Advantages of Printed Circuit Boards?
Devising the advantages of Printed Circuit Boards
Printed circuit boards (PCB) forms the base of almost every modern day electronic component that we get to use. Printed circuit board comprised of an array of active and passive components, each one of them with its unique function. All components of a PCB are interconnected from sideways with traces on the board. The availability of smaller electronic components has made it possible to manufacture a significantly large circuit using a small printed circuit board.
The advantages and use of printed circuit boards are endless, these tiny little circuit boards are versatile enough to be used in any setting, which makes them a high preference choice of manufacturers of electronic equipment, and components.
Below we will be looking at some advantages of PCBs, while at the end we will also have a brief look at some limitations of PCBs. So, without wasting any time let’s just jump start to the benefits of PCBs.
- Compact Size
The fundamental character of a printed circuit board is its ability to hold a large number of electronic components. A thin layer of copper layering is used to interconnect different electronic components on the board. This essentially gets rid of any messy current carrying wiring, while enabling the manufacturer of electronic equipment to place a large number of electronic components within a small space.
Moreover, the electronic components used in these boards are ridiculously small, which makes it impossible to interconnect these components using wires. Thereby, the only feasible method to hold these small components with inter-connectivity is through PCBs.
A traditionally printed circuit board offers a convenient platform to place all electronic components in an efficient way. The ability to compress the space between the components enable manufacturers to develop high complicated circuits using minimum space, thus offering more agility, and versatility to the electrical equipment.
- Easy Maintenance:
Other than the versatility, printed circuit boards also offer easy maintenance, and diagnostic. With no messy wiring in the first place, it is simple, and convenient to diagnose and replace any specific component on printed circuit boards. Each and every electrical component on PCBs are properly labeled on the board. This makes it simple, and easy to assemble components during installation or replacement process. Generally, signal paths are traced for diagnosis purpose.
- Time Effective:
Clear and concise labeling of the printed circuit board makes it a time-efficient process to assemble or replace specific components of the circuit. Contrarily, the conventional circuit connections can be a messy and time-extensive process, to say the least.
- Fixed Components:
Since all the components on printed circuit boards are fixed to the board, it makes them immune to movement and falling apart. To hold fixed all the different components on a PCB, a solder flux is used those keep components attached to their respective places on the board, even when the board is moving.
– Accidental Proof
The automation of connections through copper traces offer better hold of components, making PCBs short circuit and accident proof.
– Low Noise
The electrical noise from printed circuit boards is released in form of flickering sound, heat or radiation.
A good layout printed circuit board comes with significantly low electronic noise, which adds to its efficiency. However, malfunctioned connections on the board could give rise to higher electronic noise which can result in performance degradation.
The key here is to arrange different electrical components on the board in a grid that makes inter-component pathway as short as possible. Keeping the inter-component connections short means lower pickup of EM waves and lower radiations. All of this leads to lower cross-talk between varied traces, and components, which is traditionally one of the biggest concerns for manufacturers of electronic circuits.
– Cost Effective
Compared to traditional circuit boards, printed circuit boards can be manufactured at significantly low costs. Also, these boards can be mass produced giving more efficiency to board’s manufacturers as well as manufacturers of electronic equipment.
– Reliability
Overall, printed circuit boards have excellent reliability for all electrical equipment. These boards are efficient, durable, and versatile to manufacture and use across various categories.
Disadvantage:
The only disadvantage of printed circuit boards is its limitation to carry heavy currents. The inter-component copper traces are thin, heavy currents may lead to over-heating and malfunctioning of the circuit.
