Questions tagged [copper-pour]

The term "copper pour" refers to an area on a printed circuit board filled with copper

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Are these patches of copper pour useless?

I have a 2 layer PCB. Bottom layer is ground plane (blue in images below), top layer is power and signal traces and the rest is ground pour (red in pictures below). Vias are connecting the bottom and ...
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How does a copper pour work in Kicad?

In my project, I have a label in the schematic as Vcc. When I created my backside copper pour in PCBnew, I gave it the Vcc net. Thus, when joining a Vcc pad on the frontside layer, via a via to the ...
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Designing copper fill zones in Kicad 7

I have the upper layer of the board as GND. I want to have the bottom layer of the board as VCC (of course, I have declared the VCC label in the schematic). When I select the copper fill zones, this ...
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Confining signal using stitching vias on a 2 layer PCB

I have read in some questions (for example: Via Stitching on 2 Layer PCB when top layer is not fully ground pour ), that stitching vias are useless when one's PCB only has 2 layers, however people do ...
DarkBulle's user avatar
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Long slots in gnd plane of 2 layer board

I'm trying to design a computer keyboard pcb (2 layer), and because of the placement constraints intrinsic to this situation, I have very long (spanning 80% of the dimension) slots (discontinuities) ...
agnivesh's user avatar
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Copper fills in top and bottom layer from a cost perspective

I've seen low-cost boards from consumer electronics that have just tracks connecting the pins and they will have no copper ground pours. Since making these as cheap as possible is the goal, doesn't it ...
Abhijith's user avatar
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Altium Designer - Polygon pour clearance across all layers in multi-layer PCB

I'm using Altium Designer to design a 4-layer PCB. In the power supply region (230 VAC power lines to an AC-DC converter), I'm routing exclusively on the bottom layer, and have added a rule to ...
DrCeeVee's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
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No ground pour in SMPS PCB?

I was looking at Garber files of the boost PFC reference designs by TI for my own SMPS. I noticed that most of their design don't make full use of the plane by filling them with a ground pour for ...
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Am I wrong for pouring copper on the PCB? [closed]

Since my early hobbyist days when ferric chloride felt expensive, I designed my PCBs with as much copper left on the PCB as possible so my acid solution could last as long as possible. Since then, I ...
Ole Wolf's user avatar
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To pour, or not to pour? (And why?)

Summary / Question I have this PCB (top only): There is essentially no "signalling" happening here, and the only divergences from steady-state are when the input AC (T1) turns on or off, or ...
Matthew's user avatar
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Bare copper on buck converter PCB?

I am working on the design of dual 5V/3.3V power supply based on TI's TMZ12003EXT buck converter module. It's an older TI part, apparently intended for "rugged/military applications," but ...
jemalloc's user avatar
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Help me understand the tStrict rectangular patch in PCB design

I found this circuit reference online for nRF52810. (Git Source here). The example I used of nRF528210 to make some changes. here So, the reference Board has this tStrict part: After doing Copper ...
Just doin Gods work's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
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Altium - Polygon pour into a cutout

I'm using Altium Designer 22 to design a PCB. On the top layer I have a ground plane with a hole in the middle. I made the hole by using a polygon cutout. Now, I have to pour into this cutout region ...
Michele Perotti's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
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Should I do a ground copper pour on a 4-layer PCB in order to shorten return current paths?

I'm designing a 4-layer PCB with the SIGNAL/GND/POWER/SIGNAL stackup. Since I have a dedicated ground plane layer, I've decided not to pour ground connected copper on the top and bottom signal layers, ...
DashNode's user avatar
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How to make a circular polygon pour in Altium?

I have a circular PCB for an LED circuit and I want to cover the free space with polygon pour to enable larger current to pass thru the circuit. The Polygon pour option only permits polygon (with ...
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General approach to routing with copper fill

I don't have much experience with designing PCBs and when doing so I had to make a surprising number of decisions concerning the copper fill. Assume a simple analog or digital circuit, 2-layer PCB. No ...
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Multiple copper pours in ground plane of a 2 layer board

I am an amateur PCB designer.Trying to design my first PCB. I am using a two-layered power supply board. I am using a 72V battery pack as the input to get +15V,+5V, and -15V as outputs. The pic shows ...
gautam023's user avatar
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1 answer
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Should one pour AC-Neutral copper on bottom layer when routing AC

