Introduction to White Printed Circuit Board(PCB)

What Is White PCB?

The PCB color depends on the solder mask in the circuit. On bare circuit boards, a solder mask acts as a protective coating. It helps prevent accidental solder bridges on bare boards during assembly, as well as helps protect them from the environment. Many colors are available for solder masks, including green, white, blue, and yellow. This article is about White PCB.

White PCB solder mask is made of the composition of white color concentration. This helps store the white PCB's color without fading its color. This formulation of white pigment content helps in gaining its color without yellowing. LED systems have a wide range of applications, providing stronger light compared to other PCBs with various colors. 

Soldering masks are also seen as a means of protecting circuitry from adverse environmental influences (environmental influences) as well as preventing accidental PCB assembly solder spans.

In fact, since there are so much dust and scrap on the PCB, every time you clean it, the white PCB looks great, but the lines look distorted.

Soldering masks cannot manage the fine detail of the recognizable green due to the vast amount of white on them. You have to tilt the PCB to illumination to view the silkscreen on the white PCB because it is the least bright of all colors.

When viewing black, yellow, red, and other colors, you would rarely use a white silkscreen. The white PCB has a wide application in LED systems as it emits brighter light than the other PCB colors. 

Benefits of White PCB

• White PCB provides bright light compared to other colors of PCB and thus has wide application in the LED market.
• White PCB can take a wide number of components.
• It has the advantage of a convenient and compatible manufacturing process compared to other PCBs.
• It provides practical and convenient electricity transfer in the circuit. 
• All the components are soldered on the PCB board based on a circuit.

Disadvantage of White PCB

• The manufacturing process of White PCB is expensive compared to other types of PCB. 
• The cleaning process of White PCBs is hard compared to other PCBs because the hints are difficult to see.
• It exhibits the lowest contrast even compared to black PCB. Thus, the inspecting process becomes difficult to even proper titling in light. 
• It requires an excessive workforce for the installation.
• The soldering and plating of White PCB required extra carefulness.
• It exhibits difficulty in various surface finishes.
• Handling the most delicate details on PCB becomes challenging.
• The low-quality mask turns the white PCB yellowish, exposing it to heat.

Application of White PCB

In various environments, white PCB looks cleaner and is becoming increasingly popular in the electronics domain. White PCB is widely used in LEB applications with the core of metal. LED-printed circuit boards pose many challenges to developers. One of the requirements of LEDs is that the colors they render be as clean and clear as possible. The LED components must, however, be sufficiently dissipated to minimize heat buildup. An LED system with a white solder mask will be brighter. Thus white PCB has wide applications and is used in LED PCB applications. However, the reflectivity of every white PCB mask is not similar to each other. Thus, one needs to use the terms high reflectance, bright white, LED Back Panels, and LED applications. 

Besides, White PCB is used in the motherboard z170, the mainboard used in microcomputers. Communication between central processing units (CPUs) and memory is the primary function of the motherboard. 

White PCB vs. Black PCB

Both types of PCBs, white and black, are popular and produce low contrast. They can mark the significant components. Although black and white PCBs are popular, it still contains some disadvantages. The common drawback of these PCBs is the details could be difficult to check because of small shadows. This makes it difficult to track the routing of the circuits. 

Besides, black PCB is not a good option for high temperatures as it may discolor the printing of the screen. In contrast, white can be somehow good for high-temperature applications. Black PCB is a mixture of carbon and cobalt and may achieve less conductivity.

In many applications, black PCB is not suitable as there is no comparison between wires, vacuums, and planes. Approximately 80% to 98% of restorations during reconstruction are not very excellent, so most manufacturers create the black color. When renovating, the PCB circuits need to be reheated to 261%, while the white variables tend to be too mild yellow.

White FR-4 PCB

We manufacture LED PCB Boards for the Lighting Industry using FR4 FR4 White Solder Mask. LED PCB Circuit Boards with HASL-Lead-Free Surface Finishing are used to assemble components and bare LED PCB circuit boards. In addition to offering FR4 LED PCB Printed Circuit Board services, KingSong Technology also provides Fr4 Led PCB with White Solder Mask and LED PCB board, as well as excellent manufacturing and assembly work processes, experienced workers, and advanced equipment. 

White Flex PCB

You can build or fit electronic devices and core products with this PCB. Moreover, a PCB can easily adapt to the current design, so a manufacturer does not have to design a casing around it. 

This kind of white flex PCB is helpful when we are designing hardware the complex designs. Flexible PCB helps minimize the board size and rebuild the circuits to fulfill the dimension and casing standards.

All of the circuits and the components are placed in separate designs. Then the PCB is highlighted with the use of the copper-like malleable substance. Some of the areas of application of this white flex PCB include smartphones, automotive electronics, medical areas, etc.

