Good lighting and a quality camera (whether digital or smartphone) will help make the process easier. Using photographs is time-consuming, but it’s a necessary step for more complex layouts. However, if you can create a line drawing for a relatively detailed PCB, you can skip image editing and color switching and go straight to preparing a schematic. Use symbols for each component and work carefully to capture the proper scale.įor more complex PCBs, using pencil and paper quickly becomes confusing. With a basic board, you can use graph paper to draw the layout. With these two images, you can create a layout for developing a schematic. To begin, you need accurate-and well-lit-images of both sides of your PCB. But there are three main steps you need to take to achieve a functioning PCB without documentation or support. How to Reverse Engineer a PCBīecoming a PCB reverse engineer isn’t necessarily simple. Sometimes, the manufacturer of the unit has gone out of business (or the engineer is no longer alive), leaving you with few alternatives. However, if you can’t find a professional who knows how to handle your PCB, you’ve hit a wall again. Many professionals (including manufacturers of PCBs ) are often available to help troubleshoot and repair circuit boards. It’s time-consuming and can be a challenge, but it is possible. If no data exists, reverse engineering allows you to create your own. Even rudimentary details on the PCB can help you figure out how to repair it. These days, many PCBs have CAD data to work with, or at least a schematic or some type of documentation. Reverse engineering becomes necessary when you lack the documentation that explains how to repair a PCB. In these scenarios, spending the time to reverse engineer the PCB may be well worth it. Replacements may be unavailable (or totally beyond your budget). Whether it’s an electronic component or piece of machinery the PCB powers, if it’s a valuable or necessary item, you will want to preserve it.įor older electronic equipment and even vehicles, some PCBs become outdated. Unless you’re a serious PCB enthusiast, you probably won’t want to overhaul the circuit board unless it’s vital for some reason. That said, there are a handful of reasons that you may want to invest the time and energy into reverse engineering a PCB. No Professional Knows What to Do with Itįirst, why would anyone want to reverse engineer a PCB board? With so many alternative options to a complete rebuild, it doesn’t always make sense to waste time with an outdated or broken PCB board.
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