Cleaning and Maintaining Your Industrial Circuit Boards

Circuit Boards Are in Pretty Much Every Piece of Electronic Equipment

If your business or enterprise makes use of any industrial electronics, then you can bet that pretty much every piece of equipment you own has printed circuit boards (or PCBs) inside. PCBs have been used in all sorts of electronic devices and equipment for many decades. They were first used by the U.S. government during WWII, and entered common usage for commercial equipment and consumer electronics in the 1950s. Originally, wire leads were drilled through the circuit board, but starting in the 1980s small surface mounts were able to printed on the surface of the boards. Circuit boards have gotten progressively smaller and more complex over time, but the basic concept of how circuit boards work hasn’t changed all that much.

Circuit boards are now found all sorts of electronic equipment, ranging from computers, to phones, to TVs and media devices, to toys, to cars, and more. PCBs are essential components of all manner of commercial and industrial equipment too, driving and directing the activity of pretty much any electronic device you can think of.

While Circuit Boards Have Improved Dramatically, There Can Still Be Problems

It’s fair to say that circuit board engineering has grown by leaps and bounds since those early WWII days. But while these electronic components are impressively intricate, they can still often be quite sensitive, and even delicate. For example, circuit boards can be misprinted during manufacturing, and they can also become damaged over time, due to a variety of factors. PCB replacement is always an option, but that can get expensive. In many cases, circuit board repair is a better, cheaper option for your industrial equipment, especially if you partner with an experienced industrial circuit board repair specialist like AES!

How Do Circuit Boards Become Dirty or Fouled in the First Place?

That’s a good question. You may think that because circuit boards are internal components they may be immune to exterior threats, but that simply isn’t the case. Gaps in the housing can allow contaminants to enter, and the cooling fans present in many types of industrial electronic equipment can actually draw more dust and debris inside over time.

• Dry contaminants

Dust and dirt are the most common dry contaminants, and they can easily be conducted and deposited by normal airflow, including the circulation promoted by internal cooling fans.

• Wet contaminants

Moisture can infiltrate your circuit board from a number of sources as well, including liquid spills, lubricating oils present in the industrial equipment itself, and more.

Why IC Repair Services Could Prove to Be Beneficial

Internal chips and circuit boards are sensitive components which can be damaged during original manufacturing, or can begin to lose their effective properties over time due to many factors. Printed circuit board repair and electronic repair services could be beneficial in many circumstances; including the following:

 Your circuit board could have experienced some flaws during the original manufacturing process.

 There may be a design flaw in your particular circuit board.

 Your circuit board could have been mishandled or dropped.

 Your circuit board could display some excessive solder, broken traces, or may contain some other performance-inhibiting issues.

 You or your workers might have inadvertently spilled something on your electronic equipment which has seeped onto your circuit board.

Common Circuit Board Repairs We Provide at AES:

If your industrial circuit board needs some TLC, AES is here to serve your needs. Here are just a few of the specialized circuit board repair services we’re able to provide:

• Gold Finger Contact Repair

Your circuit board gold finger contacts can be vulnerable to solder splash, or to other types of contamination. The AES team is trained in the repair and reworking of these contacts, to help prevent any other future problems.

• Laminate Repair

The laminate adjustment or solution we provide will depend upon the nature of the circuit board issues our trained professionals are able to discover with our proven analysis procedures.

• Trace Repairs

Copper traces are often used to connect various elements on your circuit board, making them some of the most essential elements in any PCB system. Our team is trained and equipped for conducting effective trace repairs; in many cases, that’s all that’s needed to return your circuit board to optimal condition.

• Circuit Modification

We can also make circuit modifications to address any other design flaws found in your circuit board; we know what it takes to optimize your PCB and make it as effective as possible.

• Inner Layer Repairs

Our trained circuit board repair specialists can also provide any needed inner layer repairs to correct and optimize your industrial circuit board.

• PCB Equipment Sales

If it should turn out that a new replacement circuit board is really the best solution for your industrial equipment, we can help you with that as well. AES partners with several preferred vendors to be able to supply you with the exact circuit board solution you may need.

Industrial Circuit Board Repair Services from AES

Repairing any faults that may be found inside your circuit board is generally much more cost-effective than replacing the whole circuit board. AES provides a full range of circuit board repair and rework services to help our clients recover any damaged circuit boards and get their essential processes back online ASAP.

In a word, AES has all your electronic equipment repair needs covered! Give us a call today at 866-386-1001.