While the production process for LED PCB boards was briefly described in the previous article, this article will share each step in more detail.
As we've mentioned before, LED PCB boards are commonly used in various applications, for LED lighting, like street and tunnel lighting, medical room and device lighting, consumer electronics, agricultural grow lights, signal lighting and so on.
Unlike other PCBs, LED PCBs require special attention to thermal management and the integrated design of components.
In some cases, we need to customize the LED PCB board to achieve better thermal management, excellent efficiency, and extended life of the adapted LED.
Below is a step-by-step guide to our LED PCB manufacturing process, which has been refined over the years to serve our customers around the world.
Core Problem: How to make/custom/fabricate LED PCB? Or in other words, how to make an LED light circuit?
Here’s an introduction video to help you learn first.
# Step 1 Quotation & Designing
Every LED PCB project starts with a clear understanding of client’s needs and product details.
We usually need to know the customer's requirements first, such as order quantity (we don't have MOQ!) , materials used in led pcb, power, size, shape, layer count, waterproofing, etc. .
We can provide you with reasonable prices and quality assurance solutions according to your needs, and match appropriate leds and led driver for you.
About customization, you can customize the LED PCB’s material, shape, size, plate thickness, logo and so on.
Most importantly, we can design for you for free!
And it doesn't matter if you don't know much about LED PCBs; you can always consult our engineers 24/7.
After the customer agreed to our quote, our cooperation officially began.
After consultation with customers, we’ll design and determine the specific details of production based on customer’s need.
# Step 2 Cutting
Select the base material according to the design and cut it to the appropriate size in PCB warehouse with CNC machine.
# Step 3 Grinding boards
For purpose of cleaning the copper surface and ensuring the adhesion of the circuit material, we use physical and chemical methods to remove the copper surface oxide layer, oil and so on .
# Step 4 Dry Film Lamination
Dry Film Lamination is a process of “outlining” a circuit, which can be cured by UV exposure to protect the copper foil that needs to be retained.
The process is designed to achieve air-bubble-free, uniform, and tight adhesion between the dry film and the copper layer.
# Step 5 Exposure
This process uses UV laser exposure machine transferring LED circuit from the film to the photosensitive dry film.
# Step 6 Developing & Etching
This is the core molding step of“Making the circuit”, that is, “Carving” the actual circuit by chemical means.
Developing is the process of cleaning the substrate with a chemical solution that dissolves the unexposed dry film (the copper below it is“Redundant”) and retains the exposed cured dry film (the copper below is needed) .
Etching is the process of using a chemical solution to etch the copper foil after it is developed and exposed, leaving only the copper circuit protected by the dry film.
# Step 7 Stripping
Back film uses chemical solutions to remove the residual photosensitive dry film, so that the formation of etching copper lines is completely exposed.
The“Wiring” of the LED PCB is now in place:
After stripping, we need to check the integrity of the circuit,especially ensuring there’s no circuit breakpoints and missing corners on pads.
Finally, we also need to clean the surface of the circuit and remove the stripping residue.
# Step 8 Circuit Inspection
This step uses equipment to check whether there is a short circuit or open circuit situation, ensuring the integrity of the line.
There is no doubt that the failure of the LED PCB board circuit will affect the LED lighting and its life.
# Step 9 Drilling
According to designs, we use CNC machines to drill mounting holes for fixing PCBs to fixtures and conductive holes for connecting layers or transferring heat.
This step requires a high degree of accuracy.
# Step 10 Solder Mask Preparation
Abrading the PCB surface to remove contaminants, making it roughened, and applying white solder mask to form a protective layer against oxidation and improve light efficiency.
If it is mass production, we commonly use the “Screen printing” approach.
# Step 11 White Solder Mask Exposure
Using UV light to cure the white solder mask and expose the pad.
This step is to use “Photochemical reaction”, transferring the pattern of the LED pad to the white oil layer, so that the chip electrodes, driving components (such as resistors, capacitors) can be accurately soldered to the copper foil pad later.
# Step 12 White Solder Mask Development
The aim of this step is to remove the uncured white oil with a chemical rinse, exposing the LED pad for subsequent soldering eventually.
# Step 13 Hot Air Solder Leveling (HASL)
If the LED PCB pad is directly exposed, it is easy to be oxidized by air or corroded by moisture, resulting in the failure of solder adhesion.
And the tin spray layer can form a dense protective layer, which is isolated from the external environment and prolongs the storage cycle of the PCB.
Tin spray is to use the“High-temperature tin immersion + hot air leveling” process to form a uniform and bright tin alloy layer or lead-free tin layer in the LED PCB exposed copper foil pad surface.
It not only improves the solder ability of the pad, but also assists the pad in dissipating the heat generated by the LED during operation.
