Questions tagged [pcb-fabrication]
About the manufacturing of PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards).
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Blank PCB testing of high current traces
I have a successful PCB design that conducts 10 amps of current at 27.5 volts. (Drives a DC motor) I desire to have my blank PCB manufacturer test the high current traces for manufacturing defects ...
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PCB stencil layer for cutout
I ordered a multiple PCBs which all arrived fine. I never included a stencil because of the high cost for it compared to the PCBs. Now I combined a few board designs to fit on a single stencil, so I ...
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Matching Altium and manufacturing DRC technology
I want to input inside my Altium designer the DRC of a manufacturer shown in the link below. There are some importance settings I need to find but the terminology differs from Altium to designers laws ...
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Earbuds charging contacts -- surface finish changed after use
In the photo is a closeup of one of my earbuds that I have used for a few years.
One of the contact surfaces (to the right in picture) is gold-colored and quite shiny. The other one is more brownish ...
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Is there a way to create PCBs with very cheap laser module? [duplicate]
I am quite new to electrical engineering, and I want to progress by creating PCBs. Unfortunately, I do not have the budget to buy a laser cutter to engrave PCB boards, so I was wondering if there ...
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Can a 650 nm 250 mW diode laser remove the first layer of a PCB?
Basically I’m trying to make a DIY laser engraver using the specified diode laser, which I’ve seen people successfully engrave more “forgiving” materials such as wood or cardboard.
I was wondering ...
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Electronics Manufacturing Engineers: What needs to meet IPC-6012 the finished copper or the starting copper foil?
I have a PCB that has a finished copper thickness of 1 oz on all layers and must meet IPC-6012 requirements for Class 2.
Does this mean that the manufacturer can start with 0.5 oz copper foil then ...
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Verification of Gerber file layers
I have old PCB Altium design files and Gerber files. I want to cross check Gerbers with design files. However I'm trying by visually checking, but I know that's not a smart technique to do that. Is ...
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Matrix Trackpad
I wanted to build a matrix capacitive trackpad. Ideally, its PCB would have 4 layers:
1--> The plate array
2--> The circuit that links the rows (horizontally)
3--> The circuit that links the ...
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Pie shaped stubs in RF supply PCB layout
In a recent question there is a photo of a RF PCB
And it shows several pie shaped pads on the supply end of the biasing network.
How are these pads designed. Is there a rule of thumb for the two ...
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How to create a component in Altium library that has multiple parts/components
Is there a way to create a library component for another PCB module in Altium?
For example, let's say that I want to have a footprint that accepts DRV8825 motor driver module (from the picture below).
...
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Output by variants when exporting Altium 3D-PDF
Yes, as in the title that I mentioned, I finished my project in Altium and the prototype PCBs arrived. I send the 3D-PDF export file to the technician for pick and place operation of the components, ...
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CircuitMaker generates outlines for internal resistors
CircuitMaker is generating outlines for internal resistors and I think the manufacture will cut holes in those places.
The PCB view (top layer) is:
The problems are resistors R4, R5, and R1.
The ...
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When Altium exports a 3D step file, how do I control whether it has separate bodies for each component or not?
I try to share the exporting step file from Altium with our mechanical department (they've already used the NX Siemens CAD tool).
When exporting a 3D file from Altium and opening it into NX program, ...
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Does there exist pcb laminates with aluminium layers instead of copper
Is there a product that acts like normal copper clad laminate, but the conductive layer is aluminum?
I would like to try using one of these due to technical limitations in a laser system we have.
To ...
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How to add 2 or 3 parallel Li-ion cells to my custom PCB
I've tinkered with electronics and components for quite some time now, but I'm kind of a noob when it comes to taking things to "production".
I've this project using an ESP12-E, powered by 2 ...
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Are these tracks too close for comfort, will this distance cause any problems?
I'm doing some PCB wiring and I am connecting many buttons to an Arduino Mega's digital inputs. The idea is that the digital pins will be normally high and when I push one of the buttons, the digital ...
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Need help in choosing parts for a pcb [closed]
I am trying to get a PCB fabricated and assembled from PCBWay for a project, but I have little experience with electronic components. The project schematics don't have specifications for some of the ...
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Highlighting Differential Pairs in Altium
The PCB was designed, the gerbers were extracted in rs274x format. But it doesn't include the rs274-x2 version (so doesn't include differential pair impedance information). What can I do to highlight ...
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Problem in etching a PCB
I was working on making my own PCB but faced a problem during etching. I used an iron to transfer the circuit to the copper board, some of the sketch wasn't fine so I used a permanent marker to make ...
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Are round pcb edges useful?
I am new to PCB layouts, and some of the layouts I've seen have round edges copper pours and or round edges boards.
Is that useful from the point of view of signal integrity or is it purely aesthetic?
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SMD Package type selection based on component role
Apologies if this is an obvious question, but as a novice, I wanted to ask - is there a rule of thumb when it comes to selecting a surface mount package type (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
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Drilled vs micro vias
I understand there are regular PTH vias drilled once all layers are stacked together then plated (e.g. the Thru 1:9 via on the left of the image below)
There are also Blind vias which are drilled into ...
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Is it feasible to put solder mask cured on the top of tinned pads?
I made a batch of PCBs with a QFN package IC. I accidentally connected the pad to GND even though it should be either left floating or connected to some signals else. I am glad that I have requested a ...
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FR4/PCB electrical permitivity varing over temperature and effects on trace matching, how much does it change?
