Checking shorts on a new PCB quickly

[Wirepath]

Let’s talk about checking for shorts on a new PCB quickly.
You’ve got that shiny new board in your hands, and the last thing you want is a pesky short causing chaos.
What’s your favorite quick trick for spotting shorts before you power it up?
Share your tips so we can all save some time on troubleshooting!

 

[Tovaren]

Before I power anything on, I use a multimeter set to continuity mode to check for any shorts between power and ground.
This method never fails me it's quick and dependable. That way, I don’t run into surprises when I switch it on.

 

[voltagepathmaker]

I typically kick things off with a quick look to see if there are any solder bridges or loose wires. Then, I do a continuity test it's fast and helps me avoid a major headache down the line

 

[OhmMy]

I always start with that visual check sometimes you can find a stray solder ball lurking around.
After that, I run a quick continuity test between the key points.
It’s straightforward and really cuts down on troubleshooting later.

 

[barfle]

I’ve really only had a couple of times when I got really bad circuit boards, and I built a few thousand. Sometimes the QC tech was befuddled, and that was usually a bus short.

Seriously, I think I scrapped two boards in my entire career.

 

[Alan]

I’ve really only had a couple of times when I got really bad circuit boards, and I built a few thousand. Sometimes the QC tech was befuddled, and that was usually a bus short.

Seriously, I think I scrapped two boards in my entire career.

Wow, that’s really impressive. Only scrapping two boards out of thousands is quite the achievement.

 

[oldgeek]

I always give it a good visual check--a day or so after I finish soldering. Now I use a microscope, even on through hole stuff due to bad eyes. At 10x magnification I can see a lot of stuff my unaided eyes miss.

The reason for waiting before I do an inspection is to let my brain clear out the memories of how I put it all together. It is amazing how many mistakes I find this way that I would never see if I just did my inspection right after setting the soldering iron for the last time.

 

[barfle]

Wow, that’s really impressive. Only scrapping two boards out of thousands is quite the achievement.

Admittedly, there were several that were under-etched and an exacto knife solved the problem. Just a couple had issues that went beyond that. I suspect contamination in the epoxy, but they went in the industrial waste bin.

 

[Alan]

That’s still a pretty good result. Touch-ups happen.