# Step 14 Silkscreen Printing
Using the“Screen printing” process, the heat-and wear-resistant characters or symbols (usually black ink) could be printed on the solder mask (usually white/green oil) of the LED PCB.
We usually print the component identification, model number, logo, etc.
# Step 15 CNC Routing
According to the installation size requirements of LED products, the whole PCB substrate (multi-board) is cut into the final shape of a single finished PCB by using the“Computer numerical control (CNC) milling machine”.
Achieve smooth edge cutting and improve production efficiency.
# Step 16 PCB Inspection
Through the“Manual + automatic equipment”, test the appearance, electrical properties, dimensional accuracy of LED PCB comprehensively.
And the defective parts are screened out to avoid the flow of defective products into the subsequent placement process.
Common detection methods include AOI and manual sampling.
# Step 17 SMT Assembly
Using“Surface-mount technology”, connecting surface mount components (such as LED chips, SMT resistors, and drive IC) to the pad of the LED PCB board precisely.
And through the“Reflow soldering”,it achieves permanent soldering of components and pads.
It is the core steps to make LED PCB from the“empty board” into the“functional board”.
# Step 18 Lighting Test
We will conduct a power-on test to verify that the LEDs are work properly and evenly to ensure the performance of the LED PCBs.
# Step 19 Packaging & Shipping
After the completion of all, we will standardize the packaging of products to ensure the quality of products in transit.
And arrange shipping according to customer requirements to ensure on-time delivery.
The following is a pictorial overview of the entire LED PCB production process.
Add: If it is customized LED PCB, generally in addition to the above steps, there will be more than one led light pcb board design, sampling, customer confirmation, and finally the process of mass production.
The purpose of sampling is to check the pcb led design and production problems, whether to meet customer needs to improve the efficiency of the production line, reduce led light pcb production costs and time.
With Sunshineopto’s custom LED PCB manufacturing capabilities in China, we can produce high-quality, cost-effective custom LED PCB Board tailored to your product requirements. Welcome to contact us!
Still have some questions? Look at our FAQs.
Related products:
①Aluminium LEd SMD LED PCB Board Module , 28W Street Light LED Light PCB
②Led Street Light Module , SMD LED PCB Board
③Customized 20-100W SMD LED PCB Board LED Circuit Board For Street Light
④100W 28pcs 7070 SMD LED PCB Board Module For Street Lights
While the production process for LED PCB boards was briefly described in the previous article, this article will share each step in more detail.
As we've mentioned before, LED PCB boards are commonly used in various applications, for LED lighting, like street and tunnel lighting, medical room and device lighting, consumer electronics, agricultural grow lights, signal lighting and so on.
Unlike other PCBs, LED PCBs require special attention to thermal management and the integrated design of components.
In some cases, we need to customize the LED PCB board to achieve better thermal management, excellent efficiency, and extended life of the adapted LED.
Below is a step-by-step guide to our LED PCB manufacturing process, which has been refined over the years to serve our customers around the world.
Core Problem: How to make/custom/fabricate LED PCB? Or in other words, how to make an LED light circuit?
Here’s an introduction video to help you learn first.
# Step 1 Quotation & Designing
Every LED PCB project starts with a clear understanding of client’s needs and product details.
We usually need to know the customer's requirements first, such as order quantity (we don't have MOQ!) , materials used in led pcb, power, size, shape, layer count, waterproofing, etc. .
We can provide you with reasonable prices and quality assurance solutions according to your needs, and match appropriate leds and led driver for you.
About customization, you can customize the LED PCB’s material, shape, size, plate thickness, logo and so on.
Most importantly, we can design for you for free!
And it doesn't matter if you don't know much about LED PCBs; you can always consult our engineers 24/7.
After the customer agreed to our quote, our cooperation officially began.
After consultation with customers, we’ll design and determine the specific details of production based on customer’s need.
# Step 2 Cutting
Select the base material according to the design and cut it to the appropriate size in PCB warehouse with CNC machine.
# Step 3 Grinding boards
For purpose of cleaning the copper surface and ensuring the adhesion of the circuit material, we use physical and chemical methods to remove the copper surface oxide layer, oil and so on .
# Step 4 Dry Film Lamination
Dry Film Lamination is a process of “outlining” a circuit, which can be cured by UV exposure to protect the copper foil that needs to be retained.
The process is designed to achieve air-bubble-free, uniform, and tight adhesion between the dry film and the copper layer.
# Step 5 Exposure
This process uses UV laser exposure machine transferring LED circuit from the film to the photosensitive dry film.
# Step 6 Developing & Etching
This is the core molding step of“Making the circuit”, that is, “Carving” the actual circuit by chemical means.
