Questions tagged [solder-mask]
The traditionally green coating which protects copper on PCBs from oxidation and shorting due to solder. Use this tag for PCB design questions and soldering questions which require attention to the mask layer.
71
questions
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1answer
60 views
Using net ties for star ground in Altium
I have been experiencing issues with net ties on altium. I am trying to join my separated analog and digital grounds at a single point (star ground) and I tried creating a net tie component to act as ...
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0answers
42 views
Pads acting as heat sink for LED design
I am using traces much wider than the LED footprint to dissipate heat. What design guidelines should I follow when making design like this.
Should I add solder mask expansion between anode and ...
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0answers
39 views
UV solder mask and dry film solder mask
I am interested in masking my PCBs and I have a few questions about the process:
Using a dry film solder mask seems more straight-forward, but it is more expensive.
If I use UV solder mask in a ...
0
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2answers
77 views
Use of tin plating
I have been researching about PCB development, and I came across the tin plating process. Consider the following scenario: I have created a PCB, covered it with solder mask, and I am now ready to ...
0
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1answer
94 views
Proteus thermal exposed copper (opening) for the pcb layout
I am using Proteus 8.7 and I am so confused about how to make a power plane (copper pour) exposed .
I mean I want that area free from green mask so that It can make its use as thermal dissipation area....
0
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2answers
130 views
Do PCB routing vias require soldermask expansion?
Most recommendations I've come across regarding solder mask expansion state that it is required so that misalignment between the copper pad and the solder mask opening do not interfere with the solder ...
9
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3answers
1k views
Traces in connector's solder keep out area
I'm designing with a Molex 87438-0443 connector whose PCB footprint includes a 'solder keep out area' between each pair of copper pads for each connector lead.
It appears that the manufacturer wanted ...
1
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3answers
216 views
Why do older (green) PCBs have primarily a darker color, whereas new ones are lighter
Note the difference in color between this old commodore board and this newer board. It might seem like lighting, but after looking at my own collection of scrap boards, the older ones tend to have a ...
0
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1answer
127 views
Solder Paste and Solder Land in Altium Designer / CircuitStudio
I am designing a footprint for the SOT765-1 using Altium CircuitStudio, and I am a bit confused regarding the solder paste and solder land definitions found on Page 3/5 of this datasheet. For the ...
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3answers
943 views
How to remove solder mask in Eagle
I want to remove solder mask in particular area for mount a TO220 package.
As shown in below image I want to mount the 7805 using a M3 nut and need to remove solder mask only in covering area. (like ...
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1answer
153 views
PCB Solder Mask textures
In the example image below the pcb is shown to have a textured honeycomb like mesh texture on the solder mask. My question is how would one go about creating a textured finish to the PCB like seen in ...
2
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3answers
715 views
Why some vias have solder mask and others do not?
Here's an area of a commercial PCB.
I'd like to know if the "missing" solder mask is a deliberate choice made by the PCB designer, and if so, why?
edit: changed graphic to highlight representative ...
4
votes
1answer
552 views
Why did KiCad merge my pins into one open blob in the solder mask gerber?
I designed a PCB with an IC that has a pitch of 0.5. The footprint solder mask looks like this:
However, the gerber came out with one blob that looks like this:
Why did it do that? Can I stop it? ...
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1answer
373 views
Keepout in Solder Mask in Altium 17 for SD Card Connector
I am creating footprint for Amphenol's SD Card Connector in Altium Designer 17. The datasheet shows ...
0
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1answer
332 views
soldermask top for non plated holes
I am here to clarify doubt on soldermask for non plated holes. I know soldermask is used to protect board from oxidation and prevention of solder bridges and accurate placement of components to be ...
3
votes
1answer
824 views
Can Silkscreen Go Directly Onto Copper PCB Layer? (No SolderMask)
Hi I am wondering if a PCB silkscreen layer can be printed directly onto a copper layer without a solder mask. I don't see this often but I have a design for which this would be useful. Has anyone ...
0
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1answer
412 views
Vias in between BGA Pads
I'm designing a 4-layer board with BGA components. The BGA part I'm working with, the SensL MicroFJ-60035 TSV, is a BGA SiPM with its pads in a 6mm by 6mm square layout. Most of the pads are no-...
