Helen Frankenthaler PCB Circuit Board R&D Center

FR4 Carbon Ink PCB for Consumer Electronics

Carbon Ink PCB Manufacturer with Carbon Inks in Any Resistance

Carbon Ink PCB Manufacturing and Assembly at One-Stop

Carbon ink PCB traces and pads are printed with carbon ink that is conductive. The carbon ink PCB manufacturer PCBONLINE can plate PCB pads with gold/silver and then carbon ink.

Advantages of the PCB Manufacturer PCBONLINE

MATERIALS Carbon ink is a conductive PCB material for line coating and surface finish. At PCBONLINE, carbon inks of high, medium, and low resistance are accessible for PCB.

EQUIPMENT PCBONLINE has complete equipment for carbon ink plating on PCB. You can have turnkey carbon ink PCB fabrication and assembly without a quantity limit.

TEAM The professionals at PCBONLINE can apply immersion silver or tin before carbon ink on PCB or plate gold after carbon ink plating.

QUALITY PCBONLINE has set up a quality management system certified by ISO, IATF, IPC-600, IPC-610, RoHS, and REACH for halogen-free PCB.

CUSTOM The carbon ink PCB manufacturer PCBONLINE can plate carbon ink on traces and PCB pads on any kind of PCB, such as FR4 PCB, flexible PCB, etc.

TRANSPORT PCBONLINE provides various halogen-free PCB shipping methods, including air, sea, and rail shipping by DHL, FedEx, and UPS.

Carbon Ink PCB

Carbon ink PCB is also called carbon oil PCB. It is a printed circuit board with conductive traces and/or surface finish plated with carbon ink.

Carbon ink is printed in the way of silk screen printing, but carbon ink is conductive. Its resistance includes high, medium, and low resistance.

On a carbon ink PCB, carbon ink pads are buttons or knobs that can withstand thousands of times of pressing or rubbing. The carbon ink plating on pads is extremely durable.

At the PCB manufacturer PCBONLINE, carbon ink can be printed on FR4 PCBs of any Tg, flexible PCBs, rigid-flex PCBs, ceramic PCBs, aluminum PCBs, copper base PCBs, etc.

Carbon ink PCBs can be single-sided, dual-sided, single-layered, double-layered, and multilayer.

Carbon Ink on PCBs

Carbon ink is a film printed, sprayed, or immersed on all or part of PCB traces. It is also a surface finish on PCB pads and acts as a resistor.

Besides the pure carbon ink surface finish, at the PCB manufacturer PCBONLINE, the carbon ink PCBs surface finish can be immersion gold then carbon ink, or carbon ink then immersion silver/tin. Selective surface finishes are also available for carbon ink PCBs.

Resistance is a key feature for carbon inks, and you can determine the resistance of carbon ink on the PCB from the formula: R = (Rho*L)/(B*H), where Rho is the resistance of the carbon oil itself, L is the length of the carbon oil, B is the width of the carbon oil, and H is the height of the carbon oil.

Advantages of Carbon Ink PCBs

Carbon ink PCBs are usually used for buttons, panels, or knobs. Carbon ink PCBs have these advantages: Carbon PCBs are much cheaper than most other PCBs, yet they have stable performance. Carbon ink has high wear resistance and can withstand thousands to millions of times of switches on and off. Carbon ink PCB printing is environment-friendly, and will not pollute the air, water, or soil.

If you need carbon ink PCBs, feel free to reach out to PCBONLINE by sending your Gerber to pcb@frankenthalerfoundation.org. We provide one-stop carbon ink PCB fabrication and assembly with one-on-one engineering support throughout your project.

Carbon Ink PCB Manufacturing Capabilities
SpecificationsPCBONLINE's Carbon Ink PCB Capabilities
Carbon-ink PCB layer quantity1 to 64
Turnaround time8 hours to 3 weeks
Carbon ink alignment tolerance (1oz copper)Carbon to carbon: 8mil Carbon to PAD: 6mil Carbon to line: 6mil
Carbon ink alignment tolerance (2oz copper)Carbon to carbon: 10mil Carbon to PAD: 8mil Carbon to line: 8mil
Carbon ink alignment tolerance (3oz copper)Carbon to carbon: 12mil Carbon to PAD: 10mil Carbon to line: 10mil
Single-sided carbon ink type and resistanceCCI-301D, ≥250Ω
Double-sided carbon ink type and resistanceT-30PL-30, ≥250Ω
Single/double-sided carbon ink type and resistanceCCI-301F, <250Ω
Surface finishes on carbon ink PCB padsCarbon ink Immersion gold then carbon ink Carbon ink then immersion silver Carbon ink then immersion tin
Selective surface finishes on other PCB padsHASL: SMD 40µ to 2000µ, GND 30µ to 800µ ENIG: Au 1µ to 5µ, Ni 80µ to 200µ Immersion tin: 0.8µm to 1.2µm Immersion silver: 0.15µm to 0.45µm Hard gold plating: Au 1µ to 50µ, Ni 80µ to 200µ Peelable mask: 5mil Carbon ink: 0.3mil

Applications of carbon ink PCB: industrial instrument panels and medical panels panels of low-power consumer electronics, such as TV remote controls panels of electronic organs, calculators, phones mechanical computer keyboards, custom computer keyboards electronic measuring instruments, such as multi-functional meters

PCB and PCBA Certifications
Carbon Ink PCB Example 1

Usually, carbon ink pads on the PCBs serve as buttons or switches. The PCB in the image is no exception. PCBONLINE fabricates the carbon ink PCBs using high-resistance carbon according to our Japanese client's requirement. The solder mask is very flat, and the light green looks comfortable. The selective surface finishes are very even.

Carbon Ink PCB Example 2

This is one of the carbon ink PCBs we manufactured used for industrial control mainboards. The selective surface finishes are carbon ink and OSP. Unlike general carbon ink PCBs, the circuit design of the PCB in the image is quite advanced. If you need PCBs for industrial uses, please don't forget PCBONLNE.

Carbon Ink PCB Example 3

This PCB is a very regular carbon ink FR4 PCB. Nothing special about it to mention. Though we focus on complex PCBs with more challenges, we also fabricate such regular carbon ink PCBs. From prototype fabrication to PCB assembly, we completed the order smoothly, and the delivery was fast.

Related Blogs

The carbon-ink PCB manufacturer PCBONLINE has rich experience in carbon-ink PCB design, fabrication, and assembly. Read our blogs to explore details of carbon ink PCBs.

What is Carbon Ink PCB - A Complete Introduction

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