Automated shield soldering

There are two processes that can be followed in order to solder RF shields onto circuit boards. We strongly prefer Automated Processing for orders of 100 pieces or more and may reach out to you for approval after you've placed your order. We've built thousands of circuit boards using this process, with excellent results.

If you prefer to listen rather than read, check out Episode 76 of our podcast.

Manual Processing

1. Order a stencil without apertures cut for the RF shield.
2. Populate all SMT Components except for the RF shield and reflow the circuit board.
3. Carefully inspect all SMT components, especially ones that would be covered by the RF shield.
4. Dispense solder paste onto RF shield pads and populate the RF shield.
5. Reflow the circuit board.

Automated Processing

1. Order a stencil with apertures cut for the RF shield.
2. Populate all SMT Components except for the RF shield on the first panel of boards before reflowing the board.
3. Carefully inspect all SMT components, especially ones that would be covered by the RF shield.
4. Populate the RF shields and reflow the panel of boards.
5. Send this group of boards to the customer to verify that they are functional.
6. Process the remainder of the boards automatically without manual inspection of SMT components under the shields.