PCB are the basis of all the electrical equipment around us – from children’s toys to kitchen appliances to the smartphone you might be using as you read this. To work, all of these projects rely on a functioning PCB or printed circuit board.

Whether you’re an expert engineer or an inventor at home, you’ve probably designed a PCB that fails due to a short circuit or burnt components. PCB design is extremely complex, and trial and error is not alone. Optimize these PCB layouts by looking at these tips for better PCB performance to avoid some tough lessons.

research

Before you start making plans for your next PCB, pause for a moment to consider why. Is your goal to improve existing boards? Are you dreaming of a completely innovative concept? Whatever the reason, make sure you understand the end goal and investigate whether there are existing board templates that you can use. This forework can save you a lot of time and avoid reinventing the wheel if the solution already exists. You will also avoid repeating mistakes when designing PCB layouts.

Create a Blueprint

Once you’ve identified the outcome you want to achieve, it’s time to turn your idea into something tangible. Start with a hand sketch to draw the circuit board. This way, you can look at the process and catch any errors before adding technical complexity. You can also have colleagues or other PCB enthusiasts review your board layout ideas for input before creating a virtual design.

Place the

Placing components at the schematic stage is critical to the viability of the PCB. In general, you first place the most important elements first, and then work on any styles or add-ons from there. Remember, you don’t want to crowd the PCB. Components and active components placed too close together can cause high temperatures. PCB overheating can cause components to burn and ultimately lead to PCB failure.

You also need to contact the manufacturer and conduct a rule check during the design process to see if there are placement restrictions. In general, you want at least 100 mils of space between any component and the edge of the PCB. You also want to evenly separate and organize components so that similar components are oriented in the same direction as much as possible.

routing

When planning and designing PCB layouts, you need to consider different wiring options and specifications. On the finished PCB, the wiring is copper wire along the green board, which is used to indicate the current between the components. The general rule of thumb is to keep the path distances between elements as short and direct as possible. You also want to make sure that your wiring is wide enough to handle high temperatures in the circuit. If in doubt about the PCB overheating, you can always add through-holes or holes to direct electricity to the other side of the PCB.

The layer number

Thanks to a growing scientific understanding of electricity and circuits, we can now easily manufacture multilayer PCBS. The more layers on a PCB layout, the more complex the circuit. Additional layers allow you to add more components, often with higher connectivity.

Multi-layer PCBS appear in more complex electrical equipment, but if you find that PCB layouts are becoming overcrowded, this can be an excellent solution to the problem. Multi-layer PCB designs do require higher costs, but Advanced Circuits offers excellent deals on two-layer and four-layer PCB manufacturing.

PCB manufacturer

You’ve put a lot of hard work and effort into designing your PCB, so make sure you choose a manufacturer that can make your plans work. Different PCB manufacturers use different manufacturing processes and use different quality components. It would be a shame to have incredible PCB layouts, only to accept inferior products that don’t weld well or have faulty components. Choosing a manufacturer that uses surface mount technology is your best bet, and it accurately represents your PCB layout. This manufacturing method is largely automated and reduces the risk of human error when creating physical PCBS.

Create a prototype

Ordering a prototype is a good idea even if you have 100% confidence in the PCB. Even experts know that once you see how a prototype performs in a given application, you may want to tweak your PCB design. After testing the prototype, you can go back to the drawing board and update the PCB layout for the best output.