Top 5 Common Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Repairs - EMSG (2023)

Many are unaware that the electronics, gadgets and items they own are based on various internal components that work together to provide the necessary functions and features they use. A mobile phone, for example, is more than just the case, the buttons and the screen that you see from the outside. Inside the device are several parts that house and connect the necessary components. One of these key parts is called a printed circuit board, or PCB for short.

Circuit boards are the basis of most electronic devices. Only at the end of 2018, the value of global sales of PCB products should be achieved$82 billion🇧🇷 That should give you an idea of ​​how often PCBs are used in manufacturing.

Without them, many devices would simply stop working. In the event of a major breakdown or malfunction, this can cause some pretty serious problems. Circuit boards aren't invulnerable either. Over time, they are subject to severe wear and tear that can affect their performance and functionality. Things like weather, humidity, age, and even altitude can affect a board's condition.

Fortunately, it is possible to repair or recondition the boards back to like-new condition. This does one of two things. Or the card in question can be returned to its original device to get it working again. Or it can be used on a completely different device if you like, as a way of recycling.

Obviously, before a circuit board can be repaired or rebuilt, engineers must identify and understand why it failed in the first place. You're not good at solving a problem if you don't know what went wrong, right?

It is very beneficial to know and identify some of the most common problems related to circuit boards so that when a device fails you at least know what went wrong. Let's look at some of the most common circuit board problems and explore ways to solve them.

Finally, let's examine what a printed circuit board is and actually does.

What are circuit boards?

A printed circuit board or PCB is a core component of almost all electronic devices. All but the simplest electronic devices use some type of circuit board to mechanically connect and synchronize all product elements. For example, a coffee maker may have a small internal circuit board to connect the electronic control system, heating element and display.

In the early days, long before design software existed, printed circuit boards were planned.using mylar sheetsthrough hands-on development and were often four times the size of the PCB itself. Designers arranged pinpads, traces, and components into a proposed layout, which was used as a storyboard to test and explain the circuits. Everything is overflowing todaydesign and manufacturing software.

PCBs are mechanically required to support and connect all components within the device, which are synchronized via traces; this allows the free flow of current through the board and from one component to another.

Circuit board components are soldered to the board, which electrically and mechanically connects them to the circuit. These "components" include things like the battery, resistors, LEDs, transistors, capacitors, and more.

Circuit boards are usually made in layers that include different levels of conductive and non-conductive layers. They can be single-sided with a single copper layer, double-sided with a double copper layer on each side of a substrate layer, or multi-layered with different copper and substrate layers. It's worth noting that multilayer boards offer a number of advantages, such as greater component density, but they are much more difficult to analyze, repair, and modify.

It is important to understand that circuit board repair parts and practices are often made with the same materials and components that were originally used to build the hardware. There are very few substitutes or alternatives, especially when it comes to reliable and conductive materials. This underscores the need to find a suitable professional repair team with the right resources and connections.

What devices are they using?

Circuit boards are used in almost every electronic device you can find, from smartphones and computers to televisions and vacuum cleaners. Any time a device requires an electrical connection to function, there is likely to be some kind of circuit board inside it, sometimes incredibly small and thin.

Over the years, technology has advanced, as has the design and development of printed circuit boards, allowing for smaller, more complex components and thinner, less bulky boards. This makes circuit board repairs particularly difficult as there are so many different types of different sizes and designs. You can't go to just anyone to fix, modify, or rebuild a circuit board. It is crucial that you use an authorized party that has the experience and equipment necessary to make this possible.

Why do circuit boards fail?

Like anything that deteriorates with time and prolonged use, printed circuit boards can have a variety of problems. From trace damage that affects the conductivity of the board and circuits to component failures where capacitors or diodes die, there are many hot spots on a board.

It helps you identify and understand some of the most common PCB issues so you can solve them in a meaningful way. This can also help people who don't have direct experience with circuit boards to keep them in better condition.

