Difference btw PWB and PCB

[Alex C]

Hi,

Can anyone kind to tell me what's the difference btw PWB (printed Wiring
Board) and PCB (printed Circuit board)?
I can't find it in the net.... I heard some refer to PCB others said about
PWB, but any difference(s)

Thanks

 

[Harry Conover]

Hi,

Can anyone kind to tell me what's the difference btw PWB (printed Wiring
Board) and PCB (printed Circuit board)?
I can't find it in the net.... I heard some refer to PCB others said about
PWB, but any difference(s)

Thanks

They're the same thing.

Harry C.

 

[Blake]

Hi,

Can anyone kind to tell me what's the difference btw PWB (printed Wiring
Board) and PCB (printed Circuit board)?
I can't find it in the net.... I heard some refer to PCB others said about
PWB, but any difference(s)

As far as I can tell, if you've worked at TI you call it a PWB. Everyone
else calls it a PCB.

Blake

 

[JeffM]

what's the difference btw PWB (printed Wiring Board)

and PCB (printed Circuit board)?
Alex C

Depends on whom you ask.
There is no industry-wide standard.

I call a finished subassembly a PCB
and a bare, unstuffed board a PWB.

 

[Fred Abse]

They're the same thing.

Not quite. At one time, printed circuit boards quite commonly used
screen-printed-on components in addition to wiring, whilst printed wiring
boards were just that - wiring.

I remember Philco radios with printed resistors.

The practice has now fallen into disuse, apart from circuits fired onto a
ceramic substrate, and etched coils, so the two terms have become
synonymous.

I wonder if anyone here remembers (or has heard of) the "Tinkertoy"
ceramic printed circuit assemblies of the 1940s?

 

[Gary Tait]

Not quite. At one time, printed circuit boards quite commonly used
screen-printed-on components in addition to wiring, whilst printed wiring
boards were just that - wiring.

I remember Philco radios with printed resistors.

I have some stereos from the 1980s (quite possibly made in the same
plant), that have traces and resistors screened onto the component
side of the board. I

 

[DarkMatter]

Hi,

Can anyone kind to tell me what's the difference btw PWB (printed Wiring
Board) and PCB (printed Circuit board)?
I can't find it in the net.... I heard some refer to PCB others said about
PWB, but any difference(s)

Thanks

They are one and the same. PWB is the old, archaic term, and PCB is
the new current usage.

 

[DarkMatter]

As far as I can tell, if you've worked at TI you call it a PWB. Everyone
else calls it a PCB.

There are several monikers. PWB PCB PWA CCA UUT, etc.

Printed Wiring Board.

Printed Circuit Board

Printed Wiring Assembly

Circuit Card Assembly

Unit Under Test. (a stretch)

 

[DarkMatter]

Depends on whom you ask.
There is no industry-wide standard.

I call a finished subassembly a PCB
and a bare, unstuffed board a PWB.

Sure there is. It is more about era than standards.

When they were first introduced, they were referred to as Printed
Wiring Assemblies, Or Printed Wiring Board(s). Once Printed Circuit
Board came into vogue, the other is used primarily by old foggeys <sp>
that are still entrenched in the past, or just to familiar with it to
change, but these days, PCB is pretty much the accepted norm.

 

[Blake]

There are several monikers. PWB PCB PWA CCA UUT, etc.

Printed Wiring Board.

Printed Circuit Board

Printed Wiring Assembly

Circuit Card Assembly

Unit Under Test. (a stretch)

Actually the "assembly" terms apply to the loaded boards, where the PCB/PWB
apply only to the bare board.

Blake

 

[DarkMatter]

Actually the "assembly" terms apply to the loaded boards, where the PCB/PWB
apply only to the bare board.

Actually, contract manufacturers refer to assemblies as PCBs. Only
those of us that actually do the developments of products make the
distinctions you outline, and know the difference.

All of the acronyms that have an "A" in them are obviously about
loaded assemblies. Since they have military roots, it is unlikely
that you will hear today's commercial contract houses using any of
them. They jus' call 'em PCBs. Loaded or not. There has been a BIG
relaxation in the industry. When I was learning it, ALL personnel on
the lab floor had electronic training. Now we gotz idiot on the line
that can't even read assembly drawing OR speak in the language of the
country they are living and working in. Pretty sad, that.

 

[Fred Abse]

I have some stereos from the 1980s (quite possibly made in the same
plant), that have traces and resistors screened onto the component side
of the board. I

That's pretty late. I was thinking back to the '50's and '60s.

Do that a lot these days. Sad isn't it?

 

[DarkMatter]

That's pretty late. I was thinking back to the '50's and '60s.

Do that a lot these days. Sad isn't it?

Hell, back then, most of them were point to point wired!
Hahahahahah...

 

[DarkMatter]

Read the latest magazines from IEEE, this is coming back because of a need to
reduce board size.

Have you ever even seen an 0402 resistor? What about 0201? They
are both in use... Today. ANY film screen process could not possibly
control the value with repeatable enough results for it to be
economical to do at those sizes, on the fly. Thousands of resistors
get trimmed at one time on a chip manufacturing line, once the average
slicing point is determined, then they get culled again after glazing
for the one percent units Probing and laser trimming on a custom PCB
AIN'T cheap. I doubt that you'll be beating the 0402 or 0201 form
factors any time soon. Both for automated assembly reasons, AND
precision.

So... what exactly is "coming back"?

 

[DarkMatter]

When I visited Georgia Tech 3 years ago they had a whole department
working on the development of methods for integrating passive components
in the layers of PCB for hi-density hi-frequency boards.

Still a ways off as far as a low cost, high volume, quick turn
manufacturing process, however.

 

[Blake]

Actually, contract manufacturers refer to assemblies as PCBs. Only
those of us that actually do the developments of products make the
distinctions you outline, and know the difference.

Pretty funny, I read my reply later and thought that the "actually" sounded
pretty authoritative, and I was only guessing. Oh well. The hazards of
being a know-it-all.

Blake