Most people encounter frayed cables, such as degraded insulation on old lamp plugs or bent phone charger cables. They can result in a loss of signal continuity and a potential shock hazard. At VSE, our engineering team recognizes the importance of reliable PCB cable assembly services for enhanced service life, especially for high-power lines and those sensitive to EMI.
Cable Assembly Services
Cable Interconnects Custom Built for Your Electronic Assemblies
Common Cabling Options |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | Pros | Cons | Automated Assembly Ready? | ||
| Cable Ties | A cinching tool pulled taut and locked in position |
|
|
YES | |
| Tape | Adhesive wrap-around wires that can be insulative |
|
|
YES | |
| Woven Braid | Woven material around wires |
|
|
YES | |
| Heat-shrink Tubing | A sheath around wires; heated to mold to shape |
|
|
NO | |
| Spiral Wrap | A system for cable-of-cables |
|
|
YES | |
| Insulative Sleeving | A loose-fitting bundling option |
|
|
NO | |
| Slit-wall Loom Tubing | A rugged sheath for physically demanding operations |
|
|
YES | |
Cable Assembly Services From an Experienced Electronics Manufacturer
Cabling is essential for transmitting power and data in electrical systems. Cables technically refer to multiple wires enclosed in a common sheathing, while wire harnesses provide organization for inter-board connections. Cables protect the conductor wires and the surrounding environment inside the enclosure. Cabling enhances the wire parameters in the following ways:
Electromagnetic shielding
Cables significantly impede the transceiving between enclosed wires and their surroundings. For nominal EMI, this is possible with a simple twisted wire pair. However, complications may arise: high-speed signals may still emit noticeable EMI, or multiple twisted wire pairs can couple together if their twist rates are too similar. A shield-jacketed cable or shielding tape underneath the sheath better mitigates EMI than twisted pair wires alone.
Mechanical protection
Wires may brush or rest against surfaces that, over time, can erase the insulation and then the conductor. Cable sheaths help in two ways: They provide an extra layer to prevent damage from reaching the surface of the wire while also bolstering abrasion resistance. Less applicable but still notable, the sheathe can protect against crushing forces.
Cohesiveness
The cable assembly prevents individual wire catch-and-snags, possibly separating connectors from wires or tearing wires.
Cables Engineered To Maximize PCB Performance
A signal is only as good as its reliability. At the board level, efforts focus on minimizing loss, noise introduction/coupling, and EMI reduction for improved performance. These domains are still crucial for inter-board connections, but the new physical interaction layer requires additional considerations:
Enlarge bend radii as much as possible
Besides placing unnecessary stress on connectors, excessive bend radii slow manufacturing throughput.
Tight tolerances only when necessary
Tolerancing is an important aspect of manufacturing, especially at the board level. However, overly tight tolerancing for the box-build can be restrictive and significantly impact per-unit cost due to reduced yield.
Reference length dimensions from the back of connectors
This helps hit the sweet spot of cables having a necessary minimum slack without additional material fees that are cost-prohibitive on a per-cable basis.
From Design to Custom-Built Cable Assemblies
Cables must perform robustly to flex with the demands of multiple system interconnects. Our engineers accomplish this by working from project data to create a build and test plan for cables:
Assembly drawing
A detailed drawing of the cable assembly with build instructions and label positions. These provide designers and technicians with the necessary information for cable component placement, attachment, etc.
Wire list
This document details connector pin-outs, net information, wire colors, and connector images to illustrate pin locations and provide convenient references.
Test specifications
During and following manufacturing, our quality control team constantly checks the build to assess its quality and projected reliability.
Experts You Can Trust for Your Next Cable Assembly
Supporting the performance and reliability of inter-board connections is a cornerstone of electrical system quality. Even the best designs have limitations to this requisite infrastructure level–but cable assembly services designed from the ground up for the particular needs of your single- or multi-board box build can go even further. At VSE, we offer complete turnkey assembly solutions for PCBs that optimize features and functionality at every process step.
If you are looking for a CM that prides itself on its care and attention to detail to ensure that each PCB assembly is built to the highest standards, look no further than VSE. Contact us today to learn more about partnering with us for your next project.