Printed circuit boards are part of your life, whether you know it or not. Whether it’s your laptop, your phone, or your LED-dazzled beer cozy, when a PCB fails, life can become a frustrating, dysfunctional hellscape. But it doesn’t have to be like this. You can give your broken high frequency PCB new life if you know what to look for.

From physical damage to power failure, there are a few reasons a high frequency PCB can stop working. Learn how they happen and about your circuit board repair options.

FOUR COMMON CIRCUIT BOARD REPAIR ISSUES

Many things can go wrong in the life of such a small, sophisticated device.

Lucky for you, what does wrong in PCBs follows some common trends. The better you understand these trends, the more equipped you will be to make repairs when the inevitable break down occurs.

1. Physical Damage

That’s right, damage. Not fancy, we know. But with high functionality comes high maintenance, along with a certain degree of fragility.

Anyone going to repair circuit boards is going to check for physical damage first, so why not take a look? Physical damage includes common device “injuries” like:

•  Drops

•  Impacts

•  Heat Damage

•  Water Damage

•  Dust

•  Bugs (yes, bugs)

Physical damage is a dysfunction brought on by external forces. It does not include when something is inherently wrong with the device (we’ll get to shoddy design and cheap components in a minute!)

2. High Frequency PCB Component Failure

As components age, they tend to accumulate wear and tear and eventually die out.

One of the first components to suffer this fate is the capacitor. It’s one of the most commonly cited PCB repairs out there.

Other components can age as well, though they may not be as visibly apparent as capacitors.

3. Trace Damage

Damage to the traces usually comes from wear and tear, but can also happen as a result of leaked fluids, which can destroy these vital electrical paths.

Embedded within the circuit board, copper tracings can suffer erosion, causing sickness or death for your PCB.

4. Poor Design

Also, cheap parts. Yes, unfortunately, your PCB might be doomed from the beginning.

Poorly situated components, bad soldering jobs, insufficient high frequency PCB board thickness, can all lead to poor connectivity, and shoddy performance.