Official News and Information Source for Huntron Inc.

3 MIN. READ

What could possibly be better for electronics than 3D printing? If you guessed using its capabilities to print circuit boards (the foundation of most electronic devices), you are exactly right.

3D printing is well on its way to revolutionizing the printed circuit board (PCB) industry. It is almost single-handedly responsible for the newfound ability to manufacture these devices at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. This approach also conserves resources, time and manpower to greatly improve operational efficiency.

Best of all, additive manufacturing enables PCB makers to test ideas for prototypes much quicker and easier than they previously could to significantly reduce time to market for new products. By pairing this approach with modern methods for automating the testing of PCBs, organizations get the best of both worlds to boost their productivity and revenues from making these products.

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3 MIN. READ

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) can fail for many reasons during manufacture and use. These PCB problems must be detected and repaired to minimize waste and reduce costly product recalls.

Good testing equipment and sound testing protocols are necessary to detect these PCB problems at the factory before assembly or after the product malfunctions in the field. Your protocol and testing equipment must be designed to detect the most common PCB problems that your products could encounter.

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3 MIN. READ

For electricians and plumbers trained as recently as the 1970s, lead solder might have been the only option for joining pipes and connecting electronic components. In 1974, U.S. federal law began to target lead solder in plumbing, and by 1986, the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments effectively banned it in all plumbing used for potable water.

Bans on lead solder came to the electronics industry in 2006, when a European Union (EU) directive banned its use in most consumer electronics devices, with a few limited exceptions. Although the directive only applied to devices sold in the EU, most businesses determined that producing separate products for sale in the EU was impractical.

As a result, these businesses changed the solder used throughout their production lines. Although products using lead solder can still be sold legally in the U.S., more and more products reaching U.S. markets use lead-free solder.

Continue reading “Comparing lead vs. lead-free solder for PCBs”

3 MIN. READ

Testing printed circuit boards (PCBs) is largely automated. However, the testing process still requires expertise to collect, sort and cleanse data for statistical analysis. Moreover, some test procedures are still better conducted manually. As a result, even PCB manufacturers that use automated PCB testing still need test engineers and technicians to support them. Here is an overview of what these experts do and how to utilize them.

Continue reading “How to Best Utilize Your Senior Electrical Engineers for PCB Testing”

3 MIN. READ

Electronics are often viewed as a “cleaner” industry than transportation, industrial chemicals and mining. This may be true after the electronics are manufactured and assembled. However, to reach that point, electronic devices such as printed circuit boards (PCBs) rely on all those “dirty” industries. This impacts the environment, and as a result, many PCB customers are turning to repair or recycling to minimize their reliance on newly manufactured PCBs.

Continue reading “Why PCB repair is more environmentally friendly than replacement”

3 MIN. READ

The diversity of the high tech industry, combined with the enormous demand for its products, creates numerous small business opportunities in electronics. Broadly, these opportunities allow a small business to break into a seemingly impenetrable industry and carve out a sizable niche.

Opportunities in the electronics business can arise from products you develop or others’ products that you support. Here are a few examples of small business opportunities in electronics:

Continue reading “Small Business Opportunities in Electronics”

6 MINUTE READ

This PCB Troubleshooting Flowchart was first developed by Huntron Technical Support 25+ years ago and looking at it now is still pertinent to today’s PCB repair environment. It provides a fairly accurate window into the process many technicians and engineers follow when looking to diagnose and repair a printed circuit board (PCB).
In this article we take a closer look each step in the process and offers some suggestions that may help you with your PCB repair procedures.

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3 MIN. READ

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) can be manufactured quickly. Pick-and-place machines automate the placement of components onto the PCB, and reflow ovens eliminate the need to solder each connection separately. However, high-speed manufacturing requires a PCB testing strategy that can keep up with production. Slow testing can create a bottleneck in your facility.

Every manufacturing process has an inherent failure rate. Placement of solder outside of the designated location can lead to a solder bridge that might be invisible to visual inspection. PCB testing is crucial to:

• Minimize waste.
• Reduce returned products.
• Optimize safety.

Without an adequate testing strategy, your business could face diminished profit margins, unhappy customers and even product liability lawsuits.

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3 MIN. READ

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) were invented over 80 years ago, yet they continue to evolve. These developing PCB trends are specifically tailored to address demands in the current market. Customers now expect electronic devices to be smaller, less expensive and more adaptable.

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