Pcb Acid Trap
Acid trap pcb when routing track around a corner.
Pcb acid trap. 50 thou thousant of an. An acid trap usually occurs when traces meet at sharp angles and etching solution becomes trapped at the junctions. Acid traps acid trap is the common term for acute angles in a circuit. Here s an easy acid trap to miss from the joining of two traces.
Acid traps acute angle. Idealy it should be 45 degrees mitered. Acid traps can cause traces to become disconnected from their assigned nets and leave these traces open circuited. Designers always look to avoid any chances that might lead to acid trap holes.
This trap is commonly referred to as an acid trap. The acid trap holes can develop on both sides of the pcb if you are dealing with double layered or multi layered pcbs. Do yourself a favor and thoroughly scan all of the trace angles on your board after you finish your routing. I have also been told that 90 degree routing is ok for large tracks e g.
Image source but time and time again pcb designers forget one simple thing you can still make acute angle acid traps from the joining of two traces. There s an old rule of thumb circling around the pcb designer communities avoid acute angles 90 in pcb design lest you incur the wrath of the acid trap while that may have made sense over ten years ago when thermally activated etchants were widely used in pcb fabrication today s manufacturing methods have greatly improved. During the pcb design process the design engineer can unknowingly makes a mistake. They are referred to this way because these acute angles trap acid during the pcb etching process allowing the acid to build up in the nook of the angle.
As a result the corners are made in the trace crossing point that can trap acid inside it. The issue of acid traps has been reduced in recent years by fabricators switching to the use of photo activated etching solutions. You can t get rid of an acid trap hole after it has been created so it s crucial to check for them beforehand.