Blog - Bittele Electronics
Bittele Blog is a collection of short articles with the goal of improving our reader’s knowledge of Printed Circuit Board design for manufacturing and the production process itself. This blog covers topics from PCB design tips, to checking your design to ensure manufacturability, and the PCB manufacturing steps themselves. For a comprehensive all in one design guide, download our free DFM document and DFA document.Bittele Electronics is a turn-key PCBA manufacturer headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with production facilities in China. We can produce from a few prototypes to mid volume production runs. Contact our sales team at sales@7pcb.com to quote your project.
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Online Ordering Service
- Acceptable File Formats
- After Placing an Order with Bittele
- Corrective Actions in Online Orders
- Counting Through Holes Using Gerbers and the BOM
- Frequently Asked Questions
- How Bittele counts the number of SMT pads in your project
- How to place a Parts and Assembly order online
- How to place a Parts order online
- How to place a PCB Fabrication and Assembly order online
- How to place a PCB Fabrication and Parts order online
- How to place a PCB Fabrication order online
- How to place a repeat order?
- How to place a Turnkey PCB Assembly order online
- Tips and Tricks for the Online Ordering System
- Tips and Tricks to use the BOM Pricing Tool
- What happens if the PCB specs you enter are incorrect?
- 6 Steps for Creating an Electronic Design Schematic
- 6 Things to Check Before Submitting Your PCB Design for Manufacturing
- Basic Factors in PCB Design
- Building a High-Speed PCB with Bittele: What to Consider
- Common Gerber File Issues, and How to Fix Them
- Design Limitations of Blind and Buried Vias
- Designing a Multilayer PCB Layout
- Essential PCB Design Rules
- Generating Gerber files from KiCad
- Generation of Gerber and Excellon files (Eagle CAD)
- Gerber Files in Printed Circuit Boards Manufacturing
- High Voltage PCB Design Tips
- How Does Bittele Review BOM and Gerber Files?
- How To Design Cost-Effective Printed Circuit Boards
- How to Export Gerber Files from AutoCAD
- How to Export Gerber Files from Eagle
- How to export Gerber files from Protel 99se
- How to Export Gerber files from Proteus
- How to Generate Gerber Files Using Altium Designer
- How To Set Zero Orientation for Your Custom Footprints
- Land Patterns vs. Footprints: What’s the Difference?
- Making Readable Silkscreen Layouts for your PCB Design
- Manufacturing Considerations for Via on Pad PCB Designs
- Minimum Drill Size and Drill Requirements
- Non-Conductive Via Filling (NCVF) and Its Advantages
- ODB++ vs Gerber
- Online PCB Gerber Viewers
- PCB Design and Layout Guidelines
- PCB Designs for High Power Boards
- PCB Footprints and Soldermasks
- PCB Footprints for SMT Power Electronics
- PCB layout for medical devices
- PCB Layout for SMT Power Electronics
- PCB Netlist Files and Their Use in PCB Fabrication
- PCB Outline Layer And Keep-out Polygon Clearance
- Raw Material Choices for PCBs
- RS274x Gerber Files
- Sequential Lamination: The Backbone of PCB Fabrication
- Splitting Interconnect Blind Vias Into Stack-up Vias
- Successful PCB Grounding with Mixed-Signal Components
- Tailoring Your CAD PCB Design Rules to Bittele’s Capabilities
- The Advantages of Design for Manufacturability
- The difference between RS274D and RS274X gerber formats
- Tips for Automatic PCB routing in PCB Design
- Tools Review: The 10 Best FREE PCB Design Solutions
- What are PCB Thickness Options?
- What is a Gerber File? How to Generate Gerber Files
- What is a HDI PCB?
- What is the Maximum Panel Size for PCB Printing?
- What should be Included in a PCB Fabrication Drawing?
- Bare Bone PCB
- Basics of Control Impedance
- Bittele's PCB Aspect Ratio Capabilities
- Bittele’s PCB Manufacturing options for Hobbyist
- Bittele’s Solder Mask Webbing Capabilities
- Bittele's Supporting Options for Multi-Board PCB Designs
- Black Solder Mask
- Blind and Buried Via Boards
- Blue Solder Mask
- Buried Capacitance
- CAD to CAM - Computer Controlled Assistance in PCB Manufacturing
- Castellated Holes
- Circuit Board Fabricator
- Circuit Board Repair and Rework
- Circuit Boards in the Age of IOT (Internet of Things)
- Common PCB Misconceptions
- Complex and Irregular PCB Shapes
- Conformal Coatings of Printed Circuit Boards
- Controlled Dielectric vs. Controlled Impedance
- Corrosives on a PCB – Protect your PCB
- Countersink Hole PCB
- Difference Between Via Tenting and Via in Pad
- Different Techniques for Plating
- Does Bittele Produce Burn-In Boards
- Does Number of Drills Affect Fabrication Cost?