2
votes
1answer
242 views
Missing soldermask on some pads of mcu
After designing a board in Kicad with an SMT32L0 on it, I sent it to seeedStudio and when I received it, I noticed that some of the pads on the stm32 are missing soldermask:
I checked the gerber file ...
0
votes
1answer
99 views
Solder Pad and Stencil Mask Data Sheet - Confused
I am using Autodesk Eagle. Need to create a footprint for CREE LED XHBAWT which is in the XLAMP XH-B series.
I do not understand the Datasheet drawing of the footprint, attached.
Are the lower views ...
5
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1answer
659 views
What impact, if any, does the solder mask color have on the electrical and mechanical properties of a PCB
At my place of work, we use soldermask colors as a sort of poke-yoke for manufacturing purposes E.g. Technicians know that green pcb goes with green, blue pcb with blue, etc. This has lead to some ... ...
2
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2answers
517 views
Is it OK to put traces under castellated PCB
If we would speak in general: what is the strength of the solder mask in terms of breaking voltage?
So if we put one PCB with castellated pads on another board like this:
What will heppen if both ...
2
votes
2answers
6k views
Acceptable Silk to Solder Mask Clearence
I am running DRC in Altium Designer and Im getting tons of "Silk to Solder Mask Clearence" Errors. I searched for acceptable values, but without luck. Altium is set to 10mil. I have most values around ...
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1answer
2k views
How to make untented vias in KiCad?
Is it possible to make some selected via's exposed in KiCad? Although the option "Do not tent vias" is helpful but it is a global setting. Is there any option so that some vias will be left unmasked?
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4answers
5k views
Super glue as solder mask?
Wondering if super glue could be safely used on a PCB to cover exposed traces or jumper wires.
I know it’s non conductive but is there any type of damage that could occur?
I normally use green ...
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1answer
8k views
Minimum solder mask sliver
I am new to PCB design, and especially on Altium. I am trying out it and have no clue of the best way to fix the following error:
I am trying to build a PCB for a Li-Ion charging circuit based on ...
3
votes
2answers
429 views
Inconsistent solder mask on vias
When looking at PCBs in consumer products or PCBs I have ordered from manufacturers myself, I notice that, while many of the vias are covered in soldermask, it seems like a few random vias are missing ...
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votes
6answers
3k views
UV solder mask sticking to cover instead of PCB
I'm doing the usual DIY PCB process. Lately I got some of the chinese UV solder mask (similar to the one used in this video). I can work with it just fine - it sets under my UV lamp perfectly, within ...
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1answer
7k views
I inhaled some solder fumes for a bit of time [closed]
I inhaled some solder fumes while attempting a project last week, and I haven't stopped coughing since. It's getting rather irritating. However, I should mention that prior to my experiment, I had a ...
2
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2answers
490 views
RTV silicone as solder resist
can moulding RTV silicone be used as a solder resist? note that this silicone is made for casting low melt alloys/metals.
0
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2answers
910 views
How to make soldermask on PCBs for soldering?
I know how to do a PCB until this step (below image) ugly and not safe by short-circuits.
I found this PCB Plating Tape on Aliexpress (Link to the aliexpress product. I'm not the seller) which I ...
2
votes
2answers
275 views
Altium: i-dots in soldermask layer disappear in Gerber
I have my email address embedded in the soldermask layer.
When checking the generated Gerber data, the dots on all the "i"s are missing.
How did that happen?
0
votes
1answer
508 views
Do 0402 chip component need solder mask web between the pads?
In my board, all 0402 parts are using gang solder mask.
The pad to pad distance is 10 mils. Is there any risk of solder short?
Do I need to suggest applying solder mask web between the pads for all ...
0
votes
1answer
387 views
Can spray paint or a marker block UV for solder mask/resist? [duplicate]
I am planning to make a PCB and putting solder mask on it but I don't have my own laser printer to print the transparency for the mask. I do, however, live near a printing shop with a laser printer ...
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1answer
614 views
solder mask clearance [closed]
The current soldermask clearance in GERBER is 3 mils.
