ECS Manufacturing in ShenZhen

Before the outer layer can be etched into the PCB, the board needs to be plated with copper. PCBs go through this stage in massive quantities - each dip has roughly sixty PCBs going through the process at the same time. This stage involves a lot of chemicals, so the bolting system needs to be cleaned before new PCBs are clamped to it. The workers used pressurised air to remove unwanted chemicals - we were told to stand back during this process, as we were not wearing goggles.

First, the panels are chemically cleaned in one large tank before being pulled out and transfered into the plating tank. Once the plating process is complete, the PCBs are rinsed, scrubbed clean and then rinsed again before they're ready to have the PCB outer layer applied.