| July 21, 2010
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Drilling circuit boards in the post-production environment is tricky work. If the circuit board is populated with components and other hardware, the setup alone can be time consuming. Additionally, datum points (the spots that ensure drilling precision) are not always easy to calibrate because these points are often designed for electronic versus mechanical location.
Things get dicey when the drilling occurs at a location where internal planes project into the drilled hole, especially when the planes are separated by just a few thousandths of an inch ...
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When engineers are developing or upgrading products, the focus can often involve a BGA device. We commonly receive requests to dismantle a socketed BGA and place the BGA component directly on the circuit board surface. We also receive requests to migrate a soldered component into a socket arrangement.
The challenge with a rework that involves the removal of a soldered BGA component to install a socket in it's place is that most often the pads on the circuit board surface will need to be gold plated. In this case all 1000+ pads needed to be gold plated. That, my friends, is a piece of work ...
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Millions are spent every year on the care and handling of circuit assemblies. Nevertheless, to the frustration of everyone involved, handling damage occurs.
Boards, components, and assemblies are dropped, bumped, nicked and dinged with annoying regularity. Not long ago we were presented with a board severely cracked form edge to edge.
An international freight carrier ran over the box containing this board. That's right, ran over, as in with a truck. Believe it or not, even that level of damage can be repaired, but frankly it's only occasionally worth the effort ...
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Trivia
See the answer below.
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Quote of the Week
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