Small component, big responsibility: the truth about printed circuit boards and their quality
The printed circuit board (PCB) is the heart of every electronic assembly—yet its importance and capabilities are often underestimated. While components, software, and features are frequently in the spotlight, the quality of the PCB plays a decisive role in the reliability, service life, and performance of electrical devices. This is exactly where our webinar “The underestimated PCB – an overview of test methods, quality and reliability” began.
A PCB must not only function flawlessly at the time of delivery, but also over many years, often under extreme conditions. Long-term stability and reliability testing therefore play a crucial role and can be performed according to specific requirements. So which tests and inspections are possible for unpopulated PCBs?
A final step in PCB manufacturing is the electrical test. This process serves quality assurance purposes and ensures that all traces and contacts are properly connected and that no short circuits are present. The following article explains the electrical test in greater detail.
Use of flying probe testers
For electrical tests, we exclusively use flying probe testers. These are automated test systems equipped with precisely positionable robotic arms and highly accurate test probes. They contact the endpoints of electrical nets and enable reliable verification of the electrical properties of PCBs.
What is tested?
Both the electrical continuity of individual copper traces and the insulation between copper traces are tested to detect unwanted electrical connections. Testing is performed on 100% of the PCB and in 3D, meaning that nets on both outer and inner layers of the PCB are included in the measurement and tested.
The test program controls the probes and sequentially checks all nets for continuity-that is, proper connection of the endpoints—and for short circuits, meaning insufficient insulation between isolated nets.
Why are electrical tests so important?
It prevents defective PCBs from entering assembly and final production. In this way, electrical testing saves time and costs that would otherwise arise from rework, scrap, or repairs.
As PCB layouts become increasingly complex, the time required for testing also increases. In individual cases, testing can take several hours.
In addition, further tests help prevent later failures of devices or machines that can be traced back to these PCBs. These product-specific tests are particularly important in safety-critical applications such as medical technology, military technology, or aerospace. In this field, special testing options are available upon customer request, one of which is high-voltage testing.
This was one of many topics presented and clearly explained by our speaker, Andreas Dreher.
Additional webinar topics included:
Many interesting questions were raised, including:
These and many other questions are answered in our Webinar.
Some feedback from our webinar:
"Highly competent speaker, good and relevant information at an appropriate level of detail."
"Excellent webinar! Very efficient and informative!"
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