Burn-in Testing: Why it is an important PCB testing method?

May 27, 2022

PCB Inspection,PCB Testing and Inspection

The Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) are power industrial equipment, consumer electronic and wearable devices. Having said that, any type of manufacturing defect can directly impact the working of the electronic device, where this PCB is used. Although PCB manufacturers use automated manufacturing techniques, still they aren’t enough. Nowadays, PCB manufacturers incorporate various types of testing and inspection at each stage of manufacturing to avoid failures. Burn-in testing is a type of PCB testing that analyzes the functions of a printed circuit board and identifies manufacturing errors that may result in the massive failure of these electronic devices. What happens in burn-in testing? Read this post to know the answers.

A Brief Overview of Burn-in Testing

The following pointers will help you understand the burn-in testing better.

In this type of testing, the PCB is tested under elevated temperatures, power cycling, and voltage conditions.
This helps understand the latent defects of the PCB by forcing it to fail under supervised conditions.
During the process, an assembled PCB may be exposed to high temperatures for 12 to 20 hours.
The boards may be tested by keeping them in the oven.
Special boards made from materials like FR4 are used as they can easily withstand extreme temperatures and high voltages.
If the temperature is higher than usual, the boards made of polyimide and high-graded polyimide are used to test the printed circuit boards.
The burn-in testing is performed on each component of the PCB to ensure high standards of manufacturing are met.

Types of Burn-in Testing

There are two different types of burn-in testing methods for effective PCB testing:

Static Burn-in Testing: In this type of testing, high voltages and temperatures are applied to the PCB, which is in a non-operational mode. This is a simpler procedure and low cost as no complex devices are involved in testing.
Dynamic Testing: In this type of testing, the PCBs are exposed to high voltages and temperatures in their operational mode. This burn-in testing method offers a clear and in-depth view of all components of the printed circuit boards. This testing method is quite expensive and is usually reserved for complex printed circuit boards.

Benefits of Burn-in Testing

Burn-in testing is a popular and beneficial PCB testing method and is usually employed to test boards to be used in mission-critical applications. The following benefits offered by this testing method make it more desirable.

It helps eliminates the risk of product failure due to errors in printed circuit boards.
This testing helps identify defects like metallization failures, dielectric failures, conductor failures and electro migration in the printed circuit boards.
The PCBs that survive this type of rigorous testing are the best quality ones, which are free of defects, and are perfect to be incorporated into the electronic devices.

Are you looking to source latent defect-free boards? If yes, you must partner with a trusted assembly service like Accelerated Assemblies. The company employs various testing procedures, including burn-in testing to identify latent defects. The experts at the company combine various testing methods to identify defects at all stages of assembly. You can get in touch with the experts at the company to discuss your designs and the type of testing required.