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High current PCB practices need to be employed to keep a board in operation but functioning in lockstep with its design intent to avoid any issues during prototyping or field use.

For those of us that spend most of our time working on schematics and layouts within the virtual world of CAD tools, soldering gives us a chance to interact with the actual hardware of our designs. However, soldering components on a circuit board must be done correctly to avoid problems that could affect the performance of the board or outright damage it. Here is a basic guide of best practices that engineers should know for through-hole soldering.

Heat is the expected by-product of a normal functioning circuit board. But if heat isn’t carefully planned for during its design, the PCB may have problems during its manufacturing and operational performance. Here we’ll take a look at PCB thermal resistance and conductivity and see how good thermal management is ultimately essential to the success of the circuit board.

PCB thermal conductivity influences all design aspects, beginning with stack-up and material choices and continuing through the layout. External heatsinks can be included in the design further to reduce heat buildup on or within the board.

Here, we’ll look at some of the problems to avoid during soldering and some of the best practice PCB soldering techniques that can help.

When it comes to the best PCB materials, it is of utmost importance to first consider the function of the underpinning physics driving the final product’s function.