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Epec's Blog | Electronics Manufacturing Solutions


Combining PCB Surface Finishes on External PCB Layers

Written by Jim Marsh
Posted on February 26, 2018 at 11:05 AM

The reason printed circuit boards (PCBs) require a surface finish rather than being left as simply bare copper is because while copper is an excellent conductor, leaving it exposed will cause it to oxidize and deteriorate over time. The increased exposure will cause the PCB to fail much sooner than expected.

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Electronics Packaging Requires Experience and Investment

Written by Kendall Paradise
Posted on February 2, 2018 at 11:24 AM

When you’re in the process of designing a new product, the last thing you are thinking about is the how the product is going to be packaged for transit. However, failure to prepare for and understand electronics packaging regarding how both your components and your finished unit are going to ship is a costly oversight.

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Urban Legends of PCB Processes: ENIG Black Pad

Written by Chris Perry
Posted on January 19, 2018 at 2:37 PM

I can remember the first ‘incident’ of black pad, years ago, when Epec started to use the electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) process. We didn’t notice the issue at the time, as it is not evident on the bare board, but received the complaint from assembly as it was later identified on completed assemblies.

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Manufacturing Issues with RF Circuit Boards

Written by Al Wright
Posted on January 5, 2018 at 2:02 PM

If you’re a designer of RF or microwave printed circuit boards you’ve probably already selected a laminate material that is appropriate to your project, having based your choice primarily on the electrical requirements of the RF circuit, such as signal speed, loss rate etc. Be careful however not to overlook the fact that the specialty materials used in such designs also possess unusual mechanical characteristics; processing is different from that of normal FR4 boards.

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The PCB Jump Scoring Process

Written by Chris Perry
Posted on October 12, 2017 at 3:36 PM

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.

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Outline of Circuit Board Blind Vias Process Costs

Written by Al Wright
Posted on October 5, 2017 at 11:37 AM

Miniaturization in electronics drives the need for both component and printed circuit board designers to work within ever-shrinking footprints in order to remain competitive. The signal routing requirements for many ball grid array (BGA) components are such that through hole via drilling is becoming less and less practical. This makes it necessary in many instances to use blind vias to form interconnections between layer pairs.

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PCB Design Considerations for Tight Spacing

Written by Al Wright
Posted on September 14, 2017 at 10:00 AM

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) continue to shrink. As each generation of miniaturized components comes along, board designers find themselves able to work within ever-smaller PCB footprint sizes. While this is great news for consumers (compare the size of a 1994 portable phone to one of today’s models) it presents difficulties for fabricators.

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Outsourcing PCB Layout and Design to Reduce Costs and Time to Market

Written by Ed McMahon
Posted on September 6, 2017 at 9:00 AM

Even though the last financial crisis was over 8 years ago, most engineering departments at electronic OEMs have never fully staffed back to the levels that they were before the economic disaster. That means that there are many engineers doing two or more jobs, all while their senior management still insists on meeting tight timelines with limited budgets.

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PCB Layout Manufacturing Best Practices

Written by Al Wright
Posted on August 10, 2017 at 2:12 PM

As printed circuit board (PCB) designs have increased in complexity, they have both decreased in size and increased in density. Physical changed to circuit boards have forced PCB designers and manufacturers to develop new PCB layout strategies aimed at making full use of all available surface area.

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Poor PCB Silkscreen Legibility Issues

Written by Chris Perry
Posted on July 27, 2017 at 9:00 AM

Among the multiple layers of a printed circuit board (PCB) lies the PCB silkscreen layer. The placement of the silkscreen markings, whether on the top or bottom layer, in conjunction with the features of the other layers, could affect the final legibility of the printed circuit board markings.

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