Why should PCB be baked?
Many times, when carrying out PCB assembly, the PCB board is subjected to baking. So, what exactly is the purpose of doing this? Let's delve into it.
Moisture Removal: The PCB manufacturing process might involve cleaning, chemical treatments, or other wet operations, which can lead to moisture retention on the surface or within the PCB. Moisture can cause issues like corrosion and oxidation during manufacturing. Baking effectively eliminates moisture, ensuring the quality and reliability of the circuit board.
Volatile Substance Removal: Various chemical substances and solvents can be used during PCB manufacturing. Residues of these chemicals might remain on the circuit board. Baking helps in removing these volatile substances, ensuring that the PCB is not affected by harmful materials.
Enhancing Coating Adhesion: Different coatings, such as solder masks and printed markings, might be applied to PCBs. Baking aids in better adhesion of these coatings to the board's surface, thereby improving their stability and durability.
Facilitating Chemical Reactions: Specific manufacturing steps might require chemical reactions to achieve the desired structures or characteristics. Baking accelerates these chemical reactions, reducing manufacturing time and ensuring product consistency.
Solvent Residue Removal: Some materials used in the PCB manufacturing process might contain residual solvents. Baking helps in eliminating these solvents from the circuit board, preventing them from affecting the circuit's performance and stability.
Improving Soldering Performance: In Surface Mount Technology (SMT) processes, solder paste is crucial for attaching components to the PCB. Baking can remove volatile substances from the solder paste, thereby enhancing the quality and reliability of soldering.
In summary, the practice of baking PCBs before assembly serves various purposes in modern PCB manufacturing and assembly. It eliminates moisture and volatile substances, enhances coating adhesion, aids chemical reactions, removes solvent residues, and improves soldering quality. This ensures the overall quality, reliability, and performance of the final electronic products.