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Trying to get this component drawn into altium: https://www.molex.com/molex/products/part-detail/pcb_headers/0039303035

It has 3 pins which are the electrical connections but then there is also the two additional holes for the mounting feature. I have attached the mechanical drawing for ease of understanding: enter image description here

My issue is that i am unsure how to make the 2 mounting holes? I previously added them as multi layer non plated, but then it gives me an error if i don't have a designator (missing pad designator). But of course it's not a pad.

Downloading the cad from octopart uses the same method (multilayer non plated hole), that is something i can't directly import in. This is what the octopart import looks like: enter image description here

Any suggestions? Also i am finding different designs on octopart makes use of different mechanical layers. Is there any best practices for this? For e.g mech 1 for 3d only.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Make the mechanical holes as vias instead of pads. \$\endgroup\$
    – The Photon
    Commented Apr 11, 2021 at 13:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ThePhoton: I don't think you can include vias in a component footprint definition. \$\endgroup\$
    – Peter Bennett
    Commented Apr 11, 2021 at 21:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ @PeterBennett I believe you can, actually. I have used them in thermal pads. \$\endgroup\$
    – DerStrom8
    Commented Apr 12, 2021 at 1:10

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So? Name the pads "0", "MH0" (for mounting hole), or something like it. As long as the schematic symbol doesn't have those "0" pins, they will simply be unconnected. We do it like that all the time.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ This is precisely what I have always done. I generally use '0' for alignment pin holes and 'MH' for mechanical mounting holes. \$\endgroup\$
    – DerStrom8
    Commented Apr 12, 2021 at 1:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ I see, thanks. Is this a better way of doing it then using VIAs as holes or does it not matter? \$\endgroup\$
    – Hasman404
    Commented Apr 12, 2021 at 8:03

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