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Is Through-Hole Assembly Still Important to Use?

 

Before the 1960s, the through-hole assembly process for mounting components onto printed circuit boards was the only game in town. It was labor-intensive and required a lot of space, but it was the only option. That all changed with the rise of surface mount technology (SMT), which allows for components to be mounted directly onto a printed circuit board’s surface. Since SMT doesn’t require drilling holes through a PCB, its components are much smaller and can be mounted on each side of the board. The result is a denser, smaller PCB that can perform much better than a PCB using through-hole technology.

When SMT came on the scene, many engineers believed it would harken the death of through-hole PCBs. However, while SMT does reign supreme, through-hole is still with us today. In very specific circumstances, through-hole PCBs are a better choice than their SMT counterparts.

A Few Important Uses for Through-Hole PCBs

Through-hole PCBs may be bigger and clunkier than SMT PCBs, but they do offer up one important advantage. Through-hole components are attached far more securely than SMT, which gives them a much stronger connection between layers. SMT connections are strong enough for the vast majority of products that people use in their day-to-day lives, but for machines that must operate in extreme environments, through-hole is the more reliable and stable option.

For example, through-hole PCBs can be commonly found in machines in the military and aerospace industries. Oftentimes, these machines must survive extreme temperatures, forceful collisions, and rapid accelerations. Through-hole is the ideal reliable and resilient mounting option for these types of products.

Prototypes

The other area where you are most likely to find through-hole mounting is in product prototypes. Through-hole is often preferred in prototyping, because it is much easier to adjust and replace components as the prototype undergoes testing and design alterations. If you are dreaming up an exciting new product, you’ll want to reach out to a printed circuit board vendor that is adept at through-hole mounting. This will give you more flexibility as you put the prototype through its paces.

Find Your SMT and Through-Hole Vendor

No matter what your industry or product line, it is smart to look for a printed circuit board manufacturer with both SMT and through-hole experience. This will allow you more choice and more control over your final product. At ACME PCB Assembly, we offer extensive experience in both SMT assembly and through-hole assembly.

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SMT

Consider the Benefits of SMT Assembly

Surface-mount technology requires knowing the entire process that it entails. Surface-mount technology has specific demands for the design process since you need to use special PCB tools. As soon as the design is ready, the manufacturer will always do the testing with a single board first.

The prototype we create for you will have the task of confirming that the fabrication based on that design is possible and error-free. Once you confirm that, the entire process is virtually pretty much automated, and requires minimal involvement.

Thanks to the automation process, SMT assembly minimizes the errors that may happen due to having human involvement. It helps secure the improved reliability and consistency of the PCB boards. Some other advantages that SMT ensures are:

  • Reduced size and weight – by soldering components directly on the board, the SMT saves plenty of room. That is how you can maintain the reliability and performance of a PCB while reducing its size and weight.
  • More components in a smaller space – it is not only about reducing the size, but SMT also enables us to put more elements in a restricted area. That is how these boards can perform better than their predecessors while keeping their compact design.
  • Money savings – if you don’t use the same amount of materials as before, the cost should be decreased, too. Additionally, there is no need to go through hole-drilling operations to mount components. Thanks to that, you can also lower the labor costs.

As usual, We keep additional capacity, shorter time-to-market and State-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities. Fuji NXT Surface Mount Technology (SMT) pick and place machine give us the capability to working on Surface Mount Technology (SMT) component package smaller than 01 005 which is 1/4 size of 0201 component.

Acme Circuit Boards Assembly starting doing electronics contract manufacturing for SMT assembly (SMTA) since year 1994. Manufacturing in Carson which is in 10 miles south of Los Angeles airport, CA. ISO 9001:2015 certified is a guarantee for all right process at EMS.