Through-hole technology, also spelled "thru-hole", refers to the mounting scheme used for electronic components that involves the use of leads on the components that are inserted into holes drilled in printed circuit boards (PCB) and soldered to pads on the opposite side either by manual assembly by hand placement or by the use of automated insertion mount machines. [1]
Through-hole technology almost completely replaced earlier electronics assembly techniques such as point-to-point construction. From the second generation of computers in the 1950s until surface-mount technology (SMT) became popular in the late 1980s, every component on a typical PCB was a through-hole component. PCBs initially had tracks printed on one side only, later both sides, then multi-layer boards were in use. Through holes became plated-through holes in order for the components to make contact with the required layers. Plated-through holes are no longer required with SMT boards for making the component connections but are still used for making interconnections between the layers and in this role are more usually called vias.
While through-hole mounting provides strong mechanical bonds when compared to SMT techniques, the additional drilling required makes the boards more expensive to produce. They also limit the available routing area for signal traces on layers immediately below the top layer on multilayer boards since the holes must pass through all layers to the opposite side. To that end, through-hole mounting techniques are now usually reserved for bulkier components such as electrolytic capacitors or semiconductors in larger packages such as the TO220 that require the additional mounting strength, or for components such as plug connectors or electromechanical relays that require great strength in support.
Design engineers often prefer the larger through-hole to surface mount parts when prototyping because they can be used with breadboards, making them easier to handle, insert, and solder.
A rule of thumb for creating a through-hole on a PCB is to make the drill diameter 0.019” (0.48mm) larger than the part’s lead. Horizontal installation of axial-leaded through-hole parts (e.g. resistor, capacitors, and diodes) is done by bending the leads 90 degrees in the same direction, inserting part in the board, bending leads located on the back of the board in opposing directions to improve the part's mechanical strength; finally, soldering the leads such that the solder seeps through to both sides of the board. Later the assembler cuts off the excess leads.
Installation of radial-leaded parts (e.g. LEDs and electrolytic capacitors) and ICs are done in the same manner except the parts are already formed in a 90° direction.