Tips for PCB Basics Inspection
For new PCB designers, the PCB basics inspection is important as they can see the realistic look of their works. Moreover, in order to make improvement, the completed board must be reviewed to determine if there are aspects to be addressed on the next design. Hence, let’s learn some tips for PCB basics inspection again.
Check the initial look
Above all, check the initial look of the board and see whether it’s clear or not. Besides, checking the mask is also important. You can judge if the mask color is the specific one at the first sight, and then see if the thickness is enough. After that, you can carefully check if there are blemishes or pitting on the mask.
Is plating adequate?
Adequate plating is another aspect of PCB basics inspection. As it’s pretty hard to measure, so current requirements are based on plating thickness. Namely, if requirements are strict, then plating may become critical. It is said that the simplest option is to mask the area near the board edge beside a pad. Here is its method: the unmasked area will be used as a control point, when the pad thickness is measured, the board thickness may be subtracted from the pad thickness and divided by 1/2.
To some people, the PCB basics inspection seems simple and possibly unimportant, but a board is not perfect without any defects.Thus it’s crucial to capture these errors before the board is assembled. As it said: “A hundred-dollar board may cost thousands after assembly when time and parts are calculated in”, and the lack of time it takes for PCB basics inspection will pay for itself when the bad board is found.
