The process and skill of PCB Reverse Engineering

The process and skill of PCB Reverse Engineering

PCB reverse engineering (PCB Copy) is an important part of PCB design. However, because it involves sandpaper grinding (a harmful type of work), stroke (is a simple repetitive work), many designers do not want to engage in this task. Even many designers think that the reverse PCB is not a technical work, the primary designer does a little training can be competent for this job. This concept has a certain universality, but as many work, the reverse of PCB board still exists some skills. If designers have mastered these skills, they can save a lot of time, and they can drastically reduce the amount of labor. Let's discuss this in more detail below.

The concept of PCB reverse engineering

The reverse of PCB refers to according to the original PCB object, obtaining the schematic diagram and the PCB diagram. The aim is to develop later. Later development includes installing components, deep testing, modifying circuits,etc. 

The reverse process of PCB board

a,Dismount the components on the board　

b, The original board scan, get graphics files 　　

c, Grinding the surface layer to get the inner layer　

d, The inner layer scan, get graphics files　

e, Repeat 2-4 steps until all layers are processed

f, Use special software to convert graphics files to electrical relations files-PCB drawing　　

g, Check and verify, complete the design

The reverse technique of PCB board

The reverse of PCB board, especially the multilayer PCB, is a time-consuming and laborious work, which contains a lot of repetitive work. Designers must be patient and careful, otherwise they will be easy to make mistakes. The key to reverse engineering is to use suitable software instead of manual work, both time-saving and accurate.

a, The scanner must be used in the reverse process　

Many designers are accustomed to drawing lines directly on the PCB design systems such as Protel, Padsor or CAD. This habit is very bad. The scanned graphics file is not only the basis of converting to the PCB file, but also the basis of the later inspection. The use of scanners can greatly reduce the difficulty and intensity of labor. It is no exaggeration to say that if you can make full use of scanners, even people without design experience can also complete the PCB reverse engineering.

b, Single direction grinding

In order to pursue speed, some designers choose two-way grinding. In fact, this is very wrong. Because two way grinding is very easy to wear out, resulting in damage to other layers. The outer layer of PCB is the most hard because of copper foil and pad, but the middle layer is more soft, Therefore, to the middle layer, the problem is more serious and often can not be polished. In addition, the PCB boards produced by various manufacturers are different in quality, hardness and elasticity

c, Choosing the excellent conversion software

Convert the scanned graphics files into PCB files is the key to the whole work. If there is a good conversion software, designers only needs to "paint a tiger from a cat " to finish the work. Here recommend EDA2000, It's really very convenient.