- Electro-less Nickel, Immersion Gold (ENIG)
- ENIG vs HASL : Different surface finish techniques
- Fast Turnaround Printed Circuit Boards
- FR-4 Prepreg/Bonding Stage Material Description and Dimension
- Full Body and Selective PCB Hard Gold Plating
- Gold Fingers: A Guide to Understanding Gold-Plated PCB Connectors
- Gold in PCBs
- Guide to Cleaning Printed Circuit Boards
- Halogen-free / Lead-free Printed Circuit Boards
- Hazardous Chemicals in PCB boards and The Importance of safely disposing of them
- Heavy Copper PCB
- High Frequency PCB Materials
- High Quality PCB Fabrication
- Hot Air Solder Leveling (HASL)
- How Conformal Coating Protects PCBs
- How Copper Planes and Fills Affect PCB Fabrication and PCB Assembly
- How Etch Factor affects Trace width and spacing
- How Important Are Solder Masks and Silkscreens
- How to Control Impedance
- How to control vendor markings on your PCB
- How to Panelize Your PCBs for Assembly
- Immersion Silver
- Immersion Tin
- Impact of copper thickness
- Inexpensive 4 Layer PCB Prototyping
- Large Printed Circuit Boards – What is the Largest PCB Size that Bittele Can Fabricate?
- LED Printed Circuit Boards
- LED Via in Pad
- Liquid Photo-Imageable (LPI) Solder Mask
- Max and Min Dimensions for PCB Fabrication Services
- Maximum and Minimum PCB Sizes at Bittele Electronics
- Micro-VIA & Vertical Interconnect Access (VIA) on HDI PCBs
- Minimum Thickness PCB
- Multi-Layer PCB: Stack-Ups and Basics
- Organic Surface Preservative (OSP)
- Oxidized Silver on PCBs - How to Avoid it, and How to Fix it
- Panelizing PCBs with Tab Routing
- Panelizing Small Sized PCBs
- Panels: Making PCB Manufacturing More Efficient
- PCB Panelization and Depanelization
- PCB Panelization at Bittele Electronics
- PCB Multi-Layer Stack-Up
- PCB prototyping for medical devices
- PCB Solder Mask, Mask Options, Colours & Impact of Mask Colour
- PCB Transmission Line Considerations
- PCBs for Harsh Environments
- Plated Half Holes PCB
- Preliminary PCB Pricing If Your PCB Designs Are Unfinished
- PTFE Teflon PCBs
- Rectangular PCBs
- Rigid-Flex Printed Circuit Boards
- Rigid FR-4 PCBs
- Rogers’s Material Selection
- Round PCBs
- Scalable PCB Manufacturing
- Slots and Cutouts in PCB Fabrication and PCB Assembly
- Small Circuit Boards - What Is the Smallest PCB Size That Bittele Can Fabricate
- Soft Gold Surface Finish
- Solder Mask Specifications – Tombstoning and Solder Balls
- Suggested 14 and 16 Layer Board Layouts
- Tab Routing
- The Basics of Breadboards: Definition, Components, and Application
- The Difference Between Counterbore and Countersink Holes
- The Future of PCB: Biodegradable Boards
- The Role of Copper Weight in PCB Fabrication
- The Sizes and Usable Areas of PCB Panels
- Via Tent-Holes with Solder Mask
- Via in Pad Guidelines
- Via in Pad PCB
- Via in Pads and BGA
- V-Score Panelization
- What Are the Standard Electrical Properties for Bittele's PCB Materials
- What is a Peelable Solder Mask?
- 9 Common Issues During Component Selection
- Bill of Materials Example for PCB Assembly
- Bittele's Quality Control Procedures for PCB Components
- Component placement guidelines for efficient PCB assembly
- Creating a Bill of Materials
- Dealing With Part Availability Issues - How Bittele Can Help
- Do Not Include (DNI) vs. Consigned Parts
- FPGAs and Microcontrollers - Comparison and Contrast
- How Component Packages Can Affect the PCB Production Process
- How Do I Need To Supply My Components?
