so, i ask a newby question. what is the black round bump in the middle of this little circuit. the circuit is a blinking led shoelace i purchased to take apart. i am guessing the black bump is there to help in the production process.

sorry my shift key does not work on my pc.

 

It is an integrated circuit, without casing, an epoxy drop on it instead.

----> http://obrazki.elektroda.net/87_1250842222.gif

 

The black bump is likely epoxy covering the electronic chip the controls the blinking.

 

It's a blinkin' blob I say.
Max.

 

thanks for the qucik reply.

 

hello there, i am also new and just wanted to know if you have some type of knowledge on hoe car amplifiers work internally....

 

Don't hijack this thread - please go ahead and start your own.

 

It's called drop shot around my parts, it is a epoxy protective encapsulation for a base chip placed and wire bonded directly to the PCB.

Why this works out cheaper then solder in high column production is beyond me.

 

...
Why this works out cheaper then solder in high column production is beyond me.

Because the bare chips come dirt cheap with 4 leadwires bonded, and a 16yr old Chinese girl (on $2 a day pay) sits there all day with a magnifier soldering those 4 wires to the PCB times many hundreds of chips, then another Chinese girl squirts some black goop over them.

Basically because their labour is so much cheaper than the cost of "proper" injection molded and tested DIP or SOIC chips. Which still need to be soldered by a Chinese girl.