Test Electronics

Click here to access our
Test Electronics ATE Software.


Enter
Login

Forgot Password?
Recover Password | Forgot your password? Recover it here.
Get Password Return
 
Register
Test Electronics

Base Socketed Probes

All White Papers

Base Socketed Probes
Socketless Probes Utilize a Small Base Socket
As the size of circuit boards continues to shrink, the demand grows for smaller probes to use on 0.075", 0.050", and even 0.039" centers. Smaller-diameter probes, however, are not only costly to manufacture, they also are less robust, easier to damage, harder to maintain, and tend to need replacing more often than larger probes, all of which drive up test costs. Smaller probes also offer fewer tip-style and spring-force options.
Base Socketed Solution
Base Socketed Probes Base Socketed Probe Description
While the concept of socketless probing isn't new, the technology wasn't widely used throughout the industry until smaller test targets started calling for the use of smaller, more delicate test probes. Now, socketless technology is widely recognized for its capability to use larger, longer-lasting probes on high-density PCBs. This is made possible by joining two parts: a probe and a termination pin.
In the example shown in the drawing on the right, the interconnect pin at the top of the termination fits securely into the modified interconnect receptacle at the bottom of the probe tube. Because the termination pin is mounted directly beneath the socketless probe, it stays within the diameter of the probe tube while still providing a reliable electrical connection to the test fixture and performing all the functions of a stand-ard socket.
While other types of ATE, including flying probers, X-ray, built-in self-test (BIST), boundary scan software, and optical inspection, combine to enhance the testing of high-density PCBs, the bed-of-nails fixture continues to offer the best combination of speed and test coverage in a high-volume manufacturing environment. But, as with any technology, there's always room for improvement.
Benefits
Many benefits over conventional probes
Compared with conventional probes, the benefits of using socketless probe technology in bed-of-nails test fixtures are many:
  • Higher probe-pointing accuracy due to the elimination of the single-press ring socket.
  • A lower per-point cost, currently less than that of a conventional probe, for 0.075", 0.050", and 0.039" centers.
  • The use of larger, more robust probes less prone to damage in a production environment, resulting in fewer maintenance issues.
  • More tip styles and spring-force options with the use of larger probes on closer centers.
  • Long-stroke socketless probes for dual-level testing on 50-mil centers.
All these benefits combine to increase productivity and lower the overall cost of testing high-density circuit boards with closely spaced test points.
Designed for Flexibility
More choices for probing test targets
Compared to smaller conventional probes used in high-density PCB testing, socketless probes offer more choices for probing test targets. Due to their larger size, socketless probes accommodate a wider range of tip styles in copper-beryllium and hardened steel as well as higher spring forces. When the choice is made to use socketless technology, test fixtures generally are designed to house only socketless probes. However, if there is a high ratio of larger to smaller center probes, it may be more cost-effective to mix conventional and socketless probes. In some cases, small areas of larger socketless probes may be added to a conventional fixture to replace areas of smaller probes like those typically found under ball grid arrays, high-density connectors, and other closely centered test points.




Maintenance
Base Socketed Probes
Easy maintenance and repair are important factors when considering the use of any technology. When comparing conventional and socketless technologies since replacing dull, worn out probes is just as easy in both types of fixtures.
In the socketless design, probes sit atop termination pins that are permanently mounted and wired into a fixture, making the probes especially easy to replace. These pins are designed to withstand a high number of probe replacements while still maintaining a reliable electrical path. However, when damaged, they can be removed and replaced, using special termination insertion and extraction tools, just as easily as conventional sockets.
Built to be Compatible
Compatibility and More
Socketless probes also score high in compatibility since they now can be used in every standard, in-circuit, and functional test fixture. This includes fixtures for GenRad, Agilent Technologies, and Teradyne test systems, whether pneumatic, mechanical, or vacuum type. Wiring methods for socketless fixtures offer just as many options as conventional ones, including wire-wrap posts, wire jacks, and precrimped and wireless terminations. The probes, which now are readily available, also work well with the wide range of test targets found on PCBs because they can be set at various heights
Content

Thank you for contacting Test Electronics.

Your responses will guide us in developing future products and
providing excellent customer support.

Please rate our service on the following aspects:

Service Excellent Very
good
Good Average Poor Didn't
notice
Products
Product Documentation
Technical Support
Applications Engineering
Website Content

What are your reasons for visiting our site today?

Product information Pricing information
Technical support information Other

What products are you currently in the market for?

What changes or additional products would you suggest?


Content

This is your Personal Notepad

Put notes in here as you browse our website for future reference.

Next Clear
Content

Get and Instant Product Price Quotation.

We hope to beat or meet your cost expectations.

Enter circuit board size:
Select Number of Sides to Probe:
Enter Number of Test Pins for each side:
BOT TOP BAK FNT LFT RGT
Leave unused sides blank

Press Plate Features:
Press Rods Edge Press Adjustable
BON Plate Features:
Standard QuickChange Adjustable
Durability:
50 Thousand 2 Million 10 Million
  50K Operations = 2 years at 100 tests/day 2M Operations = 8 years at 1000 tests/day 10M Operations = 10 years at 4000 tests/day

Additional Features:
Lever Latch Panel Inserts
Microcontroller Mid Carrier Plate
HV Shield RF Shield
Estimate Price and Availability
Estimate Price and Availability
Enter carrier pallet size:
Select Base Material Type:
Pallet Material   Antistatic / Reflectivity:
No Carbon
White
HighCarbon
Black
Med Carbon
Grey
Material Thickness:
3mm 5mm
Hold Down Mechanism:
None SwivelLatch TensionPins
Durability Until Delamination:
12 Thousand 25 Thousand 50 Thousand
  12K Cycles = 6 months at 100 cycles/day 25K Cycles = 1 year at 100 cycles/day 50K Cycles = 2 years at 100 cycles/day

Pallet Material Durability:
Aluminum Stainless Titanium
Material Thickness:
0.0625inch 0.090inch 0.125inch
Hold Down Mechanism:
None SwivelLatch TensionPins

Additional Features:
Anodize Acid Etch
BeadPolish HeatTreat
Pallet Material   Conductivity:
No Carbon
NonConductive
Silicon Carbide
Semiconductive
Material Thickness:
2mm 3mm
Durability from Stress Pulveration Fractures:
1 Million 1.2 Million 2 Million
  1M Cycles Standard HS Machining 1.2M Cycles Bead Polished Finish 2M Cycles Polish & Heat Temper Treatment

Estimate Price and Availability

Submit