PCBA Visual Inspection
IPC-A-610 is the industry’s most widely used visual inspection standard for assembled circuit boards. Elmet has IPC certified inspection trainers (CIT) and certified inspection specialists (CIS) on staff who regularly perform visual inspections to IPC-A-610, as well as to other inspection criteria supplied by customers.
PCBA Visual Inspection / IPC-610 Inspection / GMW3172
IPC-A-610 is the industry’s most widely used visual inspection standard for assembled circuit boards. It supplies quality standards for many features of circuit board fabrication such as solder fillet size, component placement, and board cleanliness. Although written as a standard for as-manufactured boards, IPC-A-610 is often cited as an inspection standard for circuit boards that have gone through environmental or service testing.
Elmet has IPC certified inspection trainers (CIT) and certified inspection specialists (CIS) on staff who regularly perform visual inspections to IPC-A-610, as well as to other inspection criteria supplied by customers.
Description of PCBA Visual inspections
IPC-A-610 provides specifications for lighting and the magnifications used. Most inspections are conducted at IPC-A-610 mandated magnifications of less than 20X, with 40X listed as the “referee” magnification. Higher magnification inspections are hindered by the limited depth of field of optical imaging. Elmet solves this problem by Z-stacking the focus plane of multiple photographs to achieve a fully in-focus photograph at high magnification.
Sample circuit board with a single plane of focus
The same sample, but Z-Stacked
Deliverables
Elmet thoroughly documents the inspections with representative photographs of the circuit board and all features of interest such as cracked solder joints, damaged components, corrosion or dendrites, fretting, and staining, if observed. All photographs and a summary of the findings are presented in a written report. The inspection report is intended to provide a snapshot of the board condition, good or bad, at the time of inspection. CLICK HERE for an example report.
What to do next
In order to provide a quote, we will need a description of your requirements. This could be broad, such as "inspect for cracks," or it can be specific, such as "inspect the board per IPC-A-610" or any other requirement. It is also helpful to see a photograph or layout of the circuit board and we need to know how many circuit boards you want inspected. You can phone us if you have questions, or email us the layout and we will contact you. Or, visit our Price Estimation form if you want a fast, informal idea as to scope of your project!