- IC Packaging
- Loose and Bulk Electronic Components
- Passive Parts – Footprint Sizing Chart
- Parts for Approval: Bittele’s BOM policies
- PCB Connectors and Terminals
- PLCC Component Packages
- Proper Component Alignment for PCB Assembly
- QFP and QFN Packages: Taking Care of Your Complex ICs
- Search for Free Component Specifications
- Smart Designers Make Smart BOMs
- SMD IC Chips
- Sourcing Parts During a Global Shortage
- Tape and Reel Component Packaging
- The Benefits of Embedded Discrete Components
- The Future of Embedded Passive Components
- The Problem With Partial Part Numbers
- Tube and Tray Component Packaging
- What Exactly Needs to be Included on Your Bill of Materials?
- Best Practices for Plated Slots
- Bittele's Essential Design for Testing (DFT) Tips for PCB Assembly
- Bittele’s PCB Design Tips for Ease of Manufacturing and Assembly
- Consistency in Reference Designators
- Does Your PCB Design Have To Include Reference Designators
- Eliminating Ambiguity in Your PCB Designs
- Exposed Vias in BGA Pads
- How Bittele utilizes your Centroid file for PCB assembly
- How to create a Centroid File from Eagle?
- How to Indicate Placement Orientation of Diodes and LEDs on Your PCBs
- Indicating Diode Polarity
- Marking Diode Poles on Silkscreen Layer
- PCB Layout and Assembly
- Planning the PCB Assembly for Your New Product Introduction (NPI) Project
- Printed Circuit Board Solder resist
- Selective Solder vs Wave Solder
- The Design Principles of Stencil Apertures
- The Importance of DFM
- Typical RoHS Issues in PCB Assembly
- What are the Steps in the PCB Assembly Process?
- What Design Files Are Necessary for PCB Manufacturing and Assembly?
- What is Wave Soldering?
- What is a Ball Grid Array?
- What is Centroid Data?
- Working with QFNs and QFPs
- A Brief Analysis of the Most Common Surface Mount Devices (SMDs)
- An Analysis of SMT Solder Paste Printing Defects
- Assembly by hand vs. machine
- Ball Grid Array (BGA) assembly
- BGA and QFN Reworking – Handling Accurate SMT Placement
- Bittele’s Capabilities for Soldering Irregular Parts
- Bittele's Selective Soldering capabilities
- Bittele's Use of Flux in PCB Assembly No-Clean Flux vs. Water Soluble Flux
- Common PCB Assembly Faults and How to Prevent Them?
- Common QFN Issues and How to Avoid Them
- How Bittele Can Help You Maintain Assembly Consistency
- How Does Bittele Handle Engineering Change Orders?
- How to attach a thermocouple to a target PCB?
- How to Choose A Partner for Your PCB Fabrication or PCB Assembly Project?
- How to Create a Reflow Profile for a PCB?
- How to get real-time thermal data for a PCB?
- How to Prevent Non-Wetting Defect during the SMT Reflow Process
- How to Prevent Solder Joint Voiding and Cold Solder Defects
- How to Prevent the Tombstone and Open Defects during the Reflow Process
- How to Prevent Short Circuits to Ground in QFN Components?
- How to Prevent Solder Ball and Bridging Defects
- How to Prevent Solder Bridging in 3528 PLCC6 RGB LEDs?
- How the modern solder reflow oven works?
- How to optimize the reflow profile?
- How to Maintain a Reflow Oven?
- How to Solder a Surface Mount Device to a PCB Pad
- How to use our Online Tracking Tool
- IPC-7530A: A New Soldering Standard for Your PCB Project
- Lead-free Reflow Profile: Soaking type vs. Slumping type
- Part-to-Part, Part-to-Hole, and Part-to-Board Edge Spacing
- Pin-in-Paste Reflow Calculations and Special Cases
- POP (Part-on-Part) Assembly
- Reflow oven zone temperature set up and thermal profile
- Reflow Soldering
- Solder Tinned Pads vs Gold Plated Pads
- Stencil aperture considerations for QFN chips
- Stencil Technology for SMT production
- Stencil thickness calculations
- The Application of the Pin-in-Paste Reflow Process
- The common assembly issues in PCB prototype
- The comparison between Prototype PCB Assembly and mass production
- The differences between partial and full turnkey PCB assembly
- The PCB Production Process: What happens after your order is placed?
- Thermal Mass in PCBs and How Bittele Creates it’s Thermal Profiles
- Through-Hole Device (THD) Assembly
- What does SMT stand for?
- When do you set different temperatures for the heating elements?
- Which Soldering Defects are Related to the Incorrect Setup?
- Why does Bittele Use a 10 Zone Force air convection reflow oven?
