PCB repair and printed circuit boards
We offer circuit board repairs. This is a highly complex subject. PCBs are the combination of electronic components to form a common assembly with one function. A circuit board consists of electrically insulated material (nowadays FR4) with conductive connections made of copper, so-called conductor tracks. The components are soldered onto soldering surfaces, so they are mechanically held and electrically connected. There are printed circuit boards from 1 to 64 layers.
PCB repair, production and assembly
The PCB is designed from the circuit diagram using CAD software, from which the Gerber files are exported. The Gerber data is then loaded into the CAM software by the PCB manufacturer and checked. If the data is correct, it is released for production. A common production method for printed circuit boards is etching technology. The manufacturing steps are as follows: Drill, coat with copper, laminate photoresist, expose, develop, etch, rinse and coat (green colour). There is no machine support for repairing defective wires on the PCB or circuit board. In this case, the defective wires are bridged by hand with a piece of wire and reconnected correctly.
Which components and designs can be found on circuit boards
The individual electrical components on the circuit board have many different functions. A distinction is made between active and passive components. With the Repair of circuit boards care must be taken to ensure that the components are replaced by the correct types with the same specification.
Active components (Semiconductors)
Active components are also called semiconductors. They can emit a signal with higher power than the source of the recorded signal can provide. This is done with the help of auxiliary energy from an additional power supply.
Diodes or rectifiers
A diode allows current to flow in one direction and blocks the flow of current in the other direction. This is referred to as the forward direction and the reverse direction.
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit (colloquially known as an IC) is an electronic circuit mounted on a thin silicon wafer just a few millimetres in size. It is also known as a solid-state circuit or monolithic circuit. For protection and easier contacting, this chip is usually encapsulated in a much larger chip housing.
Electronic switches
An electronic switch is also known as a semiconductor switch and describes a switch that can be operated electronically. It is a component of many electronic circuits. Consequently, you will find the most common components in this category.
Passive electrical components
Passive components have no amplifying effect and have no control function, such as resistors, capacitors or coils. They have linear or non-linear electrical properties.
Resistors
The resistance determines the electrical voltage required to allow a certain amount of current to flow through an electrical conductor. In other words, it is used in a circuit to "throttle" the current.
Capacitors
Capacitors store energy in an electric field. With the stored charge, the capacitor attempts to keep the voltage constant by releasing or absorbing energy.
Coils
Coils store energy in a magnetic field. In order to maintain a constant current through the coil, try to compensate for these fluctuations by increasing or decreasing the voltage.
Design of components on circuit boards
Depending on the design of the components on the circuit boards, different devices must be used for the repair.
SMD components
The abbreviation SMD stands for "Surface Mounted Device" and means "surface-mounted components". The components do not have wire connections, but are soldered directly onto a circuit board using solderable connection surfaces. To replace SMD components, you need a powerful hot air gun, a high-quality soldering station and a steady hand.
Trough-hole components
Trough-hole means "wired components" in German. They are mounted on the circuit board using through-hole mounting, i.e. they are inserted into the circuit board through contact holes and then connected to the conductor track by soldering. If you want to replace the wired components to repair the circuit board, you need a special soldering tool to remove the solder from the pad. Once the solder has been removed, the component can be removed and replaced with a new one.
Faults in assemblies on printed circuit boards and our repair options
Since every device falls under circuit boards and printed circuit boards, there are countless possibilities for failures. This starts with the failure of a display and ends with complete failures. Simply contact us so that we can check whether your device is repairable. To save us any queries, please always send us an exact description of the fault with pictures. If there is a possibility that we can repair your circuit board or PCB, you are welcome to send it to us by post or bring it to us in person.