Some of the props of the White Flex PCB include:

• They are flexible in nature.
• It contains low resistance to temperature compared to rigid-flex white circuit boards.
• Any designs are suitable for them and weigh less compared to rigid-flex PCBs.
• This type of PCB has wide applications with rapid movements with lots of stress.
• It provides excellent and reliable properties as it lacks mechanical connectors. 

Some of its cons include:

• Flex White PCBs are more expensive than rigid-flex PCBs.
• The temperature resistance is lower for white flex PCB than rigid-flex white PCB.

How to Select the PCB in Color?

PCB has various color types. The standard color is a green solder mask. The advancement of innovations and technology has helped develop the different PCB types with various colors. In recent days, the use of another kind of PCB instead of green PCB has been increasing. Some of the reasons for this are as follows:

• Making users aware of revision changes is essential by using different colors on the PCB.
• It is possible to produce brightness or contrast when you use colors other than green. The transmission properties, absorbance, and light reflectance of assembly equipment are important factors to consider.
• Using different colors will protect mixed assemblies from various types of mistakes. In addition to identifying lead-free meetings, contrasting colors also help identify them.

PCB fabrication includes a variety of colors, including yellow, white, red, blue, green, etc. The PCB color codes refer to the colors of PCBs. Nowadays, the modern PCB offers various colors of green epoxy is the standard for motherboards. Different modern PCB types have adopted specific colors. For example, the motherboards of PC are still fabricated in green epoxy.

The color of the solder mask has no effect on the working performance of the PCB. Nevertheless, different PCB colors will result in different board resolutions. As an example, red and blue PCB colors have significantly less resolution than yellow and black. High-resolution solder masks are often those with clear transparency. 

Similarly, the color of the white circuit board doesn't directly impact the properties and the board's performance. The white solder mask will have a different visual impact on the PCB. 

How to apply White Solder Mask on PCB?

The process includes the following:

Cleaning the Board

You can eliminate dirt and contaminations by properly cleaning the board.

Ink Coating

Applying ink to the solder mask will load the board on a vertical coater. A white PCB's application and reliability determine the coating thickness. Copper foil, traces, or substrate determine the thickness of the solder mask.

Pre-hardening

In the PCB, the coating is solid. It helps eliminate the extra coating in various stages of development. 

Imaging and Hardening

Laser-plotted photo film illustrates the solder mask region by using a photo film. Additionally, align the film to the dry ink-coated panel.

You will also expose the panel's film to UV light. As UV light passes through the opaque regions of the film, it hardens the ink below.

Developing

You can submerge the PCB to clean the extra solder mask during this process. This also helps in accurate exposure of the copper coil. 

Hardening and Cleaning

This is the final stage for applying the solder mask on the surface of the PCB. Then you can clean the board before processing.

Quality Test for White PCB

After proper manufacturing of the White board, you can conduct the following quality tests:

• Flying Probe
• Functional testing like system level, sub-level assembly, board level, etc.
• In-circuit Testing
• Burn-in Test

Multilayer White PCB

The multiplayer white circuit board has the significant advantage of its size. The layered design of this PCB offers a smaller size compared to other PCBs that provide similar working functionalities. Thus the multilayer Whiteboard is smaller yet more powerful when it comes to working. 

Lightweight Construction

By eliminating multiple connectors, which are often used to interconnect single and double-layer PCBs, this white PCB provides greater flexibility. As modern electronics become more mobile, it proves to be beneficial.

Increase Durability

Multilayer White boards are robust by nature. They can also bear the pressure and heat that binds the layered PCB as a whole. The use of several insulation layers also helps bind the substance and strengthen the bonding agent. 

Single Connection Point

Multilayer white PCBs will work together as one unit instead of with other PCB components. Compared with white circuit boards with several connection points, these have just one connection point.

The final product will also have one connection point so that electronic products will benefit from this. Weight and size reduction are advantages for small gadget designs.

High Quality

The manufacturing process of White PCB undergoes various steps. This ultimately improves the quality of the PCB and makes them more reliable. 

Flexibility

Some multilayer white PCB assemblies indeed use flexible manufacturing techniques that make them flexible, but this is not true for all PCB assemblies. An irregularly bending or flexing application can benefit from this. In addition, white PCBs are less flexible with the addition of layers.

Conclusion

You can use various PCB colors for various applications in the electronic domain. While selecting the best PCB design for your product, you must confirm which PCB color works well. You can use the information mentioned above about the White PCB to check whether it works well for your design. You can make a choice based on the pros and cons of the PCBs.

NextPCB is one of the leading PCB manufacturers in all over China. We are famous for our high-quality PCB product without compromising the price on the design and timely delivery. All of our design protocols follow highly international standards. You can order your White PCB or any other color type from here. We will provide you with proper inspection and testing.