Types of PCBs

A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect
electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or traces etched from copper
sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring
board (PWB) or etched wiring board. A PCB populated with electronic components is a
printed circuit assembly (PCA), also known as a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA).

PCBs are inexpensive, and can be highly reliable. They require much more layout effort
and higher initial cost than either wire-wrapped or point-to-point constructed circuits, but
are much cheaper and faster for high-volume production. Much of the electronics
industry's PCB design, assembly, and quality control needs are set by standards that are
published by the IPC organization.

The board is typically coated with a solder mask that is green in color. Other colors that
are normally available are blue and red. There are quite a few different dielectrics that
can be chosen to provide different insulating values depending on the requirements of the
circuit. Some of these dielectrics are polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), FR-4, FR-1, CEM-
1 or CEM-3. Well known prepreg materials used in the PCB industry are FR-2 (Phenolic
cotton paper), FR-3 (Cotton paper and epoxy), FR-4 (Woven glass and epoxy), FR-5
(Woven glass and epoxy), FR-6 (Matte glass and polyester), G-10 (Woven glass and
epoxy), CEM-1 (Cotton paper and epoxy), CEM-2 (Cotton paper and epoxy), CEM-3
(Woven glass and epoxy), CEM-4 (Woven glass and epoxy), CEM-5 (Woven glass and
polyester). Thermal expansion is an important consideration especially with BGA and
naked die technologies, and glass fiber offers the best dimensional stability.

The thickness of the PCB can be 1.0mm, 1.2mm or 1.6mm. They can be single sided or
double sided with cooper clad of 1 oz or 2 oz.

There are three common "subtractive" methods (methods that remove copper) used for
the production of printed circuit boards:

1. Silk screen printing uses etch-resistant inks to protect the copper foil. Subsequent
etching removes the unwanted copper. Alternatively, the ink may be conductive, printed
on a blank (non-conductive) board. The latter technique is also used in the manufacture
of hybrid circuits.
2. Photoengraving uses a photomask and chemical etching to remove the copper foil
from the substrate. The photomask is usually prepared with a photoplotter from data
produced by a technician using CAM, or computer-aided manufacturing software. Laser-
printed transparencies are typically employed for phototools; however, direct laser
imaging techniques are being employed to replace phototools for high-resolution
requirements.
3. PCB milling uses a two or three-axis mechanical milling system to mill away the
copper foil from the substrate. A PCB milling machine (referred to as a 'PCB Prototyper')
operates in a similar way to a plotter, receiving commands from the host software that
control the position of the milling head in the x, y, and (if relevant) z axis. Data to drive

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the Prototyper is extracted from files generated in PCB design software and stored in
HPGL or Gerber file format.

What is Wave soldering??

Wave soldering is a large-scale soldering process by which electronic components are

soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB) to form an electronic assembly. The name is
derived from the use of waves of molten solder to attach metal components to the PCB.
The process uses a tank to hold a quantity of molten solder; the components are inserted
into or placed on the PCB and the loaded PCB is passed across a pumped wave or
waterfall of solder. The solder wets the exposed metallic areas of the board (those not
protected with solder mask, a protective coating that prevents the solder from bridging
between connections), creating a reliable mechanical and electrical connection. The
process is much faster and can create a higher quality product than manual soldering of
components.

Wave soldering is used for both through-hole printed circuit assemblies, and surface
mount Terminal (SMT). In the latter case, the components are glued by the placement
equipment onto the printed circuit board surface before being run through the molten
solder wave.

As through-hole components have been largely replaced by surface mount components,

wave soldering has been supplanted by reflow soldering methods in many large-scale
electronics applications. However, there is still significant wave soldering where SMT is
not suitable (e.g. large power devices and high pin count connectors), or where simple
through-hole technology prevails (certain major appliances).

Wave soldering Process...

There are many types of wave solder machines, however the basic components and
principles of these machines are the same. A standard wave solder machine consists of
three zones: the preheating zone, the fluxing zone, and the soldering zone. An additional
fourth zone, cleaning, is used depending on the type of flux applied. The basic equipment
used during the process is a conveyor that moves the PCB through the different zones, a

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pan of solder used in the soldering process, a pump that produces the actual wave, the
sprayer for the flux and the preheating pad. The solder is usually a mixture of metals. A
typical solder has the chemical makeup of 50% tin, 49.5% lead, and 0.5% antimony.

