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I tried a new PCBA factory for one of my boards design with an order of 200 PCS. I didn't notice my BOM had two references for the same Finder relay on same line. Until now, I was lucky enough for my other PCBA factory to order the right reference but this one ordered the wrong reference.

So now they are offering me two options :

  • Cutting the 3 last pins of the relay which don't fit on my board
  • Ordering 200 relays (but with the recent outbreak of Coronavirus, it will add up to 45 days for the production to be finished + additional 10-15% of total paid price)

As the wrong relay is a changeover one and my boards stay most of the time "open", the cut pins will have a voltage applied on them and some traces are just below. So I don't think it's a good idea to do this. But as it will add lead time + costs, I want to be sure.

The right reference is :

  • Finder 62.23.9.012.0300

Wrong one (on pictures below) :

  • Finder 62.23.9.012.0000

These relays make contact for 230VAC 3-phases voltage. We use them with up to 10A currents.

Here's the part of the design concerned :

PCB_holes+traces Wrong_Finder_relay

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  • \$\begingroup\$ it mght be worth redesigning the board to incorporate the extra holes (if there's room) so that should this mistake happen again there's no consequence. \$\endgroup\$ Mar 2, 2020 at 9:05
  • \$\begingroup\$ I definitely fixed the error in my BOM so this error won't happen again. Also I won't change my PCBA factories for a long time and they will remember this. \$\endgroup\$
    – Carton_
    Mar 2, 2020 at 9:18

2 Answers 2

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If they have the same current rating, I would cut them. Further, if the potential of the most upper trace is not 230VAC, I would add a piece of Kapton tape (or Koptan).

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  • \$\begingroup\$ There will be two traces concerned. The first one is L1 and in open mode, the cut pin with floating voltage will be over the L1 output. For the second trace, the floating voltage from L3 will be above L2. All traces are rated for 230VAC / 10A. \$\endgroup\$
    – Carton_
    Mar 2, 2020 at 8:24
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    \$\begingroup\$ it looks like the extra pins can be trimmed or snapped off well back so that they don't come close to the board surface. maybr then add a little liquid electrical tape to the stub. \$\endgroup\$ Mar 2, 2020 at 9:06
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I had a similar situation I used a Dremel tool die grinder to trim the pins then used fiberglass tape used in motor and transformer winding applications on my board.

My situation was the relay I first used was no longer available and I had to use the closest thing to it that I could find.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Are you intentionally making all of your answers "community wiki?" \$\endgroup\$
    – JRE
    Mar 2, 2020 at 15:12

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