For UK businesses developing hardware, one of the big decisions at the product development stage is determining how you would like the assembly of your PCB done. Would you like to send everything to the assembly partner, or would you like to source the components and send them along with the PCBs? This is what…...

Deciding on how many layers you need is often one of the first choices made when designing your PCB. It is one of those decisions that will affect board performance, manufacturability, assembly and cost right down to the layer. Choose poorly and you’ll spend too much on unnecessary complexity, or end up with noisy signals…...

A practical guide to lead-free assembly from the production floor at Rush PCB UK. Lead-free soldering has been standard practice for all PCB assembly houses operating in Europe (and to a great extent worldwide) since the introduction of the EU RoHS directive back in July 2006. As regulation has tightened over the last decade or…...

When designing a PCB, reliability starts with stackup. When planning copper thickness and trace width engineers must consider current capacity and thermal rise of every signal. Too thin, and your board may overheat, have a high voltage drop or lift off the board entirely. With devices becoming smaller and voltages continuing to increase it’s more…...

Any type of electronic project involving PCBs or printed circuit boards requires soldering, whether it uses through-hole components or surface-mount components. Soldering anchors the electronic components mechanically to the PCB, while also providing good electrical conductivity between the component terminals and the copper pad on the board. The role of flux in the soldering process…...

Your Comprehensive Guide to Essential PCB Components for Beginners PCB Components are also known as parts in the circuit board industry. The components/parts have a very important role in the PCB industry. These parts are the fundamental building blocks of all electrical devices, from basic consumer electronics to sophisticated supercomputers. There are various types of…...

In-Circuit vs. Functional Testing: Pros, Cons, and Practical Applications Using various PCB testing and inspection processes becomes essential when designing a Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) with few or no faults. Testing processes help eliminate all small flaws, enhancing the quality of both the PCBA and the final product. Consequently, PCBA testing aids in lowering production expenses.…...

Introduction Purpose of Countersink in PCB:  A conical hole known as a countersink hole tapers from a large aperture on the PCB's top surface to a smaller opening on its bottom side. It allows the mounting screws to sit with a flat surface on the top side or head of the screw. This hole contains…...

Comparing Through-Hole (THT) and Surface Mount (SMT) Technologies in Electronics As the technology evolved room size computers transformed into tablets and portable laptops, it’s a bigger picture while on a smaller scale, as electronic components shrank in size throughout time, as a result, electronic gadgets are becoming smaller and more portable. During the 1980’s through…...

Creating a Detailed BOM for Efficient PCB Development BOM is a detailed document that the designer must provide to the manufacturer with information on the materials and components utilized for a specific PCB design. Let's understand this by imagining that you need a dress. You go to the designer and tell him you need golden…...

Expert Tips for Perfect PCB Layout Design There are several stages to making your project a reality. Getting a reliable fabrication and assembly supplier like Rush PCB Limited is essential. Still, the basics must also be perfect for making your end product cost-effective and error-free. PCB layout design is the most basic and crucial step…...

PCB manufacturers frequently use electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG) plating because of its anticorrosion and uniform plating properties. A thin layer (0.05 to 0.23um) of gold is plated over a layer (4-7um) of nickel through a chemical process. ADVANTAGES ENIG meets all the ROHS requirements, which makes it environmentally friendly. It ensures a flat surface…...