PCB plating is a very important process in the manufacture of PCBs. The main purpose of plating in the PCB process is to make the desired layer of the board conductive and prevent it from oxidation.

When it comes to plating methods, there are 4 mainstream methods.

• Finger plating
• Through-hole plating
• Reel-to-reel selective plating
• Brush plating

PCB 4 types of plating methods

Finger plating

For rare metal plating to provide lower contact resistance and higher wear resistance.

Process

1. Peel off the coating to remove the tin coating from the contact head
2. Rinse with water
3. Scrub with abrasive
4. Immerse in 10% sulfuric acid
5. Nickel plating, thickness maintained at 4-5μ
6. Clean and remove mineral water
7. Gold plating solid solution treatment
8. Gold plating
9. Cleaning and drying

Through-hole plating

Through-hole plating is the key manufacturing process of the drilling process, and its main purpose is to make the PCB various layers conductive.

Process

1. Drilling
2. Pre-treatment (deburring)
3. De-gumming & PTH
4. Copper plating
5. Post-treatment

Reel-to-Reel Selective Plating

This method is mainly used for selective plating of components.

• Connectors
• Integrated circuits
• Transistors, etc.

Process

1. A portion of the metal plate is coated with a resist film
2. Plating on only selected areas of copper foil

Brushing Plating

Brush plating is a widely used selective plating method. In this plating process, a limited number of areas will be plated. This technique can be used for board side connectors where rare metals are plated on selected parts of the printed circuit board. View a guide on PCB surface finish techniques.

The plating process is complex and you must work with an experienced PCB supplier to ensure that your project is completed in a cost effective manner.

Choose KingPCB as your PCB supplier

KingPCB, one of the leading PCB suppliers in China, offers OEM fully customized services.

For any type of PCB manufacturing service, contact us now for a quick quote.