Developing is the process of cleaning the substrate with a chemical solution that dissolves the unexposed dry film (the copper below it is“Redundant”) and retains the exposed cured dry film (the copper below is needed) .
Etching is the process of using a chemical solution to etch the copper foil after it is developed and exposed, leaving only the copper circuit protected by the dry film.
# Step 7 Stripping
Back film uses chemical solutions to remove the residual photosensitive dry film, so that the formation of etching copper lines is completely exposed.
The“Wiring” of the LED PCB is now in place:
After stripping, we need to check the integrity of the circuit,especially ensuring there’s no circuit breakpoints and missing corners on pads.
Finally, we also need to clean the surface of the circuit and remove the stripping residue.
# Step 8 Circuit Inspection
This step uses equipment to check whether there is a short circuit or open circuit situation, ensuring the integrity of the line.
There is no doubt that the failure of the LED PCB board circuit will affect the LED lighting and its life.
# Step 9 Drilling
According to designs, we use CNC machines to drill mounting holes for fixing PCBs to fixtures and conductive holes for connecting layers or transferring heat.
This step requires a high degree of accuracy.
# Step 10 Solder Mask Preparation
Abrading the PCB surface to remove contaminants, making it roughened, and applying white solder mask to form a protective layer against oxidation and improve light efficiency.
If it is mass production, we commonly use the “Screen printing” approach.
# Step 11 White Solder Mask Exposure
Using UV light to cure the white solder mask and expose the pad.
This step is to use “Photochemical reaction”, transferring the pattern of the LED pad to the white oil layer, so that the chip electrodes, driving components (such as resistors, capacitors) can be accurately soldered to the copper foil pad later.
# Step 12 White Solder Mask Development
The aim of this step is to remove the uncured white oil with a chemical rinse, exposing the LED pad for subsequent soldering eventually.
# Step 13 Hot Air Solder Leveling (HASL)
If the LED PCB pad is directly exposed, it is easy to be oxidized by air or corroded by moisture, resulting in the failure of solder adhesion.
And the tin spray layer can form a dense protective layer, which is isolated from the external environment and prolongs the storage cycle of the PCB.
Tin spray is to use the“High-temperature tin immersion + hot air leveling” process to form a uniform and bright tin alloy layer or lead-free tin layer in the LED PCB exposed copper foil pad surface.
It not only improves the solder ability of the pad, but also assists the pad in dissipating the heat generated by the LED during operation.
# Step 14 Silkscreen Printing
Using the“Screen printing” process, the heat-and wear-resistant characters or symbols (usually black ink) could be printed on the solder mask (usually white/green oil) of the LED PCB.
We usually print the component identification, model number, logo, etc.
# Step 15 CNC Routing
According to the installation size requirements of LED products, the whole PCB substrate (multi-board) is cut into the final shape of a single finished PCB by using the“Computer numerical control (CNC) milling machine”.
Achieve smooth edge cutting and improve production efficiency.
# Step 16 PCB Inspection
Through the“Manual + automatic equipment”, test the appearance, electrical properties, dimensional accuracy of LED PCB comprehensively.
And the defective parts are screened out to avoid the flow of defective products into the subsequent placement process.
Common detection methods include AOI and manual sampling.
# Step 17 SMT Assembly
Using“Surface-mount technology”, connecting surface mount components (such as LED chips, SMT resistors, and drive IC) to the pad of the LED PCB board precisely.
And through the“Reflow soldering”,it achieves permanent soldering of components and pads.
It is the core steps to make LED PCB from the“empty board” into the“functional board”.
# Step 18 Lighting Test
We will conduct a power-on test to verify that the LEDs are work properly and evenly to ensure the performance of the LED PCBs.
# Step 19 Packaging & Shipping
After the completion of all, we will standardize the packaging of products to ensure the quality of products in transit.
And arrange shipping according to customer requirements to ensure on-time delivery.
The following is a pictorial overview of the entire LED PCB production process.
Add: If it is customized LED PCB, generally in addition to the above steps, there will be more than one led light pcb board design, sampling, customer confirmation, and finally the process of mass production.
The purpose of sampling is to check the pcb led design and production problems, whether to meet customer needs to improve the efficiency of the production line, reduce led light pcb production costs and time.
With Sunshineopto’s custom LED PCB manufacturing capabilities in China, we can produce high-quality, cost-effective custom LED PCB Board tailored to your product requirements. Welcome to contact us!
Still have some questions? Look at our FAQs.
Related products:
①Aluminium LEd SMD LED PCB Board Module , 28W Street Light LED Light PCB
②Led Street Light Module , SMD LED PCB Board
③Customized 20-100W SMD LED PCB Board LED Circuit Board For Street Light
④100W 28pcs 7070 SMD LED PCB Board Module For Street Lights
