To My Readers



If this is the first time you're visiting my blog, thank you. Whether you're interested or just curious to find out about PCB reverse engineering (PCB-RE), I hope you'll find something useful here.

This blog contains many snippets of the content in my books to provide a more detailed overall sampling for my would-be readers to be better informed before making the purchase. Of course, the book contains more photos and nice illustrations, as evidence from its cover page. Hopefully, this online trailer version will whet your appetite enough to want to get a copy for yourself.

Top Review

I started doing component level repair of electronics with (and without) schematics more than 40 years ago, which activity often involves reverse-engineering of printed circuit boards. Although over the years my technical interests have shifted into particle beam instrumentation, electron microscopy, and focused ion beam technology fields, till this day——and more often than not——PCB repairs have returned multiple multi-million-dollar accelerators, FIB, and SEM instruments back to operation, delivering great satisfaction and some profit.

Many of the methods described by Keng Tiong in great details are similar to the approaches I've developed, but some of the techniques are different, and as effective and useful as efficient and practical. Systematic approach and collection of useful information presented in his books are not only invaluable for a novice approaching PCB-level reverse engineering, but also very interesting reading and hands-on reference for professionals.

Focus on reverse engineering instead of original design provides unique perspective into workings of electronics, and in my opinion books by Keng Tiong (I've got all three of them) are must-read for anybody trying to develop good understanding of electronics——together with writings by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill, Phil Hobbs, Jim Williams, Bob Pease, Howard Johnson and Martin Graham, Sam Goldwasser, and other world's top electronics experts.

Valery Ray
Particle Beam Systems Technologist

Friday, January 28, 2022

PCB Repair

A friend of mine who is in the PCB repair industry, representing ABI Electronics as a field support engineer to train customers on how to use their range of test and troubleshooting products, wrote the following post on his LinkedIn account:

Thought I'd join in the fun and share my two cents' worth:

The term PCB repair is more involved than just testing component or diagnosing faults. From my 30 years experience in this endeavor, I learned that you need to acquire the following skills of the trade:

1.  Conformal removal and reapplication
2.  Board and component test
3.  Fault diagnostic and troubleshooting
4.  Schematic analysis (if available)
5.  Partial or full PCB reversing (if unavailable)*
6.  Soldering and rework
7.  Component identification and handling

The fifth point is necessary if the board is burnt or suffered physical damage that impacted its electrical integrity. PCB-RE is especially useful in the absence of schematic diagrams.


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