Initial Inspection and Testing before Printed Circuit Board Reverse Engineering

Initial Inspection and Testing before Printed Circuit Board Reverse Engineering

One of the most important point for Printed Circuit Board Reverse Engineering is Post-shipment inspection, since the Printed circuit board layout drawing is made according to the physical samples, so the integrity of its copper pattern on its TOP & BOTTOM layers become very important to ensure the quality of layout drawing made from subsequent process, if it is a multilayer one.

To preclude the replication of defects on either the PCB board or the components, the physical PCB samples provided for reverse engineering should be inspected for possible damage in shipment.

Since more than 90% of our customers choose to ship their physical PCB samples from oversea by DHL/UPS/TNT or Fedex, over thousands of miles of long distance transportation the article is quite apt to be damaged in the transit, the necessary documentation for control of Government Furnished Equipment (GFE), i.e., Damage Reports or Failed Item Reports (Form DD-1149), should be generated as required.

An initial operating test should be performed to ensure the item functions in accordance with established performance specifications.

Pre-disassembly photographs is also very important for the Printed Circuit Board Reverse Engineering, the hardware should be photographed prior to and during disassembly since, in some cases, no other record of the item exists. In addition, since the piece-parts will be identified by bagging and tagging, their position in the assembly should be noted especially for those components assembly on the PCB board without any marks or designator on it to clearly specify their orientation or quantity, for wires cable without the clear indications for their location and correspond poles, terminal blocks, etc.