Cool Facts About PCBs That You Probably Didn’t Know

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It was in the year 1936 that PCBs were first thought of (and invented) by Paul Eisler. They’ve evolved since then; becoming much smaller, faster and much more efficient to build as compared to the earlier days. However, PCB building technology never remains static i.e. it’s always evolving. Did you know that we may very well start to use biodegradable PCBs in the near future?

Super PCB shares in the following some more cool facts about printed circuit boards!

PCBs Can Be Of Any Color (Not Just Green)

The color that we actually see in the majority of PCBs is of the solder-mask that shows through the glass. There’re of course a few theories in regards to why the iconic dark green color is largely used in PCB manufacture.

  • The color is believed to be the regulation standard for PCBs when they were being used by the American military and it spread (to rest of the world) just like that.
  • Green could also have been the color of original solder-mask resins and that the color is used today simply on the principle of convention.

In reality, green is largely used in the manufacture of circuit boards because engineers find it easier to look for faults in trace lines.

PCBs Are Everywhere

Printed circuit boards can be found everywhere. You’re probably within touching distance of one right now, i.e. if you’re reading this on a tablet or even on your desktop PC! When using electronic devices, we usually don’t realize just how ubiquitous circuit boards can be or the importance of PCBs in modern tech.

PCBs Are Designed Using CAD

CAD or computer aided design is commonly used by manufacturers when designing printed circuit boards. This allows for an almost seamless and accurate process where technicians make use of CAD programs and design the schematic as well as the layout of PCBs. This helps in testing the board before making them physically.

PCBs Use Surface Mount Technology

SMT is the most commonly used manufacturing technique in the making of modern PCBs. This technique first became popular in the 1980s, going so far as to replace the through-hole method (its predecessor). The season for such quick adoption of surface mount technology was that the previous technique was not only too slow but caused many errors in fabrication of PCBs.

PCBs Use Traces Not Wires

Electronic devices use wires as a common means of transmitting energy and electric current. PCBs are however an exception to this! Instead of using wires, a printed circuit board makes use of copper traces that transport electrons. This allows PCBs to be smaller in size, as the flat traces don’t take a lot of space.

PCBs Use a Lot of Potential Components

It may be small in size but a PCB uses many components, all of which have their own individual properties. The list of components includes (but isn’t limited to);

  • Resistors
  • Capacitors
  • Potentiometers
  • Relays
  • Inductors
  • Fuses
  • Batteries
  • Diodes
  • Transistors
  • Transformers

PCBs Can Be Completely Personalized

Super PCB offers their clients with the ability to order custom made circuit boards, i.e. boards manufactured according to their own requirements and specifications. Additionally, the PCB fabrication house also provides testing services to clients. While there isn’t any need to order custom PCBs (they can be expensive to), sometimes it helps make a device function better than what a standard PCB could provide.

There you go. Now you have a better know-how about this integral component. There still might be a query or question regarding the PCB procured from Super PCB, so why not take help from our exceptional after sales support!