1. Physical damage
This is the most obvious choice when it comes to damaging a circuit board. In fact, the most common causes of circuit board failures are due to physical damage to or within a device. This can be just about anything involving physical pressure or shock. The device in question may have been dropped from a great distance. Perhaps you were hit or violently hit by another object? There is also a possibility that the device was disassembled for some reason and the circuit board was directly damaged.

How to diagnose and repair

Unless the scenario is a total failure (the board fell to the ground and cracked or cracked completely), the physical damage can be repaired through the remanufacturing process. This usually involves melting down damaged sections of the board or repairing it by disassembling and reassembling it. Due to the nature of most physical damage, it is highly unlikely that someone without PCB repair experience would be able to undertake it as a DIY project. Repair of physical damage should only be done by a trained and experienced professional. In most cases, this requires redesigning the board, re-soldering the components, and rerouting the beads.

2. Component failure
Besides physical damage, faulty components are the second leading cause of circuit board problems. If there's no physical damage but a device isn't working or won't turn on, you can almost guarantee it has something to do with one of the components connected to the board.

The component itself can be anything from a capacitor to a diode to a microprocessor. If the component is the problem and it has died or stopped working, it may need to be replaced entirely. However, the actual component is not always the problem. Due to aging, overheating, and voltage dips, the trace may have degraded to the point where it is no longer conductive. It is also possible that one or more components have become completely disconnected from the circuit board and need to be resealed.

How to diagnose and repair

You might be wondering how to fix a circuit board when a component fails. Again, the process of repairing and remanufacturing faulty components is best left to professionals. There are voltage tools and various devices that can be used to test the conductivity of circuits on a circuit board. They can also be used to determine if power is flowing to a component or if a board element has completely failed. You can often see the faulty components simply by opening up the device. Its outer casing may appear burned, cracked, or broken, or the component may have completely detached itself from the circuit board and has come loose.

Repairing a faulty component may require the application of heat, usually with a heat gun, soldering, and rigorous testing.

3. Track damage
The traces on a circuit board are the conductive paths, which are made of silver or copper. You can usually spot a problem on the road with the naked eye, but not always. When a trace is damaged, whether from regular use or physical damage, it can cause significant conductivity issues on the circuit board, components, and device in question.

Some of the most common causes of trace damage include lightning, severe power surges or short circuits, metal dust contamination, overheating, and normal wear and tear.

How to diagnose and repair

As long as the trail isn't incredibly thin and difficult to see, you can usually detect damage simply by examining the trail. Copper and silver are naturally clear and shiny, making breakage or damage easy to spot. Please note that this is not always the case, but it is a sure thing.

To repair faulty or damaged rails, simply re-solder or repack the board with the necessary material. This reconnects the broken circuit and allows current to flow freely through the board.

4. Bad design
As much as we praise every engineer or product developer, this is not feasible. Sometimes, for whatever reason, a team can compromise when it comes to designing a board or manufacturing the necessary components. This can lead to poor board design and construction, leading to problems later on.

Unfortunately, poor PCB design can lead to a number of things, many of the errors that occur have already been discussed here.

How to diagnose and repair

You will know right away if you have a bad or faulty circuit board because your device will continue to fail even after repair or service. The best solution for a bad circuit board is to completely replace it by visiting an official or licensed repair center.

The easiest way to identify a poorly designed board is by the number of failures or issues it has experienced over time. Aside from significant physical or electrical damage to the unit, if you take the board somewhere for repair or analysis and there are some issues, there is probably something wrong with the way the board was designed. In some cases, this simply means that the original manufacturer used cheap or unreliable components, but the board itself is fine.

5. Power failure
In most cases, a power outage is remarkably similar to a component failure, and may even be the same thing. The final problem arises from the fact that there has been a major power failure across all or part of the board. One of the circuit board components may have been subjected to higher than normal stresses, causing heat damage and explosion. Or maybe there was a tracking error that caused a short circuit somewhere? In either case, a power meter can be used to test each individual component and the overall conductivity of the board.

