Tech; little copper pads on the back of PCB's, what are th..

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

solder pads

BriMc wrote:
> What are the little copper pads on the back of thru hole PCB's called? They
> are
> usually on the legs of pins that do not connect to traces. TIA. Brian
>
>

--
Cliffy - CARGPB2
A passion for pinball!
http://www.passionforpinball.com

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

pads - These are the copper elements to which pins will be soldered. There
are two types:

Through-hole pads have a hole drilled through them so that the pin can be
passed through the hole before soldering. For a through-hole pad on a
multilayer board, there is usually a pad on each copper layer, connected
together by plating the hole with copper. This arrangement is called a
padstack. Through-hole pads are usually round or square. A common
arrangement is to use a square pad for pin 1 and round pads for the rest of
the pins.

Surface-mount pads do not have a hole, and are only on one layer.
Nevertheless, they are still represented by a padstack, although it is a
pretty simple one with only one pad. Surface-mount pads are almost always
rectangular.

LTG  

"BriMc" <pinball@maine.rr.com> wrote in message
news:XT7Oe.35045$EX.5095@twister.nyroc.rr.com...
> What are the little copper pads on the back of thru hole PCB's called?
They
> are
> usually on the legs of pins that do not connect to traces. TIA. Brian
>
>

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Often there will be copper pads on the surface layers of PC boards that
*appear* to do nothing. In fact, they are usually patterns called
"copper theiving" and the purpose is to equalize the density of copper
across the board so the etching process is consistent across the board.
If the copper is poorly distributed, the acid will etch it unevenly as
the etchant gets saturated in the high copper areas.

Terry S (PCB designer in a former career -- and now headed down that
path again)


BriMc wrote:
> What are the little copper pads on the back of thru hole PCB's called? They
> are
> usually on the legs of pins that do not connect to traces. TIA. Brian

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

We always called them a "via". (Vee-yah)

John

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

That is what I thought but two distributors say that is not the correct name
for them. '

"Cliffy" <crinear@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:49udnbRJ2aBEl5TeRVn-3g@comcast.com...
> solder pads
>
> BriMc wrote:
>> What are the little copper pads on the back of thru hole PCB's called?
>> They are
>> usually on the legs of pins that do not connect to traces. TIA. Brian
>
> --
> Cliffy - CARGPB2
> A passion for pinball!
> http://www.passionforpinball.com

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

On Sun, 21 Aug, BriMc wrote:
> That is what I thought but two distributors say that is not the correct name
> for them. '

If they're so sure, they should be able to tell you the correct name. :-)

I agree with Cliffy.


--Donnie

--
Donnie Barnes http://www.donniebarnes.com 879. V.

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

PT wrote:
> We always called them a "via". (Vee-yah)
>

"Via" is actually another term for "plated through-hole".
Pads/donuts/eyelets are not the same thing.

Clive
---
Board repairs, EPROMs, servicing...

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Easley, SC 29642
(864)238-1707
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