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PCB Materials

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Musicmanager

Well-Known Member
Hi Guys

I've been looking for some information concerning PCB materials, in particular ratings - current capacity etc but I can't find anything at all. I've been using prototype ' stripboard ' such as VERO for my projects so far and where there is an obvious current issue I've 'beefed' up the tracks by soldering copper wire to the pins and along the PCB track. I'm not into etching yet, but I guess the issues will be much the same. I want to know on a better than ad hoc basis what I should and should not do by calculation but I can't find any information anywhere.

Anybody know where I should look ?
Thanks

S
 
I used Veroboard stripboard for many years, the fiberglass blue one. Then I couldn't buy Veroboard locally anymore so I used a high quality Chinese copy that was also fiberglass.
Then the Chinese one was also discontinued so I used a Arab one that stinked (stunk, or stank?) like it was made of cow dung but was actually very cheap phenolic-paper.
I never used high current on stripboard so I do not know a recommended maximum.
 
Here is a recent thread on calculating current capacity of pcb traces on FR4, the most common fiberglass substrate: https://www.electro-tech-online.com...a-simple-pcb-trace-width.143850/#post-1210727 A search on "pcb trace width calculator" will give a load of hits.

The limiting factor is heat. Thus, such calculators will ask for the acceptable heat rise or calculate the heat rise based on your inputs. While FR4 is most common, some applications require even better heat dissipation/heat sinking, such as high power LED's. For those, metal core pcb's (often just, mcpcb) are available. Here's a PowerPoint-style presentation that discusses thermal properties of aluminum cored mcpcb's: https://heatsinks.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/mcpcbs-for-led-applications.pdf

John
 
Just sitting here and moseying around.

You are good person John.
Just thought I should say that.

Regards,
tv
 
I vaugly remember hearing that standard 0.1" stripboad is good to an amp or 2, and that you could go to about 10 by running a thick layer of solder over the length of the track, enough to flow over the holes and create essentially a long thin solder blob. But this is probably considered extremely poor practice in anything other than emergency prototype lashups.
 
Morning Guys

I vaugly remember hearing that standard 0.1" stripboad is good to an amp or 2, and that you could go to about 10 by running a thick layer of solder over the length of the track, enough to flow over the holes and create essentially a long thin solder blob

I've seen that done on a number of boards, some of which have been in commercially produced products. ie I recently repaired a plug in timer bought in Argos 12 months or so ago - The Neg. & E were connected straight through and the Live was routed via a small PCB and a relay. Connections between plug legs and the relay were wider tracks ' beefed' up with a thick track of solder. Chinese made you'd think - nope - made in Southern UK.

But this is probably considered extremely poor practice in anything other than emergency prototype lashups.

Yes, I would have thought the God of Electronics NIGJIMBIANEL would have scorned and punished such practice as totally reckless :D

There must be some standard somewhere - I've emailed Vero and asked the question, watch this space.

Thanks
S
 
Hi KISS

Thanks for the URL. I've seen several versions of that calculator in my search and they all seem to produce a similar result. As you say, may raise more questions than it answers - from my point of view particularly related to temperature. As a novice I have learnt to watch out for excessive heat in components caused by overloading but trying to access the temp of a circuit or part of a circuit, especially before it's built, is beyond me and probably in the 'too many other things to consider' box. The other thing is that it is often the case that the thickness of the tracks is not stated in the sales pitch - should I trust the statement when it is stated in chinese or taiwanese - and I would have thought the quality of the copper would have bearing too.

This question has come up because I'm planning a modification to a PSU kit and I've been looking at the kit PCB to see what components can be directly replaced and which will have to be mounted elsewhere and hard wire connected. I realised that although the kit PCB is 2 layers it is much thicker than stripboard and you can see than some of the tracks are much bigger than others.

I think I'm answering my own question really - anything less than a couple of amps can go on a board with strips connections, but greater than that to use appropriate rated wires .. .. will probably get untidy but safe !

Thanks for your help

S
 
By Nigjimbianel I've cracked it !!!

**broken link removed**

includes a .PDF called current carrying capacities, easy to follow, just what I need .. ..

S
 
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