I am designing a PCB where there will be AC mains routing/tracks. What I want to know, is if it is better -for noise reduction- to take one of the AC outputs (Neutral) and pour it on the bottom side ...
Christianidis Vasilis's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
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Polygon pour on internal signal layer ALTIUM

I am working on a six layer PCB, the layers are Top layer, layer 1...layer4, Bottom layer. I am trying to create a polygon pour on any internal layers (for example layer 1). However when I try to pour ...
TeachMe's user avatar
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Removing high impedance ground pours parallel to signal traces in Altium

whenever I route parallel traces on Altium, I get those narrow ground pours between my signal traces when I fill my ground planes. A collegue told me: since these pours are narrow and thus high ...
JCSB's user avatar
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Avoiding ground noise in analog circuit pcb design

Below single layer PCB is a constant current sink circuit (electronic load), it's pure analog supplied with ±12 V and consumes very low current (~50 mA) except the transistor control part (which ...
ElectronSurf's user avatar
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3 votes
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4 layers PCB mixed signal GND review

I'm a beginner at PCB design. We've subcontracted routing for a PCB; it contains mixed analog and digital signals and it's a 4-layer PCB with an inner split GND plane (Signal - GND - VCC - Signal). ...
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What to do when pouring polygon if you didn't use a GND?

I designed a test board for connectors and it doesn't have any ground net. I am new at designing pcbs and I always used ground polygon pour. I don't know what to do without gnd polygon. What should I ...
Damla Celik's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
357 views

Using a via fence without a top layer ground pour

I'm designing a 4-layer 6GHz RF PCB. The top layer is a signal layer and has the RF microstrip traces and the 2nd layer is an unbroken ground plane. I'm leaning against filling the remainder of the ...
MattHusz's user avatar
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3 votes
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What is the actual purpose of having a copper foil layer in PCB?

Out of several layers that make up a PCB, one of them is a layer of copper foil (see image below), What purpose does this layer serve to the PCB? Also, some PCBs have just one copper foil layer ...
Somanna's user avatar
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Voltage regulator protection diode - connected by pours?

I've got a voltage regulator in a circuit, along with its recommended protection diode: On my PCB, I'm using large copper pours for the Vin (Pin 1) and Vout (Pin 3) connections, as these are used ...
abza's user avatar
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Is it ok to put GND and VDD pours below IC (AS7265x)

I am designing a PCB to use with the AS7265x sensors. The datasheet states, on page 51: In order to prevent interference, avoid trace routing feedthroughs with exposure directly under the AS7265x ...
Lurosset's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
219 views

The Thermal relief consideration for TVS diode (for ESD protection)

I am designing a print which has some mircofit connectors, I have placed TVS very close to the connectors on the print and the ground pad connected with a GND polygon directly, this polyon connects ...
Sunss Six's user avatar
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Is this polygon pour, how much current can it carry?

On my attached picture, I draw battery pins, (red square) component that want to current, (blue square, a component want to about 4-6 ampere) and way of current (black line). I have a some questions. ...
Alican Ozpay's user avatar
12 votes
7 answers
5k views

Will copper pour help on my single-layer PCB?

I have a PCB which contains one 20x4 LCD, eighteen 12x12 mm push buttons, and three LEDs. This board is connected to an Arduino Mega through a 30 cm long ribbon cable. Now during testing, I ...
saki gujjar's user avatar
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1 answer
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PCB Copper pour without making Schematic

I have a problem with ground Copper pour for the PCB. I'm using EasyEDA.com to designing my PCBs. But because i usually make my PCB directly without Drawing its schematic so i can't make the ground ...
M.A.K's user avatar
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7 votes
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PCB layout - ground plane clearance around and under a ceramic resonator

We are using Murata's 4MHz ceramic resonator (CSTCR4M00G53-R0) in one of our designs and request help in PCB layout design around the ceramic resonator. The below Murata's FAQs page suggests not to ...
Andrea's user avatar
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VCC on surface or inner layer on 4-layer board?

If I can get away with, I will use 6-layer design where I get two dedicated GND planes, L2 and L5, which creates strong reference plane for traces on L1, L3 and L6. When you're working with 4 layers,...
Barleyman's user avatar
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What is the proper placement of VCC and GND copper pours in 4-layer PCB?

