The printed circuit boards are very vital part of a modern electronic equipment. PCB is an acronym for printed circuit board. A basic PCB circuit consists of a very large number of passive and active components. All the components are connected from side to side with traces on the board. It is absolutely possible to develop very large circuits on small printed circuit boards with the availability of very small sized electronic components.

Printed circuit board offer varied advantages which make them the perfect choice for the manufacturers of electronic components, instruments, and equipment everywhere. The advantages of the printed circuit board are discussed below.

Compact Size and Saving of Wire

A characteristic PCB includes a large number of electronic components. On a Printed circuit board, the interconnection between the components is made through copper tracks instead of using a number of current carrying wires. It makes the interconnections less bulky.

Most of these components are very small in size. It would be close to impossible to connect these components together with wires without the aid of printed circuit boards.

A typically printed circuit board offers a simple platform to arrange the electronic components in a compressed and efficient way. This compactness allows the creation of big and complicated electronic circuits in small form factors. This, in turn, takes less space in devices.

Ease of Repair and Diagnostic

If in case of any damage, it’s very easy to check and replace the particular failure components. The electronic components and their polarities on a properly designed, printed circuit boards are clearly labeled on the board.

This allows convenience during the installation process as well as repair process. Signal paths are often traced during diagnostics.

Saving of Time

The conventional method of circuit connections takes much time to connect the components. Whereas the printed circuit board takes less time in assembling a circuit as compared to conventional method.

Immune to Movement

The most important thing to notice is that all the components on a printed circuit board held fixed to the board. This is done by solder flux which does not allow them to move irrespective of the movement of the board itself.

Tight connections and Short Circuits Avoided

As the connections are made automatically through copper tracks, there is no chance of loose connections or short circuit.

Low Electronic Noise

A printed circuit board (that has been properly laid out) gives less electronics noise. If it is not laid out properly, then the noise could significantly degrade the performance of the circuit.

The electrical components on a printed circuit board are organized in a way that the path lengths of the electrical current between them are as less as possible.

This leads to low radiation and pickup of electromagnetic waves, thus ensuring lower crosstalk in between components and in between varied traces, which usually is a major concern in electronic circuits.

The electrical noise can be released in the form of heat, radiation, or flickering sound.

Low Cost

Mass production can be achieved at lower cost.

Reliability

All the above factors bring reliability in the performance of the circuit.

Disadvantages of Printed Circuit Boards

As the copper tracks are very thin they can able to carry less current hence a PCB can not be used for heavy currents because in that case the strips will be heated up and cause problems.

Soldering needs precautions on the risk of strips being over heated and destroyed are always there.

Types Of Printed Circuit Board

As we discussed above the printed circuit boards are electronic circuit boards for mounting electronic components on a non-conductive board, and for creating conductive connections between them.

The creation of circuit patterns is accomplished using both additive and subtractive methods. The conductive circuit is generally Copper, although Aluminium, Nickel, Chrome, and other metals are sometimes used.

Depends upon the spatial and density requirement, and the circuitry complexity determines the type of board to be produced. There are three basic variants of printed circuit boards as below mentioned:

Single sided PCB: conductors on only one surface of the dielectric base of the printed circuit board.

Double sided PCB: conductor on both sides of a dielectric material and the layers interconnected by plated through holes (PTH).

Multilayer PCB: conductors on three or more layers separated by dielectric material and the layers are interconnected by PTH or pads.

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