It is important that the PCBs be allowed to cool at a reasonable rate. If they are cooled
too fast, then the PCB can become warped and the solder can be compromised. On the
other hand if the PCB is allowed to cool too slowly, then the PCB can become brittle and
some components may be damaged by heat. The PCB should be cooled by either a fine
water spray or air cooled to decrease the amount of damage to the board.

Some types of flux, called "no-clean" fluxes, do not require cleaning; their residues are
benign after the soldering process. Others, however, require a cleaning stage, in which
the PCB is washed with solvents and/or deionized water to remove flux residue.

The following are characteristics of the wave soldering process:

* The solder connection is very reliable and also a clean connection

* The process is automated
* The process reuses the flux and solder that is left over
* It does require inspection, some touch ups, and also testing
* The productivity and efficiency is increased

What is Solder??

Solder is a fusible metal alloy with a melting point or melting range of 90 to 450 °C (200
to 840 °F), used in a process called soldering where it is melted to join metallic surfaces.
It is especially useful in electronics and plumbing. Alloys that melt between 180 and 190
°C are the most commonly used.

What is Lead solder??

Tin/lead solders, also called soft solders, are commercially available with tin
concentrations between 5% and 70% by weight. The greater the tin concentration, the
greater the solder’s tensile and shear strengths. At the retail level, the two most common
alloys are 60/40 Sn/Pb which melts at 370 °F or 188 °C and 63/37 Sn/Pb used principally
in electrical work. The 63/37 ratio is notable in that it is a eutectic mixture, which means:

1. It has the lowest melting point (183 °C or 361.4 °F) of all the tin/lead alloys; and
2. The melting point is truly a point — not a range.

At a eutectic composition, the liquid solder solidifies at a single temperature. Tin/lead

solder solidifies to fine grains of nearly pure lead and nearly pure tin phases, there are no
tin/lead intermetallics and no solubility of tin in lead or lead in tin, as can be seen from a
tin/lead equilibrium diagram.

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In plumbing, a higher proportion of lead was used, commonly 50/50. This had the
advantage of making the alloy solidify more slowly, so that it could be wiped over the
joint to ensure watertightness, the pipes being physically fitted together before soldering.
Although lead water pipes were displaced by copper when the significance of lead
poisoning began to be fully appreciated, lead solder was still used until the 1980s because
it was thought that the amount of lead that could leach into water from the solder was
negligible from a properly soldered joint. The electrochemical couple of copper and lead
promotes corrosion of the lead and tin, however tin is protected by insoluble oxide. Since
even small amounts of lead have been found detrimental to health, Lead in plumbing
solder was replaced by silver (food grade applications) or antimony, with copper often
added, and the proportion of tin was increased.

Most lead-free replacements for conventional Sn60/Pb40 and Sn63/Pb37 solder have
melting points from 5–20 °C higher, though solders with much lower melting points are
available.

In electronics, the traditional use of solder was to fortify mechanically made electrical
contacts, e.g. two solid copper wires twisted together. This was in part due to the higher
electrical resistance of solder versus copper. Printed circuit boards use solder joints to
mount components and create a circuit, also replacing the use of solid solder with solder
paste.

What is Flux??

Flux is a reducing agent designed to help reduce (return oxidized metals to their metallic
state) at the points of contact to improve the electrical connection and mechanical
strength. The two principal types of flux are acid flux, used for metal mending and
plumbing, and rosin flux, used in electronics, where the corrosiveness of acid flux and
vapours released when solder is heated would risk damaging delicate circuitry.

Due to concerns over atmospheric pollution and hazardous waste disposal, the electronics
industry has been gradually shifting from rosin flux to water-soluble flux, which can be
removed with deionised water and detergent, instead of hydrocarbon solvents.

In contrast to using traditional bars or coiled wires of all-metal solder and manually
applying flux to the parts being joined, some light hand soldering since the mid-20th
century has used flux-core solder. This is manufactured as a coiled wire of solder, with
one or more continuous bodies of non-acid flux embedded lengthwise inside it. As the
solder melts onto the joint, it frees the flux and releases that on it as well.

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