This is my first PCB design and I'm struggling with proper copper pour usage. I would like to copper pour VCC and GND. From what I understand, a copper pour will net multilayer plated through holes ...
Sargent0's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
3k views

Problem Placing Polygon Pour on Board Altium 17.1

I'm laying out a two-layer PCB. I've routed all the signals, including power and ground. I like to add a ground plane on both layers by placing polygon pours. I'm having trouble getting Altium to ...
Lim LS's user avatar
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What are these gaps in PCB polygon pours near vias of the same net?

When adding polygon pours to a power layer on my PCB in Altium Designer (v17), I'm getting weird clearance gaps near vias. The poly and vias are connected to the same net. I'm new to Altium, so I'm ...
JYelton's user avatar
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3 votes
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How do I know where to put stitching vias?

I'm working on a PCB that allows me to attach a TSSOP IO expander to a breadboard more easily for experimenting. I asked a question regarding the configuration of decoupling capacitors for an IC with ...
D. Patrick's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
2k views

Why are ground pours isolated from each other on the top layer?

I am reading the application note from TI about the LM3409 evaluation board. In the board layout (Figure 3) the bottom layer is a single GND pour. But top layer has also some copper pours which end ...
feralgeometry's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

Are multiple groundplanes a good idea on a 4-layer pcb?

I'm working on a design of a 4-layer PCB. The stackup is like this: Top: signal Inner 1: power distribution traces and copper fill (VCC) in some areas Inner 2: signal Bottom: ground plane There ...
Tim Walther's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
593 views

reason to have entire Cu layer as GND connected through via (KiCad)

This is the first time I am designing a PCB and I was looking at example PCBs drawn in KiCad (the image below is my first PCB, to remove any sources of confusion). I noticed that oftentimes, when ...
Blackwidow's user avatar
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884 views

Altium through-hole type, "slot" vs "rectangle", effect on copper pour

I am drawing a board which will fit in an enclosure with batteries. The battery terminal tabs should come up through slots in the PCB, and solder to a pad around the slot perimeter. I created a new ...
Yankee's user avatar
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PCB layer stack up practices [duplicate]

Sorry in advance for the newbie question, but I can't seem to find a good answer. Recently, I've gotten into printed circuit boards and it is all still fairly new. I'm working towards creating a 4 ...
Collin Averill's user avatar
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1 answer
507 views

2 Layer PCB Copper Pour on the bottom layer

I am an amateur PCB designer. Trying to design my first PCB. It's a two layer board with ESP8266 module. I have read lot about ground plane and copper pour at the bottom layer. I have tried to use all ...
Rakesh Mehta's user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
3k views

Is a copper pour redundant on the top layer of a multilayer (>= 4) board with a ground plane?

In a multilayer board with a GND plane directly under the top layer, does adding a copper pour to the top layer give extra value in terms of reducing crosstalk and EMI? If all signal traces already ...
Batperson's user avatar
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Altium Polygon Pour Order Issues

I am using Altium Designer 14.1 and I do not know if it is an issue with this version or something else. The problem I am having is I have a solid copper pour covering the whole board. I want to put ...
Experiment-626's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
423 views

Flex circuit solid or hatch copper pour

I have a flex circuit board with 5 LEDs mounted on it. I have large copper areas attached to the LEDs for improved heat dissipation. I read here that "With a hatched plane, the moisture can exit the ...
Dutch2's user avatar
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3 answers
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Cannot change to front copper layer in KiCAD

I am learning to design PCB using KiCAD. I followed a tutorial on youtube. I got stuck at changing the layer of the PCB. From the video, the layers can be interchange by pressing page up (front ...
iHateUni's user avatar
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3 answers
1k views

Altium: polygon pour with a fully included round hole

I need to draw a round hole on a polygon pour. I've followed this documentation (see video in "Subtracting Selected Polygon Pours" paragraph). It explains that you must first selected the reference ...
Julien's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Altium: Remove small sliver openings in hatched pour

One of Altium's polygon pour modes is a hatched version, which allows the user to specify an individual track width and a grid size and it automatically generates a pour in a cross-hatch pattern. It ...
DerStrom8's user avatar
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1 vote
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EAGLE restrict area isolation [duplicate]

Hi, in my circuit I made ground plane and inside of it I need clear area without copper for anthena. So I have created polygon in tRestrict layer and used Ratsnest for reconection. It worked, but not ...
Arvendui's user avatar