How to diagnose and repair

All professional repair kits have a power or voltage meter that can be used to identify electrical problems with a circuit board and its components. Tension tools are really the only way to diagnose a problem outside of visible damage to a component. Repair is best left to professionals, but it often involves reseating or replacing components.

What is circuit board repair and remanufacturing?

There are several ways to repair or maintain a printed circuit board, requiring different levels of skill. However, for the most part, anything that involves the inner workings of an electronic device or device requires engineering and mechanical knowledge, as well as basic electrical circuitry. With some of the biggest devices on the market, you can be seriously injured or even killed if you don't know what you're doing.

For fingerprints and traces, it may be necessary to cover, remove or replace the necessary material: copper or silver. This usually requires tools like a soldering iron or heat gun.

Physical or visible damage to a circuit board requires motherboard repair. This may involve melting down similar materials to reshape or modify the board, or sometimes require complete disassembly.

Lead and component repairs can require knowledge and skills in soldering, desoldering, BGA rework and the utmost precision. If you've ever worked with or held a soldering iron, it's not as easy to keep your hand steady and distribute the material evenly. You need extensive experience with a soldering iron and a desoldering iron just to make sure the components and parts are properly seated on the board.

of course they exista variety of IPC and ICO standardsbe followed by professionals to ensure electronics and components are designed and serviced using proper protocols. If you don't know or don't know enoughabout these rules, you may find yourself in hot water later on.

Make sure any EMS or electronics manufacturing services you work with are aware of and follow the necessary procedures.

If you don't know, an EMS is typically a PCB repair company that designs, manufactures, tests, distributes, and repairs electronic components and internal assemblies. They typically service components and devices for OEMs or original equipment manufacturers. An OEM is the company that originally developed and owns the product in question.

This entire process is known as electronic contract manufacturing, or ECM for short.

What materials are needed for circuit board repair?

Unsurprisingly, most repairs require the same materials, or improved materials, used in the official design of a board. It may be necessary to redistribute copper or silver to repair trail paths. PCB substrates are usually made of fiberglass or epoxy with copper foil bonded to the conductive layer. They can also be made from reinforced phenolic resin, a material more paper-like and thinner than fiberglass.

Gold is also used by many manufacturers or repair centers, most notably when plating or enhancing soldered segments of a circuit board.

The best service and repair teams can reassemble or fix a damaged board to the point of restoring it to its original state, so there is almost no difference between an older version and the updated version. This certainly requires a lot of sensitivity and experience that you won't find outside of an experienced and professional environment.

An important part of researching and hiring a professional repair service is making sure they have the right PCB repair materials and tools to get the job done. Some service repair crews don't have everything in place or on site, which can add to the time it takes to repair or assemble parts. You have to wait until they get the necessary materials or tools.

It's no secret that many of the materials used are not environmentally friendly or increase safety. We are still a long way from that, but scientists and state-of-the-art equipment are working.on biodegradable PCBswhich degrade naturally after removal.

Why is it so important to work with EMSG?

For PCB repair and remanufacturing and industrial PCB repair service options, it doesn't get any better.emsg inc.(Electronic Manufacturing Services Group). We are well equipped to handle board level mounts and full box build mounts, including any custom packaging you may have created or used.

we have astate-of-the-art installationusing the latest manufacturing and repair technologies that allow us to get the job done with incredible precision, yet efficiently. This, along with our incredibly experienced staff, state-of-the-art equipment and excellent management team, means we can be fast, reliable and complete any repair or development within your chosen timeline.

Our ultimate goal at EMSG is to help you enter the market successfully, but also in a competitive and reliable environment. We understand that every business is unique and that the design and specifications of your components require personalized attention. We can and will give you the absolute focus and dedication you need to ensure every job exceeds your expectations.

We are very confident that EMSG will play an integral role in your product design and development. The information presented here barely scratches the surface of what it takes to undertake and run a professional repair and overhaul service. You can be confident that we have the skills, experience and tools to get you to market as quickly as possible.

If you are interested in our fabrication or repair services, please fill outthis contact formand let us get to you. You can alsocall usspeak with a company representative at any time.