![]() Surface mount technology is the most commonly used component package technology today. Newer designs still use through-hole components, but these components tend to be used more often in power electronics and other devices that generate a lot of heat. If you take a look at any modern PCB design, you’ll likely see boards that are dominated by surface mount components. This is where surface-mount components come in. Later, as power consumption, signal integrity, and board space requirements began to take center stage, designers needed to use components that provide the same electrical functionality in a smaller package. There was less of a focus on reducing space taken up by components, and signal integrity problems were not a concern. Through-hole components came about at a time when designers were more concerned with making electronic systems mechanically stable and were less concerned about aesthetics and signal integrity. The DIP package is common for active through-hole components, such as op-amp packages, low-power voltage regulators, and many other common components. Other components like transistors, higher power voltage regulators, quartz resonators, higher power LEDs, and many others may come in a zig-zag in-line package (ZIP) or transistor outline (TO) package. Just like axial or radial passive through-hole technology, these other packages mount to a PCB in the same way. These components are normally seen as being mounted on breadboards for proof-of-concept development, but they are commonly used in real PCBs. If you remember back to your electronics classes, you'll likely remember the integrated circuits you used with dual-inline package (DIP) or plastic DIP (PDIP). Radial (left) and axial (right) electrolytic capacitors. Other components like switches, LEDs, small relays, and fuses come packaged as radial through-hole components. Many large electrolytic capacitors are packaged in this way, allowing them to be mounted to a board by running the lead through a hole pad while taking up a smaller amount of space on the circuit board. Meanwhile, radial components have electrical leads that protrude from one end of the component. Side view of an axial through-hole mounting component. Not all through-hole components come in cylindrical packages some components, like high power resistors, come in rectangular packages with a lead wire running down the length of the package. Diodes, inductors, and many capacitors are mounted in the same way. Think about a basic resistor the electrical leads run along the cylindrical axis of the resistor. An axial through-hole component has its electrical leads running along the component's axis of symmetry. Passive through-hole components come in two possible types of packages: radial and axial. For passive through-hole components, the component leads can be quite long, so they are often clipped to a shorter length before mounting. Plated through hole circuit board components are large and rugged enough that they can be easily hand soldered. The through-hole mounting process is simple: place the component leads into the holes and solder the exposed lead to the pad. The designer needs to place through-holes in their PCB layout, where the hols are surrounded with a pad on the surface layer for soldering. Each type of component mounts to the board in the same way. Just like all other components, plated through hole circuit board components can be roughly divided into active and passive components. ![]() To start, let’s give a quick breakdown of plated through hole mounting technology and surface mount technology as it pertains to the printed circuit board PCB design process. One example can be seen in plated through hole mounting technology for your electronic components this class of legacy components seems to hang around to this day, even as new designs require ever smaller components.īut is it really that simple? Why use through-hole technology in printed circuit boards (PCBs) when it seems surface mount technology (SMT) components are smaller and allow more compact component placement in your PCB? Like most design decisions, there are tradeoffs involved using each type of component. Sometimes, it seems that the old technology just won't phase out. When it comes to technology, we never look back.
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