Author Archives: Erin

ACME PCB Assembly

Providing Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Since 1993

Providing Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Since 1993

The electronic manufacturing services (EMS) industry took off after the late 1970’s. Before this, most electronics manufacturing that was done in large quantity production runs was handled by in-house assembly only.

Now, the electronic manufacturing services (EMS) provider offers more flexibility and easier resources to deal with issues for smaller companies who doing limited runs.  An electronic manufacturing services (EMS) provider is able to specialize in large manufacturing, raw materials procurement, and resources.

ACME PCB AssemblySince the early 1990’s, the development of Surface Mount Technology (SMT) on PCB has allowed for the rapid assembly of electronics, many electronic components switched to Surface Mount Technology (SMT) from Through hole components.  SMT components are making more and more small footage, more and more fine pitch, the equipment for SMT components are requiring more and more accuracy. For small businesses, it is a good idea to outsource your EMS needs.

Outsourcing all your manufacturing needs to a Electronic manufacturing services (EMS) provider helps you to save money, it also helps you to control your overhead cost, which in turn reduces your companies overhead cost.  As a result, Electronic manufacturing services (EMS) provider gives you the opportunity to produce your products at a lower cost.

ACME PCB Assembly in Carson, California has been an Electronic manufacturing services (EMS) provider since 1993. OEMs are realizing the benefits of outsourcing versus in-house manufacturing. Outsourcing to Electronic manufacturing services (EMS) provider enables OEMs to concentrate on their core competencies by allowing Electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers to supply manufacturing expertise. The main benefits of outsourcing include a reduction in costs and investment, additional capacity, shorter time-to-market and state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities.

As your Contract manufacturer, ACME circuit board assembly will become a business partner who has a vested interest in your success. By outsourcing to ACME circuit board assembly, ACME PCB Assembly strive to understand your ever-changing needs in your specific competitive markets. Our objective is to provide not only quality products with a competitive price but become a partner for our customer, from product design to the distribution process.

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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.

Printed Circuit Board Fabrication

Conformal Coating Service

Why apply conformal coating?

Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) is the core of everyday life as most electrical devices can not function without one. From everyday life to military and medical situations, a PCB must be able to withstand the wear and tear of time and other elements. Conformal coating is designed to protect Printed Circuit Board (PCB), and related equipment from their environment. Typically applied at 0.001 inches to 0.003 inches on the PCB. It is a protective nonconductive dielectric layer that is applied to the assembled printed circuit boards to protect the electronic product from damage due to contamination, salt spray, moisture, fungus, dust, and corrosion caused by the harsh or extreme environment.

Solder Mask on Printed Circuit BoardsACME PCB Assembly happens to offer three different kinds of conformal coating for our valuable customers. The acrylic conformal coating is a low viscosity coating that is cured through drying and isn’t too resistant to chemicals but hardens quickly. The Urethane conformal coating is also a low viscosity coating, however, is cured through crosslinking with strong resistances to chemicals. Silicone conformal coating is a very viscous coating that is applied through swirl technology with high chemical resistances.

Below is a graph that shows the characteristics of the conformal coatings ACME PCB Assembly provides.

Acrylic conformal coating Urethane conformal coating Silicone conformal coating
Viscosity Low Low High
Typical applicator technology Film coating Film coating / Swirl Swirl
Curing Drying Crosslinking Crosslinking
Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Yes Yes No
Chemical resistance Low High High
Thermal span Low Low High
Glass Transition Temp Low Low N/A
Repairable Solvents Solvents & Mechanical.

 

May result in stratified coating after repair.

 

 Solvents & Mechanical.

 

May result in stratified coating after repair.

 

Call 310-715-1898 or email steve@acme-pcbassembly.com for a free quote.

Proud to Be a Lead-Free PCB Assembly Provider

Is lead-free (Pb-Free) also on your mind? It should be. Lead-free (Pb-Free) will impact almost everyone in the electronics industry – from suppliers of component, board and materials like paste and flux to manufacturers and users of electronics products and equipment. Also expect considerable investment both in human resources and capital equipment. Your relationship with your suppliers and customers will also be tested.

There’s a reason that in the United States we no longer allow lead in paint or in gasoline. Though lead is a naturally occurring element, it can be highly toxic to humans. It has been connected with behavior and learning problems, lower IQ, slowed growth, anemia, and even coma and death in severe cases. Children and pregnant women are the most at risk of lead poisoning.

Printed Circuit Board FabricationFor a long time, lead has been part of the soldering process, which is critical to making printed circuit boards. Here at ACME PCB Assembly, we have made the commitment to adopt lead-free solders. Replacing lead solders requires more than just replacing equipment. Lead-free solders have a higher melting point, which means we have had to revise our entire production and assembly process. This required re-training our workers.

Lead-free solder and assembly reliability is achieved if trained specialists carefully implement several process requirements. There are a number of variables that must be taken into consideration to achieve lead-free solder assembly joint reliability.

ACME PCB Assembly is flexible in meeting your requirements. We have offered Lead-Free (Pb-Free) soldering since 2005. Please review Design to Avoid Tin Wiskers for RoHS compliant (Lead-Free) assembly. Though the change was difficult, it was worth it to remove the risk of lead exposure from our facilities.  Now, when you work with us, you know that you are working with a lead-free PCB assembly provider.