Keyword: board manufacturing process, pcb board
After the components are placed, the next step is to lay the power and ground traces. pcb board It is essential when working with ICs to have solid power and ground lines, using wide traces that connect to common rails for each supply. It is very important to avoid snaking or daisy chaining the power lines from part-to-part. One common configuration is shown below. PCB The bottom layer of the PC board includes a "filled" ground plane. Large traces feeding from a single rail are used for the positive supply pcb board.
When placing traces, it is always a good practice to make them as short and direct as possible pcb board. Use vias (also called feed-through holes) to move signals from one layer to the other. A via is a pad with a plated-through hole. Generally, the best strategy is to lay out a board with vertical traces on one side and horizontal traces on the other. pcb board Add via where needed to connect a horizontal trace to a vertical trace on the opposite side. A good trace width for low current digital and analog signals is 0.010". Traces that carry significant current should be wider than signal traces. PCB The table below gives rough guidelines of how wide to make a trace for a given amount of current. 0.010" 0.3 Amps 0.015" 0.4 Amps 0.020" 0.7 Amps 0.025" 1.0 Amps 0.050" 2.0 Amps 0.100" 4.0 Amps 0.150" 6.0 Amps When placing a trace, it is very important to think about the space pcb board between the trace and any adjacent traces or pads.
PCB You want to make sure that there is a minimum gap of 0.007" between items, 0.010" is better. Leaving less blank space runs the risk of a short developing in the board manufacturing process. It is also necessary to leave larger gaps when working with high voltage. When routing traces, it is best to have the snap-to-grid turned on. Setting the snap grid spacing to 0.050" often works well. Changing to a value of 0.025" can be helpful when trying to work as densely as possible. Turning off the snap feature may be necessary when connecting to parts that have unusual pin spacing pcb board. It is a common practice to restrict the direction that traces run to horizontal, vertical, or 45 degree angles. When placing narrow traces, 0.012" or less, avoid sharp right angle turns. The problem here is that in the board manufacturing process, the outside corner can be etched a little more narrow. The solution is to use two 45 degree bends with a short leg in between. It is a good idea to place text on the top layer of your pcb board, such as a product or company name.
PCB Text on the top layer can be helpful to insure that there is no confusion as to which layer is which when the board is manufactured. After all the traces are placed, pcb board it is best to double check the routing of every signal to verify that nothing is missing or incorrectly wired. Do this by running through your schematic, one wire at a time. Carefully follow the path of each trace on your PC layout to verify that it is the same as on your schematic. After each trace is confirmed, mark that signal on the schematic with a yellow highlighter. Inspect your layout, both top and bottom, to insure that the gap between every item (pad to pad, pad to trace pcb board, trace to trace) is 0.007" or greater. Use the Pad Information tool to determine the diameters of pads that make up a component. Check for missing vias.
Express PCB will automatically insert a via when changing layers as a series of traces are placed. Users often forget that via are not automatically inserted otherwise. For example, when beginning a new trace, a via is never inserted. An easy way to check for missing via is to first print the top layer, then print the bottom. Visually inspect each side for traces that don't connect to anything. When a missing via is found, insert one. Do this by clicking on the Pad in the side toolbar; select a via (0.056" round via is often a good choice) from the drop down listbox, and click on the layout where the via is missing. Check for traces that cross each other. pcb board This is easily done by inspecting a printout of each layer PCB. Metal components such as heat sinks, crystals, switches, batteries and connectors can cause shorts if they are placed over traces on the top layer PCB. Inspect for these shorts by placing all the metal components on a printout of the top layer. Then look for traces that run below the metal components pcb board.
