Introduction To 10 Common Mistakes In PCBA Design

The Top 10 PCBA Design Mistakes to Avoid, here are 10 common mistakes and how to easily avoid them.

1. It’s too late

It is recommended that you get your EMS partners involved as soon as possible, ideally, as soon as your first draft of your PCB layout is available – and allow yourself plenty of time for prototyping and preproduction.

For all the checks you do on paper or using a PC, there may be some “features” that show up only when you produce the first batch of products.

Before ordering all the components for your first planned production build and submitting the design for CE certification, etc., you need to flush out these components.

2.PCB panel is not correct

The ideal panel will depend on the PCB and the process the components will go through.

If it’s too big or too small, it may not fit in the production line.

Extremely thin PCBs (e.g., 0.8mm) may need to be in smaller panels to avoid bending.

The lack of scrap strips can make disposal difficult during production and testing.

Breaking in the wrong places can mean that the component is not rigid enough or difficult to break without damaging the component.

Lack of reference points can cause alignment problems.

Best practice advice is to allow your EMS partner to work with their PCB supplier to optimize panel design.

3. Overcomplicate

Unfortunately, if you have SMTs on both sides of the component, then it will cost more – in fact it is often twice as much – so don’t do it unless you really need to.

This also applies to through-hole components.

Spending more time on PCB design early on can help reduce the time spent in the assembly phase, thus reducing costs.

4. Component size or shape size is wrong

It is worth checking carefully that the components you specify on the bill of materials (BOM) actually apply to pads designed on the PCB.

Also, consider whether the body of the component is appropriate;

Often, components are placed too close together, or too close to the edges of the PCB, which can cause them to be damaged during disconnection or handling.

5. Pad hole

This is tempting when space is tight, but to avoid the solder disappearing from the hole when trying to connect the component, the through-hole needs to be

6. Too many types of components

Number of components

7. Mixed component dimensions

As tiny components become more common, there is a temptation to use them, but if you place them next to larger components that require more solder paste, the process becomes a bit trickier and may require more expensive stepped forms.

8. Improper PCB surface treatment

HASL that conforms to RoHS standards is generally designated as standard surface treatment, but it is not applicable to fine-pitch components.

Silver finishes have a shorter shelf life than most – perhaps ENIG is enough?

Consider whether the surface originally listed is really the most suitable and how changing to another can save time and cost during the assembly phase.

9. Unnecessary components

Do you really need those test points or programming heads when you go beyond prototyping?

Obviously, removing them will reduce ongoing costs.

10. Lack of resistance

It may be easy for components to share pads or to leave flux blocking between pads on finely spaced devices.

Try to consider where the solder is going – and the failure and rework costs in the event of an unwanted short circuit.

Top 10 PCBA design errors to avoid. When it comes to electronic components, there are a lot of variables and therefore a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong.