Author Archives: Erin

Conformal Coating Spray

Adding Acrylic Conformal Coating to Your Printed Circuit Boards

Acrylic resins (AR) are single component materials. To specify, they are preformed acrylic polymers that are dissolved in a solvent to be applied to surfaces. One main benefit of using an Acrylic conformal coating service on your electronics is it provides an excellent barrier to moisture/humidity and have good fungus resistance. They also have minimal chemical resistance which makes it ideal for reworking and removability.

Acrylic Conformal Coating can be easily applied with a brush, sprayed or by dipping.  For smaller batch productions, such as prototyping, hand brushing is commonly.  For those large batch groups, spraying the coating on is best because it gives you an accurate control of coating. Dipping is achieved by placing the assembly into a vat of the coating.  This procedure is also well suited for small batches.

No matter where your electronic device is meant to be used, chances are high that there is at least one major atmospheric threat that can harm the delicate circuit boards within.  Conformal coatings made of acrylic resin (AR) are very popular choice because it protects printed circuit boards (PCBs) and other electronics from corrosion, dirt, dust, fungus, moisture, and thermal shocks.

Acrylic conformal coating currently makes up 80% of the market. The purpose of conformal coating is to protect the sensitive circuits in your device so that it can live longer and work better. What kind of threats does conformal coating protect against?

Moisture and Humidity

Moisture is a printed circuit board’s worst enemy. It can easily fry the circuit board, rendering it inoperable. Conformal coating may not be able to protect your device from a torrential downpour or a drop in the toilet, but it can resist humidity and condensation.

Dust

Dust can easily clog up a printed circuit board, especially due to electrostatic attraction. Conformal coating shields the inner workings of a circuit board from dust.

Heat and Cold

If your electronic device is meant to be used outside, then it will have to be able to withstand the sizzling highs and bone chilling lows of the environment. Conformal coating can protect against temperature extremes.

At Acme PCB Assembly, we offer a variety of different conformal coating options for our customers.  Acrylic conformal coating in Los Angeles.

Contact us today to learn more.

CNC punching machine

How does Metal Punching Differ from Stamping

Often times, people who are not strictly linked with metal works fields, can confuse between the sheet metal punching and the sheet metal stamping.

This happens because, at first glance, the meaning of these two words might seem the same. On the contrary, the sheet metal punching and the stamping are really different starting from the equipment required to achieve punching and stamping.

The first ones, are metal forming processes realized with automatic CNC machines that use punch presses and dies realizing any kind of hole. The punch pass through the sheet metal while the dies, located on the other side of the metal piece, work as support and help punches to put more force ensuring the non-breaking of metal.

Otherwise, the stamping is the set of operations performed to obtain specific shapes and it includes our sheet metal punching. Stamping is in fact a consequence of others metal processes such as punching, blanking, sheet metal deep-drawing and bending. It’s the ending process useful for giving to metal pieces a specific shape to the entire piece.

To be clear, there’s a third metal process which often is confused and it’s called pressing. The metal pressing, contrary to the sheet metal punching is processed to give shape without breaking the metal piece. For example, pressing process is used to realize corners.

Contact Us today to inquire about our services.

ACME Go Green for the Environment

ACME PCB Assembly working as a Greenhouse for Electronic Manufacturing Service. the solar panel save 64.2KW which Environmental benefits, over 30 years, the PV system is estimated to offset: CO2 emissions (greenhouse gas) 4136092 lbs. Particulates that cause asthma 817 lbs. it’s equivalent to taking 21.8 cars off the road for 25 years, or Planting 35.5 acres of trees. 
sounds great? Applause for ACME PCB Assembly, right? 

Many reasons drive the global push to “go green”. While nature conservation is one of them, ensuring economic and social wellbeing, mental and physical health, and a sustainable future for humans are some other powerful incentives.

This reliance on natural resources for material and energy requirement is becoming a major environmental and economic problem says EcoWatch, depleting resources needed to “power economies and lift people out of poverty.” Since many of the resources are non-renewable, at current rates of use, the world will run out of many necessary materials. Even renewable resources are at risk as some need long periods to be replenished point out by the experts.

Contact us for more information how we go green in our processes.  

 

Printed Circuit Board Fabrication

Is it Possible to Recycle Your Unused Printed Circuit Boards?

We will be discussing the issue of PCB recycling, if it’s even possible, how it is done and what can we do as electronics design engineers to create more recyclable PCBs. When we say PCB we are meaning a PCB without any components on it.  Most electronic devices found out there have their components sitting in a nice looking Printed Circuit Board or PCB.  Since electronic devices are in high demand, PCBs are everywhere. Making sure their materials can be collected and reused instead of just throwing them into a landfill would potentially be a smart and environmentally sensible move if performed properly.

Remember that large order of printed circuit boards you ordered? You thought it would be a good idea to have a surplus of parts on hand in case you needed to increase production of your product line. Unfortunately, that product got discontinued, so now you have a huge stash of PCBs taking up room in your warehouse and on your accounting books. It is time to trash them?

Not so fast! In many cases, printed circuit boards can be reworked and modified. Do you have another electronic or computerized product in the works? Then contact ACME PCB Assembly  we may be able to re-purpose your PCBs. Our workers are highly trained in de-soldering and re-soldering surface mounted electronic components. We have also invested in specialized equipment that can assist us in these efforts.

Can you recycle your old PCB?

Yes and no, before coming to a final decision let’s first see what a PCB is made of. A PCB is basically a layered sandwich of copper and FR-4. FR-4 is a fiberglass with an epoxy resin that has the purpose of bonding the fiber together and as an adhesive, it is also flame resistant. Apart from that, you can also find tin and small traces of gold and silver.

Don’t throw out unused printed circuit boards.

Give us a call today to learn how we could possibly turn them into components for your next big product!

PCB Assembly service in Los Angeles

Building Your Next Big Idea for 2024

Turn Your Big Idea Into a Prototype

Do you have the next great idea you are looking to execute for this next year?  Have you had an idea for the next great invention swirling around in your head forever, well New Year’s is approaching. Is 2024 the year you finally turn your dream into reality and build your invention? Creating a new invention is hard work, but you’d be surprised by how many companies and vendors exist to help you along the way.

pcb-prototypeA good example is, at ACME PCB Assembly, we can help you prototype the printed circuit boards your invention needs to function. We’ve worked with all sorts of entrepreneurs, inventors, and start-ups over the years. If you aren’t sure about the exact schematics of the PCBs that you need, that’s alright. We can help you every step of the way, from planning to designing, and actually building the circuit boards. Other vendors can assist you with the other parts of your product.

Before you know it, you’ll have a prototype in hand, which will allow you to begin confidently pitching investors and getting your product to market.  ACME PCB Assembly to be your assembly resource for prototype Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA). PCB assembly service. Our certified IPC trainer in house to make sure that ACME PCB Assembly will do the quality prototype board build. We can handle prototype board build by hand from 1 piece though 50 pieces. ACME PCB Assembly also can handle your prototype PCB assembly from 1 piece prototype to 10,000 pieces production run through our FUJI SMT pick and place line.

We provide a complete suite of PCB Assembly Services, including rework and modification, BGA, SMT, Turnkey, Thru-Hole, Lead Free, and Prototype assembly, plus an extensive line of add-on services, such as Injection Molding and Metal Work & Finishing.  ACME PCB Assembly has been providing Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) and Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assembly for 26 years.

Contact us today to get started prototyping the printed circuit boards you need.