Heat and humidity are challenges to electrical products. Aging can be visible in those electronic devices that have spent weeks working in hot and wet environments. For the PCBA, the core of an electronic device, the resistance to heat and humidity is a key factor in determining its performance and service life. For PCB manufacturers and buyers who care about quality, thermal aging is a test that can't be omitted.
Part 1. What is Thermal Aging for PCBA?
Thermal aging is a stimulation test that lets the end products or PCB assemblies sit in a hot working environment to work for long hours. It is used to test the PCBA's ability to withstand increased heat when working for an extended period.
The above video shows a thermal aging test of the solid-state driver PCBAs PCBONLINE assembled.
Part 2. How is Thermal Aging Tested?
Thermal aging applied to PCBONLINE's PCB assemblies or end-products is at changing temperatures for 250 hours in a temperature chamber, following the ECIA - EIA-364-17 standard - "TP-17B Temperature Life with or without Electrical Load Test Procedure for Electrical Connectors and Sockets".
The PCB assemblies are subjected to changes in air temperature in the thermal aging chamber with temperature elevating gradually to 105℃. Through the combined effects of high-and-low temperature changes and electric power, the defects of the assembled circuit board are exposed, such as poor welding, component parameter mismatch, temperature drift, and the faults caused during the debugging process. So that we can eliminate these defects. Thermal aging also functions to stabilize the parameters of the non-defective circuit boards.
Part 3. Is Thermal Aging a Must Test?
Is it necessary to process the thermal aging after the printed circuit board is mounted?
Yes.
If the PCBA is distributed without thermal aging, it happens - the PCB assemblies are good upon arrival but emerge with many defects after a short period of use. Especially, for the advanced PCBs that require high precision and quality, thermal aging is a must and basic test.
PCBONLINE - Leading Advanced PCB Manufacturer and Assembler
PCBONLINE is a leading one-stop PCB manufacturer for medical, aerospace, defense, automotive, industrial, consumer electronics, etc. We focus on product quality and services for you. Our qualification test report includes thermal aging, four-terminal sensing, flying probe test, and so on. Here are some reasons for you to choose PCBONLINE as your PCB supplier and assembler:
- One-to-one engineering support,
- ISO, IPC, IATF, REACH, UL, and RoHS certified,
- DFM and DFX,
- All levels of production happen on the same lines without any quality reduction.
PCBONLINE offers free complete PCBA samples and functional tests to PCB assemblies for orders with an amount at or above $5,000. Sign up and get $100 coupons for online purchases now.
Conclusion
From the above, we can conclude that thermal aging is a stimulation test to test the PCBA or end-product resistance to heat and humidity. It is a must-test for the PCBA that requires high quality. If you want to have high-quality PCBA manufactured, choose PCBONLINE as your one-stop PCB manufacturer.
