If you have ever dealt in the PCB industry, chances are you already understand the significant role played by inspection in identifying some of the hidden errors that would be difficult to uncover. The last thing you want to grapple with is buying an item with the trust that it is working properly only to notice that it harbors defects. Therefore, it is essential to ensure the right expert handles the inspection aspect of your PCB. There are various ways of performing PCB inspection. It is critical to select the most appropriate method of PCB inspection, as this will ensure that you get the right quality of the boards.
Here are some of the approaches to PCB inspection that you may adopt to help you guarantee the quality of any board.
Manual Visual Inspection
Perhaps this is the simplest of the methods of performing a PCB inspection that you can imagine. This approach involves simple observation using tools such as magnifying equipment or in some cases using naked eyes. This method has been used for decades, but it requires an expert to have experience in order to perform the checks. This method can check for the firmness of the board, surface quality, and ascertain that the board thickness is accurate.
Automated Optical Inspection
Unlike the manual visual inspection that relies on naked eyes to observe the board for any defects, automated optical inspection is a sophisticated method that involves the use of cameras to help guarantee the quality of the PCB. The most interesting aspect of this method is that it can reveal the defaults that would be difficult for manual visual inspection to uncover. What’s more, the method is pretty fast and far more reliable compared to the manual method.
X-Ray Inspection
X-ray inspection, a common method of PCB inspection utilizes the x-rays to help identify the defaults in a PCB. With the advancements in technology, it became evident that a more complex method was needed to identify defects on highly complex electronic devices. This method has helped to resolve the problems introduced by advancing technology and which could not be resolved using the other PCB inspection methods.
The choice of the method of inspection is not only personal but also depends on the level of sophistication of the board or the technology used. Generally, however, it is now popular to find most people using the X-ray method and the automated optical method of inspection because of their reliability, speed, and accuracy of the tests.
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