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I have a tiny PCB that I've been working on and off of for a while now. I received it with leaking batteries, and it had corroded some of the traces off the board. Most recently, I tried redrawing the burnt traces with conductive paint, but to no avail. I actually popped batteries in it last night and had activity for the first time ever, though it was short. I then scraped off the paint and decided it might be time to try a jumper wire. My question is: there used to be a trace pad that completely came off the board, do I need to worry about that? Is it possible to skip the pad entirely and make a bridge between the two sections of trace?

the missing paf

The missing pad

the two points I would bridge

The two points I would bridge

I'm familiar with soldering, but not with specifically making a jumper wire. Mostly I'm trying to find the right kind of wire to do it with and where to purchase it.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thank you! Turns out that was the only thing wrong and now it's back up and running! I can't mark both answers as correct but they were both helpful. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bailey
    Commented Oct 23, 2018 at 9:02

2 Answers 2

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You can use a thin single core wire (which you can easily form into any shape) and solder it directly to the smt resistor from where the trace begins. Strip the wire slightly and make a loop where you want the pad, and complete the trace by soldering it to the via on the right. Choose a thickness of the wire that you can insert into the via. Not sure about your soldering skills, but shouldn't be much difficult.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thank you! I wouldn't have considered making a loop with the wire. What is the purpose of the pad there? With the via, should I solder the wire to the via, in it, or through it to the other side? \$\endgroup\$
    – Bailey
    Commented Oct 20, 2018 at 4:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ Insert the wire into the via for a secure connection. Solder it from the same side or the other or both, doesn't matter until the connection is strong. If there is no component to be placed on the pad, skip the pad. It might just be a test point. \$\endgroup\$
    – harshr2
    Commented Oct 20, 2018 at 7:24
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I think that you can omit the missing pad - it looks like a test point used by the factory for testing.

I would use a short piece of 30 AWG wire-wrap wire to make the jumper. One end goes to the surface-mount resistor on the left, the other end goes right to the pad at the end of the trace on the right.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Awesome, looks like I'll be connecting those two points then. For the via, should I solder the wire to the via, inside the via, or maybe through the via? It's probably a dumb question but I thought I should ask before doing something that would be a mess to clean up. \$\endgroup\$
    – Bailey
    Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 19:36

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