I have a high speed design that runs at 1.6GHz, there are also matched traces on a 12 layer board. Now I would like to know if the design will function over temperature of a -10C to 50C range and if ...
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IPC 4671 Via Types
In Altium designer the via type can be declared as one of the follows:
I know about tenting. This is where a via is covered. This way it won't cut through the silk screen or solder mask. But why ...
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Easiest way for a beginner to design and make a custom printed circuit
I've used a prototyping board to successfully build an Arduino based system for a custom purpose
I would like to transfer this design to a custom PCB (using a service like PCBWay, for example,) so ...
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Pad above blind or buried via
For very specific reasons, it would be very neat, to have a pad, for soldering, right above a buried or blind via. E.g. the buried via extends from layer 4-6 and the pad is on the top layer directly ...
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PCB fab questions: Surface finishes and reasonable source for a single board
I've designed a unique Stylophone-type keyboard. I've prototyped it on Masonite with copper foil tape. Now, I'd love to get a slick PCB fabricated. It's a large board, but I feel like, as a hobbyist, ...
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PCB manufacturing process: covering holes with soldermask
The PCB manufacturer is asking
These highlighted green areas (they are openings on the bottom soldermask layer) will be exposed in the bottom layer and you required us to cover the bottom layer with ...
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How can I tell if my Excellon drill file is in number format 2.4?
Sierra Circuits has a "No Touch," no minimum board fabrication service.
Their data requirements for that service are:
...
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Flex PCB controlled impedance
I am absolutely new to flex PCBs. I saw some from time to time but never designed one myself.
Now I'd like to get into this topic and the first task would be to create a ~ 10cm board to board ...
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uSD-card PCB front edge smoothing
Looking for the appropriate (best) technology to smooth or coat the PCB surface to minimize uSD-card connector pint wear-out.
Here's the layout
The uSD-card specification is
uSD cards, to my ...
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What should be the recommended PCB thickness for a circuit involving mains voltage, with 4 layers?
The PCB manufacturer has asked if they can use thickness of 1.6mm, but my total stack-up thickness is 1.8mm.
This is the current stack up
What additional considerations should I take into account to ...
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Interaction between PCB surface finish (ENIG vs HASL), wave soldering, and manual final assembly
I am developing a PCBA that is (for me, an amateur) fairly complicated: 4 layers, double-sided, mixed SMT/THT assembly. It is a fairly dense layout with ~150 total components including all the ...
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PCB copper edge for delivering power
I want to tell a PCB manufacturer to create copper edges for the PCB that should pass power from USB Type-C connector that is connected to USB PD charger:
This power module will be soldered to ...
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What is the name for this PCB process?
Here's a picture of these curved circuit boards, this is from the inside of a keyboard. https://diystuff.nl/embedded/advantage2-keyboard-teardown/
It's not flex, and it's not flex-rigid. These ...
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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 ...
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Altium layer stack manager problem (change thickness, save it but after I close and open Altium again it doesn't change)
I want to explain the problem directly.
I have a two layer PCB. I want to change the dielectric layer thickness to make my PCB's thickness 1.5mm.
Access to "C:\Program Files\Altium\AD22\filename....
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Calculating minimum prepreg thickness to withstand high voltage difference between layers
I am considering doing a 4-layer PCB for a 3-phase system (400 V) for the first time (never done a high voltage board before).
Because of mechanical constraints, I want the board to be as thin as ...
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FlatCAM 8.994 Beta- Gerber copper layers not shown in Plot Area
I am learning to CNC mill my first PCB. As project to learn it, I have chosen the QuinLED V2.6 PCB, which should have wide enough traces and pads to work as milled board hopefully.
This is what I see ...
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What constitutes "multiple designs" on a PCB?
I notice a lot of PCB houses have a significant up-charge if you include more than one "design" in an order.
When you design a board to be broken into multiple pieces ("panels"), ...
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PCB Silkscreen Marking
Today, I came on a PC board and the silkscreen marking have TG on it. What is the component for TG?
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Is it OK to solder to large copper pour area
Is it a problem to integrate an SMD pad into a large copper pour area? In this case, the packages are 1206. I am wondering if I need to be concerned about thermal issues and interfering with standard ...
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PCB assembly/mounting components service [closed]
I am looking for advice from experienced people since I am new to PCB design. I have designed a PCB which is a heart rate wearable device based on Arduino Zero board.
I have a small PCB for the Heart ...
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Bottom solder mask missing in Altium
I designed a board and sent it for fabrication. The manufacturer says that the bottom solder mask is missing. So when I check, all the components are there, but the bottom solder mask is not showing ...
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How do I provide a PCB manufacturer with via type information (such as "Filling and Capping") from Altium Designer?
I have a PCB design in Altium with all of the IPC 4761 Via Types specified on each via. What are the industry standard ways to provide this information to the manufacturer?
I normally export my ...
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How to predict costs for getting PCB assembled?
I have a PCB that I designed that has around 40 components (mostly resistors and capacitors) on a board that is 40 mm by 80 mm. I have the BOM, pick and place file, and gerber file. If I provide the ...
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Milling PCB with CNC?
I am playing with our new CNC to mill PCB using a LPKF Universal Cutter. I used FlatCAM to generate g-code from the gerber files.
I encounter some issues with the routing. As shown below, some small ...
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When should I specify that top and bottom copper component pads are to be pre-tinned?
My circuit boards come from the fab house with solder pads in a pre-tinned state. Maybe I did not think to specify this - or not! Prior to reflowing should I stencil more solder or should I just ...
