Manual vs. Automated Testing

There are two basic approaches to performing electrical tests: manual and automated. ACT offers both types of testing and would like to explain and compare them to help you understand the difference.

Manual testing involves the development of specific test circuits and the use of electronic bench equipment in its execution.  It is a labor intensive methodology that begins with the development of a test procedure, which is followed by an operator who performs the test manually. (more…)

For a while, Advanced Component Testing (ACT) has been hearing from some of our customers about their paying for component testing only to realize, after the fact, that the testing failed to meet their actual requirements. As one of a handful of trusted test labs for some of the most discerning organizations, recently recertified to ISO 17025, ACT would like to offer you insight into the problem and a few tips on how to avoid finding yourself in this precarious situation.

The Problem: You request a quote for electrical testing and receive one from a test house that appears to meet your specifications. Unfortunately you don’t realize that the testing quoted does not rise to the level of your requirements—and may even have little value as an electrical test, such as inappropriate use of go/no-go results. (more…)

Three Electrical Test Types

Sy Syms, founder of the now defunct off-price clothing chain, famously coined the slogan “An Educated Consumer is our Best Customer.” We at  Advanced Component Testing also ascribe to that philosophy and, in that spirit, we’d like to begin sharing even more to help you understand electrical testing of electronic components.

Let us start by comparing three main types of electrical testing that are often confused with each other. (more…)

Just because it’s in your warehouse or in a box in the back of your engineering lab doesn’t mean an electronic component is suitable for use whenever the need arises. That’s because the longer a component has been in house, the greater the odds that there may be an issue that needs to be addressed before it is used. Ignoring these concerns could result in electronic components that are either substandard or counterfeit making it into the supply chain—and into an end product or system where they may result in product failures and warranty costs. (more…)

When most people think about authenticity testing they think it’s simply a matter of performing a few tests and noting the results. But the reality is that it often goes way beyond that, especially when an anomaly is identified. That’s because the presence of an anomaly does not necessarily signify that a component is substandard or inauthentic. While that may sound counterintuitive at first, it actually makes sense when you consider the complexities of the manufacturing process. (more…)

XRF analysis begins with the scanning of leads and/or the package via X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to identify the elemental composition of materials, the concentration of solids and solutions, and trace elements. This data is then compared to a device’s official data sheet. (more…)

With the Dynasolve 750 test, ACT submerges a device in the solvent for 45 minutes and then swabs it to observe for evidence of resurfacing under a microscope. It is not unusual for thermal coating to be found on a device but ACT does not automatically record this as a fail, although that certainly would speed up the process. Instead our next step is to investigate to see if the thermal coating may have been applied by the manufacturer during a certain time period that can be linked to the date code that we interpret from the part marking. This may require getting information and documentation directly from the manufacturer, which can take days. (more…)