PCB bare board is an indispensable element in the electronic manufacturing process, and its quality directly affects the quality and stability of later electronic products.
Causes of PCB bare board quality problems
The causes of PCB bare board quality problems are complex and may involve many factors such as materials, equipment, and processes in the manufacturing process. The following will analyze them one by one.
1.1 Material issues
Due to the high material requirements of bare PCB boards, if inferior materials are used during production and manufacturing, that is, the bottom plate or surface material of the circuit board does not meet the specified requirements, the bottom plate will be unstable and loose, affecting the service life of the entire circuit board.
1.2 Equipment problems
The quality of substrate production equipment will also directly affect the quality of PCB bare boards. If the equipment accuracy or testing instruments are insufficient, dimensional inaccuracies may occur during the bare board manufacturing process, affecting the PCB bare board tolerances. This will reduce the line accuracy of the PCB bare board and easily affect the stability of electronic products.
1.3 Process issues
The quality of PCB bare boards is also related to process control. If the operator has insufficient skills and experience, errors may occur during the processing, such as excessive grinding, improper etching and photolithography, etc., which will affect the line width of the PCB bare board and the plating quality in the holes.
Manifestations of PCB bare board quality problems
2.1 Warpage
When the copper thickness of the inner layer of the PCB bare board is different, or the arrangement of the insulation board is unreasonable, it may cause the bare board to warp. This may affect the flatness and weight of the board, making later welding difficult.
2.2 Poor plating in the hole
In-hole electroplating is a very important link in the PCB processing process. It literally means plating a layer of metal (copper) into the hole to facilitate the later function of the circuit. However, if there are problems such as poor etching and incomplete rinsing after etching, resulting in unstable plating, it may lead to problems such as open circuits and network failures.
2.3 Line open or short circuit
Short circuits are a common fault in circuit boards. May happen in SMT process and manual soldering. Open circuits can also occur in tricky welding details, such as BGA, etc.
Impact of PCB bare board quality issues
3.1 Extend product verification time
A bad PCB bare board will not only affect the production cycle but also increase the time of product verification. During this time developers need to create as much validation as possible on such data to prevent twists and turns. Waiting for such a long time will inevitably bring adverse consequences to the company’s manufacturing cycle and resource drain.
3.2 Increase the cost of the whole machine
The manufacturing cost includes part of the PCB cost. If a low-quality PCB board appears, that part of the cost will be the scrap fee. If this ratio increases, the manufacturing cost will increase accordingly, thus affecting the total cost of the product.
3.3 Safety hazards
Poor-quality PCB boards may have hidden dangers that cannot be discovered. For example, poor design considerations or network connectivity may lead to damage to some fragile components or overuse. These problems cannot be completely eliminated in the production stage, but trying to avoid quality problems during the PCB bare board manufacturing stage can significantly reduce related risks.
How to solve the quality problems of PCB bare board?
4.1 Strict control of the management system
To deal with PCB bare board quality issues, we first need to strengthen strict control of manufacturing management. It is necessary to strengthen the control of raw materials, production equipment, and operating processes to ensure that all aspects of the PCB bare board production process meet relevant requirements.
4.2 Strict inspection
During the bare board manufacturing process, strict inspections are required to detect unqualified conditions and eliminate them promptly; and in terms of process design, corresponding corrective processes should be designed to deal with various adverse results to prevent defective bare PCB boards from flowing into subsequent processes.
4.3 Improve after-sales service
During the use of electronic products, if quality problems occur, they need to be handled and repaired in a timely manner, so it is also very important to provide complete after-sales service.
- Material issues
- Equipment problems
- Process issues
- Extend product verification time
- Increase the cost of the whole machine
- Safety hazards
- Strict control of the management system
- Strict inspection
- Improve after-sales service
