Thanks for your interest in our very first PCB design Ask Me Anything!
Click the link below to register!
Already registered? I’ll send you the Zoom link by email in a few minutes. In the meantime, you can start posting your questions in this thread.
Hello,
I have a few questions on manufacturability of PCBs.
- Your soldermask comes in various colors, but the colors drop down when you reach advanced boards. Is this due to the soldermask itself having impacts to the manufacturability or performance, or is it just that certain colors are easier to inspect at higher standards?
- Acid traps in manufacturing. There are IPC standards that advise against angled entry to pads to avoid acid traps. However, I have seen a good bit of hobbyist and large-scale electronics company boards that don’t seem to take that into account during their layout process. How much of a concern are acid traps in your manufacturing process?
- Likewise, teardropping vias. Do you recommend them for board designers on low-speed circuits?
- What are best practices you recommend to improve manufacturability of the design, or to generally bring down cost?
1 Like
Our R&D engineer will reply but you should definitely register for our AMA next Friday.
-
Typically advanced boards have small features and green solder mask has the best resolution. The other colors, especially black, are more difficult to expose and won’t hold the same line resolution as green.
-
Acid traps typically aren’t a problem. Advancements in process equipment and chemistries have pretty much taken care of the problem.
-
Teardropping is always a good idea but how much they help is design dependent.
-
This really depends on the design but keeping things as simple as possible usually helps.