When ordering printed circuit boards, you don’t want to discover a flaw in the circuit board after you start using it. That’s why we thoroughly inspect the circuit boards before and during production. You can read about the testing methods we use and what we check during these tests in this article.
Once we receive the order for printed circuit boards and submit files to us, our control process begins. The first step is to verify your gerber files. If we notice anything that we expect may cause issues or if something doesn’t seem right, we always reach out to you to prevent errors. This way, we identify and address many potential issues in the circuit board before starting production.
If the printed circuit board consists of four or more layers, we always conduct an Automated Optical Inspection (AOI). In a printed circuit board with four or more layers, the inner layers are sandwiched between the outer layers. This means that no repairs can be made afterwards. Thanks to AOI, we can detect and, where possible, repair issues in the inner layers of your printed circuit board at an early stage.
Even after the printed circuit board has been produced, we conduct thorough electrical testing. We use the netlist as a basis. The netlist indicates which components and parts are interconnected on the printed circuit board. We test whether all these connections are functioning properly. This can be done in two ways.
For small batches of printed circuit boards, we use a flying probe: there are two points continuously moving over the printed circuit board, checking for connections between them.
For larger batches, we use a test fixture. Test fixtures are specifically made for a printed circuit board and can test the entire board at once. Since the costs of making a fixture are higher, we only use this electrical test for larger quantities of printed circuit boards.
