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pcb design help

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cobra1

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i have a schematic that i would like to make into a pcb, pretty basic one.

i tried downloading eagle but it stops at 75% every time.

is there anyone on here that would be able to lay out the pcb for me, i intend to use the iron on stickers for the pbc or use a light box and accitate.

and then develop it in a tray and drill manually.

single sided pcb would be great.

thanks in advance
 
i have a schematic that i would like to make into a pcb, pretty basic one.

i tried downloading eagle but it stops at 75% every time.

is there anyone on here that would be able to lay out the pcb for me, i intend to use the iron on stickers for the pbc or use a light box and accitate.

and then develop it in a tray and drill manually.

single sided pcb would be great.

thanks in advance

hi,
It would help if you posted the circuit diagram.:)
 
Hi Cobra1,

I would like to help you. If you can't download Eagle I would create a scaled pdf file of the PCB layout.

However I need a pretty precise part describtion, e.g. what type of LC-diplay and which brand and type of transformer you want to use.

I also assume you don't want to mount the temperature sensor on the PCB but use a three pin wafer (similar to fan connectors on mainboards) to have the temperature sensor where you want to measure.

Boncuk
 
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part numbers and dimensions

would help
dimensions for tactile switches, D81820, transformer etc.
If you have all the componets already and have a board designed but use different demensions then the board design is usuless.
to look up all the different part numbers then get correct demensions in design is alot of work
parts like a resistor (wattage?) 14 pin dip sockets are basic but different parts have different demensions.
6x6 tactile switch = maybe 3 or 4 different layouts??
transformer dimensions???
I would be happy to design a board but without all this info, its a waste of time.
For a cost, would even etch and drill a board BUT need more info.
 
tactile switches, lcd, and ds1820 sensor are all off board so will just need through holes to solder ribbon cables to.

the transformer part number is on the schematic, resistors are all standard 1/4w.

i have got someone who will make the boards, with soldermask and silkscreen all drilled etc, for £1.25 each all he needs is the gerber files

all the info needed is in the writing, if you need any more info just ask
 
Here is your PCB design.

Board dimensions are 84.4550X65.4050mm

Boncuk
 

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How long did it take you to create that design Boncuk? That would take me a while, but I guess you get pretty quick with practice. I've only tried designing one PCB and it was a spectacular failure, I asked someone to check it for me and the advice was basically to burn it to ashes.

I'm pretty new to electronics though so I'm going to try again with a much simpler PCB design; I have a very simple schematic for a dual battery / wall-wart power supply for a device which I plan to make a PCB for as soon as I can get my hands on some etchant.
 
How long did it take you to create that design Boncuk?

The first design took me two hours including the creation of a package for the transformer.

That would take me a while, but I guess you get pretty quick with practice. I've only tried designing one PCB and it was a spectacular failure, I asked someone to check it for me and the advice was basically to burn it to ashes.

After having designed PCB layouts for many years you have got routine to place components intuitively seeing possible collisions of traces already by looking at the ratsnest.

As for your spectacular failure I recommend to name (almost) every net when creating the schematic. Print a net list and compare with the intended schematic. There might be unconnected nets to one pin which the ERC won't catch if it is not an input pin. A missing connection can easily happen when switching grid sizes, e.g. from 0.5 to 0.125 inches. You won't discover the missing connection unless you use the "show" function which should highlight two (or more) connected pins.

I'm pretty new to electronics though so I'm going to try again with a much simpler PCB design; I have a very simple schematic for a dual battery / wall-wart power supply for a device which I plan to make a PCB for as soon as I can get my hands on some etchant.

Email me your project including a parts list and I will suggest a neat and error free PCB layout for you. :)

Regards

Boncuk
 
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I don;t want to sound like jerk because your PCB is so nice and finished, BUT might I suggest allowing a full 8mm clearance between any part of the mains voltage circuit and any part of the low voltage circuit? The very closest point between the two should be the optocoupler itself.
 
As for your spectacular failure I recommend to name (almost) every net when creating the schematic. Print a net list and compare with the intended schematic.

I did that and I'm pretty sure everything was connected; unfortunately the problems were more the fact that in trying to make everything as efficient as possible, I put tracks too close together, used too tight angles which would cause undercutting in the corners where pockets of etchant get trapped, and a couple of other problems.


Boncuk said:
Email me your project including a parts list and I will suggest a neat and error free PCB layout for you. :)

Thanks, that's very generous :) I'll e-mail it in a sec. I can only find your hotmail, listed as MSN on your profile, so I'll e-mail it to there.
 
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I don;t want to sound like jerk because your PCB is so nice and finished, BUT might I suggest allowing a full 8mm clearance between any part of the mains voltage circuit and any part of the low voltage circuit? The very closest point between the two should be the optocoupler itself.

If I had the freedom to decide about the board size I certainly would have observed that.

The OP however wanted a PCB layout not larger than 85X70mm.

8mm clearance is a bit much. I normally use 5mm as minimum trace distance between live and neutral. Because of the size limitation that distance had to be shrunk to 2.5mm (still safe if solder stop is used and a final layer of isolating laquer).

Screw head terminals for medium power AC loads (up to 2.5KW) have a pin distance of 7.5mm. Considering pad size this distance gets very narrow as well.

I will think about enlarging the board size to an entire height of 70mm (presently it is 65mm).

Thanks for the input.

Regards

Boncuk
 
thanks bonuk, your a star. much appreciated. so just to clarify, you used the transformer from rs components??
 
thanks bonuk, your a star. much appreciated. so just to clarify, you used the transformer from rs components??

Nope, I used the transformer from "Block Transformers".
 
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