limitations and how to find solutions that help move your project forward.

Based on the application, electrical, mechanical requirements, and knowing what type of filter topology to use can help exceed the performance of the product. Both of these designs use specific topologies based on frequency and power handling requirements.

The typical use of a diplexer (three port device) enables source transmitters operating on two separate frequencies to use the same antenna. In other applications, the diplexer allows a single antenna to transmit and receive on discreet frequencies. Additionally, a diplexer will provide the ability for an antenna to transmit and receive simultaneously.

The V-score process is the addition of thin, double-sided cuts into printed circuit board (PCB) laminate for the purpose of assisting in the removal of individual parts from the array. The thin cuts which do not go all the way through the material, act as a perforation of the laminate so simple flexing of the laminate, or use of a cutting wheel, will aid in the removal of parts after the assembly process.