- Design Decisions That Reduce Manufacturing Costs
- How Bittele helps improve your Time to Market
- How Bittele’s Parts Procurement Policies Can Reduce Your Project’s Cost and Turn Time
- How to Get a Quote for Turnkey Circuit Assembly?
- How to Decrease PCB Fabrication and Assembly Costs While Maintaining High Quality
- How much does Automated SMT Assembly Cost?
- I Sent My PCB Assembly RFQ - What Comes Next?
- Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) and Tooling Costs
- PCB Assembly Cost
- PCB Panelization - Helping You Save on Tooling and Shipping Costs
- Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Price Estimator
- The cost of Prototype PCB Assembly
- The cost of turnkey PCB assembly
- The Value of Outsourcing PCB Assembly Manufacturing
- Toronto-Based PCB Sales & Parts Procurement - The Advantages
- What are the Factors Affecting the Cost of PCB Production?
- What are the Factors Affecting the Cost of PCB Assembly?
- Why is my PCB Assembly Quote so Expensive?
- 10 Important Advantages of Prototype PCB Assembly
- A Beginner’s Guide to Prototype PCB Assembly
- BGA Prototyping Boards
- Bittele's Capabilities for DSBGA and other Complex Components
- Bittele’s Order Quantities
- DFM Validation for PCB Assembly
- Double-Sided Circuit Board Assembly
- Fiducial Mark for PCB Assembly Alignment
- Fine-Pitch Electronic Assembly
- High Quality PCB Assembly
- How to Avoid PCB Assembly Delays
- How to choose the right turnkey PCB assembly service provider
- How to choose your prototype assembly service provider
- Kitted PCB Assembly and Fabrication
- Making Use of Bittele’s Turnkey Services
- Printed Circuit Board (PCB) First Article Assembly
- The role of turnkey PCB assembly in the medical industry
- Top 5 Advantages of One-Stop PCB Services
- Top 10 Reasons to Choose Bittele Electronics for Your PCB Project
- Turnkey PCB Assembly – The Solution for Your Prototype PCB Project
- Where to Have Your PCB Designs Built and Manufactured?
- Wire Harness Assembly
- Ball Grid Array Inspection
- Bed of Nails PCB Testing
- Bittele's Certifications, and What They Mean for Your PCB Project
- Bittele’s Dage X-Ray Inspection
- Bittele's PCB handling and Storage
- Bittele’s RMA Process
- Fixtureless PCB Testing - The Flying Probe Method’s Unique Advantages
- How Bittele Manages ESD During PCB Production
- How does PCB X-Ray Inspection Work?
- Manufacturing Defect Analysis (MDA) Testing
- PCB testing for medical devices
- The quality control measures in Prototype PCB Assembly
- The testing methods for Prototype PCB Assembly
- Bittele Electronics Offers PCB Assembly Services in San Francisco
- Bittele Opens San Jose Office to Provide PCB Assembly Services
- Bittele Adds 3D X-Ray Inspection Machine to SMT Asssembly Line
- The latest trends in Prototype PCB Assembly
- BGA (Ball Grid Array) reballing services in Canada
- BGA Rework Services in Canada
- Bittele’s PCB Assembly in Canada vs. China
- Circuit Board Assembly in Ottawa
- Circuit Card Assembly Services in Calgary
- Complete Printed Circuit Board Assembly in China
- Discounted Turnkey PCBA for Canadian Clients
- How to Request a PCB Assembly Quote in China?
- Inexpensive SMT Assembly in China
- In house PCB manufacturing VS Contract manufacturing
- Lead-Free Manufacturing Processes At No Extra Cost
- Low Cost Electronic Components Procurement in China
- Low Volume SMT Assembly Services in China
- Multi-layer Printed Circuit Board Fabrication Services
- North American Manufacturing vs. Chinese Manufacturing
- PCB Assembly Services in Edmonton
- PCB Assembly Solutions in Montreal
- PCB Stuffing House in China
- Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Assembly Components in China
- Printed circuit board (PCB) design houses in Canada
- Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Design Services in Toronto
- Printed circuit board (PCB) layout cost in China
- Printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturers in Canada
- Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Soldering Services in China
- Prototype Printed Circuit Card Fabrication and Assembly in China
- Prototype Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Assembly Prices in China
- Prototype Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Assembly Services in Canada
- Prototype turnkey PCB assembly Services in China
- Small run Printed circuit board (PCB) assembly services in China
- Small Volume BGA (Ball Grid Array) Assembly Prices in China
- Small volume printed circuit board manufacturing services in China
- Surface Mount (SMT) Assembly Cost in China
- Turnkey Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Assembly Cost in China