Will PCB house reduce it base on their capabilities?
I'm a fresh DFM engineer in an EMS company. Soldermask analysis is a part of DFM, changes of ...
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votes
1answer
504 views
What's the min space between exposed via pad to exposed component pad during reflow?
In my opinion, the solder will not run into the via as long as there is a reliable soldermask web between them. Is that right?
As I know, PCB manufacturers change gerbers all the time to make the ...
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2answers
1k views
Is solder mask expansion overlap legal?
I used the component wizard in Altium to automatically create a footprint but it decided to overlap the solder mask expansion with neighboring pads. Is this ok or should I change it such that there is ...
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1answer
779 views
Questions about Solder Mask Expansion Rules and Passive design in Altium
I am working on my first Systems project as a student and I am learning how to integrate chips as I go along in Altium.
I recently came across this question in which you provided a rule for ...
0
votes
2answers
1k views
Missing top solder mask complaint when trying to order PCB? (PCBWay)
I'm really new to PCB layout and after creating my PCB layout and ordering it from PCB Way my audit was failed for reason "no top solder mask layer." What does that mean and how would I add that? If ...
18
votes
2answers
2k views
Why would metal from a pad be *underneath* the solder mask in a footprint specification?
One of TI's new regulators has a rather unusual footprint, with several pads (7-13 in this instance) requiring that the pad metal extend under the solder mask.
This is in contrast to the usual case ...
5
votes
3answers
4k views
What is a “solder mask opening” in a footprint?
In the Luxeon LED datasheet under Solder Pad Design section there is a diagram with 3 crosses around the edges of the LED. They are identified as "4x Soldermask Opening (hatched area)" but I am not ...
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0answers
97 views
Why is green the default solder mask color? [duplicate]
Solder masks can be had in many different colors. I have personally gotten white, black, red, and blue. But green is, by far, the most prevalent color on printed circuit boards, and the default at ...
4
votes
1answer
346 views
PCB solder mask inconsistency
We have a small PCB that has been manufactured and assembled several thousand times. However, the last lot showed inconsistencies with the solder mask:
It looks like the solder mask is very thin, ...
7
votes
1answer
278 views
Optional feature in PCB layout of MMCX board edge connector. What's it for?
I'm designing a circuit requiring MMCX board edge connectors, specifically using the Molex 73415-0961 jack. When looking through the datasheet for suggested PCB layout, I see mention of an additional ...
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0answers
522 views
Problem isolating vias. Solder mask offset
I detected a shortcircuit between two vias in one of our PCBs. The shortcircuit was caused because an offset on the solder mask leaves part of the via's ring "half opened". When the PCB was assembled, ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Text inside shape in Eagle
Is it possible to make text inside a shape on the silkscreen layer in Eagle? I'd like a white rectangle with text inside that's the color of the solder mask.
(I see this post but not sure if I can do ...
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2answers
3k views
Altium Designer, Solder mask layer
I designed my first PCB and had it manufactured, but there was no solder mask on the manufactured PCB. Is there a specific setting that i need make in order to enable the solder mask layer? I am using ...
0
votes
1answer
1k views
Solder mask custom shape in altium
I want to have a region in my PCB without solder mask while the other regions should have solder mask. I am not sure how do I do it in Altium? To be precise I want say a custom shape solder mask free ...
3
votes
1answer
669 views
Solder mask free regions on PCB
I have noticed many PCBs with solder mask free regions/areas on the edges. I am attaching an image with this. What is the purpose of such areas ? What I can think of is heat transfer to the ambient ...
5
votes
2answers
5k views
Eagle - non solder mask defined (NSMD) pads
I am designing a PCB layout in Eagle and in the datasheet of my modul it is said that "Non solder mask defined (NSMD) type is recommended for the solder pads on the PCB". Does it mean that there will ...
1
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1answer
248 views
Coating a soldered connection on a small circuit board
I have a small PCB, about the size of a quarter and having a Bluetooth chip on it. I have 4 wires soldered to the board. 2 of which are for a 3.7 Volt battery connection and 2 are to connect a small ...
