Homebrew PCBs

***ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

   Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2004 12:44:52 -0000
   From: "cybermace5" <cybermace5@...>
Subject: making vias (was: Re: Plating thruholes.)

> I still don't like the paint, it is ridiculously expensive.
> I'm also not sure how it would be applied in a hole, and i doubt it
> is faster than soldering a via.


I can't read seven thousand posts, so I don't know if this method has
been presented before. But in case it hasn't:

1. When laying out PCB, take note of the component type and don't
depend on a through-hole connection for devices that sit over the hole.

2. Strip about a foot of fine copper wire and *lace* through many vias
at once.

3. Solder vias, strip more wire if necessary and repeat. Lacing the
wire through the board will hold it in place while you solder.

4. Cut off excess wire flush to board, and solder the rest of the
components.

This is about the fastest way possible. Even the little plugs require
you to solder both sides, and any electroplating process takes a huge
amount of time and effort. It just takes a small amount of forethought
when laying out the PCB.

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***REPLY:

That sounds pretty good; fast and easy.

I am laying out some two-sided boards, at the moment. I would like to use
2x20 pin headers, with some surplus (new) IDE cables that I got (200
of them, new, for $5!), to make board-to-board connections.

One problem is that the headers sit flat on the board. So in order to 
connect them to both sides, it seems like I'll have to put another row
of holes next to each side, and solder on both sides of those holes. I
am considering just sticking some single-row 1x20 headers in them, but
upside-down so the long ends of the pins are in the holes, and leaving
the pins partially sticking out of both sides of the board and then soldering
on both sides, at each pin.  Seems like a lot of fuss, though, just to install
a header on a two-sided board. (Although it WILL provide nicely-accessible
test-points...)

One problem, in this particular case, is that I'm modifying an older 1-sided
board design, to eliminate all of the wires that used to get soldered directly 
to the board. So I'm putting all of the new traces, from the 
wire-connection-points to the headers, on the TOP of the board, along with
the headers, so the ribbon cables can be plugged in from the top. (These
boards are mounted horizontally, on the bottom of a cabinet.)

It sure seems like there ought to be a much easier, "cleaner" way, though.

Regards,

Tom Gootee

http://www.fullnet.com/u/tomg

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