Assembled Power Converter With Toroidal Inductor And LED Output Board
A two-part assembly: a DC-DC converter board with a toroidal inductor, electrolytic capacitors and a USB output, wired to a separate LED and MOSFET board. Power assemblies carry heat and mechanical mass that ordinary signal boards do not.
What This Board Is
What makes this assembly interesting is the mix. A hand-wound toroidal inductor cannot be placed by machine, the electrolytics have a reflow limit, the flying leads between the two boards are a manual operation, and the LED board is a candidate for aluminium rather than FR4. Building it well means deciding which operations are machine work and which are hand work before the first unit is made.
- PCBA
- See specification
What You Get From This Build
- Machine placement and hand-fitted magnetics planned as one process, not two
- Aluminium board construction available for the LED output stage if the thermal load calls for it
- Wide copper pours on heavy copper for the current carrying sections of the converter
- Both boards and their interconnect delivered as one tested sub-assembly
Who Specifies This Board
- Power adapter and charger manufacturers
- LED driver and lighting module builders
- Battery management and charging product developers
- Equipment makers integrating a bought-in converter they would rather own
Four Failures This Build Is Designed Against
Each one is a real way this class of board goes wrong, and the tolerance or process decision that prevents it.
Switching devices running hot on FR4
Our aluminium range has a measured laminate thermal resistance of 1 °C/W and a maximum working temperature of 125 °C, which is the route when heat becomes the constraint.
Hand-wound parts on a machine-placed board
Toroids, flying leads and mechanical fasteners are scheduled as separate operations with their own inspection points.
Traces that overheat under continuous load
Copper weight and pour geometry are agreed at the fabrication stage. Tell us the continuous current on each rail.
Creepage distances too small for a mains referenced design
Dielectric strength and isolation resistance figures for both our rigid and aluminium laminates are published, so the clearances can be checked against real numbers.
Technical Specification
Product detail from the catalogue record, followed by the published process capability for the PCBA family. Anything the legacy catalogue did not record is marked TBC rather than filled in.
| Item | Technical specification |
|---|---|
| Product name | DC-DC Power And LED Driver PCBA |
| Legacy catalogue reference | PCBA-4 |
| Product family | PCBA |
| Surface finish | See specification |
| Assembly technology | Surface mount, through-hole and mixed technology |
| Substrates assembled | Rigid FR4, aluminium metal core and flexible circuits |
| Bare board testing | Open and short test at 50 to 300 V before assembly |
| Component sourcing | Turnkey, consigned or mixed |
| Functional test | TBC — quoted against your test specification |
| Conformal coating | TBC — confirm the coating specification with your enquiry |
| Minimum order quantity | TBC — not recorded on the legacy catalogue |
| Lead time | TBC — confirmed per enquiry |
What The Board Is Made Of
| Material | Specification |
|---|---|
| Bare board | Rigid FR4, aluminium metal core or flexible circuit, fabricated in the same plant |
| Solder | Lead-free process, RoHS compliant |
| Components | Supplied by us on turnkey, or consigned by you |
| Stencil | Cut to the released paste layer of the same board revision |
| Packing | Packed on our own packing machines to your specification |
What Can Be Changed
- Turnkey, consigned or mixed component supply
- Rigid, aluminium or flexible substrates
- Mixed surface mount and through-hole builds
- Hand-fitted magnetics and mechanical parts
- Device programming, subject to confirmation
- Packing to your goods-in specification
How This Board Is Made
Eight stages on equipment sourced from the USA, Japan, Germany and Israel. Every stage listed runs inside our own plant.
Data and BOM review
Manufacturer part numbers checked and alternates agreed in writing before buying.
Bare board
Fabricated in the same plant and open and short tested at 50 to 300 V.
Stencil
Cut to the paste layer of the same released revision as the board.
Paste and placement
Solder paste printed, then surface mount devices placed.
Reflow
Profiled for the substrate, with flexible circuits carried flat in tooling.
Through-hole and manual
Connectors, magnetics and hand-fitted parts as separate operations with their own inspection.
Inspection
Assembled boards inspected before packing.
Packing
Packed on our own packing machines to your goods-in specification.
What Is Checked Before It Ships
- Bare board open and short tested at 50 to 300 V before any component is placed
- Stencil and board matched to the same released revision
- Post-reflow inspection before through-hole and manual operations
- Mechanical parts such as sockets and terminal blocks inspected as mechanical parts
- Functional test quoted and run against your own test specification
What The Plant Holds
- ISO 9001:2000. Quality management system certification recorded by the company. Current revision year available on request.
- ISO 14001:1996. Environmental management system certification recorded by the company.
- UL. Certification recorded by the company. File number available on request.
- RoHS and lead free. Listed in the company environmental policy alongside pollution prevention and resource reduction.
Certificate numbers, issue dates and current revision years are not published on the legacy site. Ask for copies with your enquiry and they will be sent with the quotation.
How It Compares With The Alternatives
Three boards from our own catalogue, side by side, so the trade-off is visible rather than argued.
| Assembly | Technology | Distinguishing feature | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| DC-DC Power And LED Driver PCBA | Mixed process | Toroid and electrolytics | Power conversion and LED drive |
| 1 Layer Aluminium LED Board | Single sided aluminium | OSP | LED output stages |
| Industrial IO PCBA With Relays And Terminal Blocks | Mixed THT and SMD | Relays | Switched output stages |
What To Send With Your Enquiry
Four things that decide whether the quote comes back right the first time.
- State the continuous current on each rail so copper weight and pour geometry can be checked.
- Supply the wound inductor or its winding specification, and say whether we fit it or you do.
- Say whether the LED output board should be FR4 or aluminium, or give the dissipation and let us advise.
- Give the wire gauge, length and termination for the flying leads between the two boards.
DC-DC Power And LED Driver PCBA Questions
Should the LED board be aluminium or FR4?
It depends on the power dissipated. Aluminium has a measured thermal resistance of 1 degree Celsius per watt on a TO-220 package and a maximum working temperature of 125 degrees Celsius.
Can you fit hand-wound inductors?
Yes, as a separate manual operation after reflow. Supply the wound part or the winding specification.
How heavy a copper weight can you build?
Give the continuous current per rail and the track width your layout allows, and we will confirm the copper weight against the laminate stock we hold.
Do you supply the two boards already wired together?
Tell us how you want the sub-assembly delivered. Wiring between boards is a manual operation that is quoted separately.
Other Boards In The PCBA Family
Boards built on the same line, with the same tolerances, in a different configuration.
Assembled Interface Board With Serial Ethernet And Edge Connector
Assembled Embedded Controller With Microcontroller Ethernet And Storage
Assembled Motherboard With Expansion Slot And Rear Port Cluster
Assembled Industrial IO Board With Relay Bank And Pluggable Terminals
Where This Board Is Used
The fields the legacy catalogue records for this class of board.
This Board In Context
Get DC-DC Power And LED Driver PCBA Priced Against Your Own Files
Send Gerber RS-274X with an NC drill file, or an ODB++ package, with the layer count, thickness, copper weight, surface finish and quantity. We check it against the published capability before quoting.