Thermal cycling, intermetallic growth and the joint that wears out
Solder joints have a fatigue life. Whether reaching it in service is a defect or an expected wear-out depends entirely on what the design assumed.
Hidden joints: BGA voiding, head-in-pillow and what X-ray shows
Area-array packages hide every joint under the component. The defects that matter there are invisible to inspection and often pass electrical test at room temperature.
Counterfeit and out-of-spec parts, and how they are caught
A part that is not what its marking claims fails in ways the design never anticipated. Detection is a documented sequence, and the supply chain record is half the answer.
When a board grows its own short circuit
Moisture, ionic contamination and a voltage bias will grow conductive metal between conductors. The board that passed final test genuinely passed it — the short did not exist yet.
Fretting, vibration and the connector that fails only in service
Micro-motion measured in microns destroys contacts that pass every bench test. It is the dominant wear mechanism in vehicle and machinery connectors, and it is nearly invisible.
Terminations: workmanship, product defect, or the wrong metal
A failed termination points at an installer, a manufacturer or a materials decision made decades earlier. The joint itself usually says which.
Labels, permits and the paperwork an arc flash is judged by
Most arc-flash matters turn less on physics than on documents: whether the study was current, the label correct, the boundary right, and the energized work authorised.
Why the protection did not clear the arc in time
Incident energy scales with how long the arc burns, so the protective device is usually the difference between an incident and a catastrophe. Its as-found condition is evidence.
What to Preserve After an Electrical Failure
Electrical failures are unusually good at destroying their own evidence — and the routine, well-intentioned response to an incident destroys most of what remains. A short field guide for counsel and site managers.
One Cell, Then the Pack: Thermal Runaway Propagation
Whether a single cell failure stays contained or consumes an entire pack is a design question — and after an incident, it becomes the central forensic question.
ESD or EOS? Reading the Difference Under a Microscope
Electrostatic discharge and electrical overstress leave visibly different damage. The distinction usually decides whether responsibility sits with a handling process or a circuit design.
The Glowing Connection: How a Loose Terminal Starts a Fire
A degrading connection can reach ignition temperature while drawing entirely normal current — which is why overcurrent protection never operates and why these fires are so often misattributed.
“No Fault Found” Is Usually a Real Fault
Units that fail in the field and pass every bench test are rarely mysteries. They are usually cracked solder joints that conduct at room temperature and open under thermal or mechanical load.
When the Arc Flash Injury Is Worse Than the Calculation
Incident energy is calculated under IEEE 1584 from assumptions about fault current, arc duration, and working distance. When the burn pattern does not match the number, the discrepancy is usually the most important evidence in the case.