Yahoo Groups archive

Homebrew PCBs

Index last updated: 2026-04-28 23:05 UTC

Message

Choosing a trace width

2003-01-01 by ghidera2000 <ghidera2000@yahoo.com>

Been checking the net and I've found a few trace width calculators. 
I'm having trouble believing what I'm seeing though! I have two 7 
segment displays (man71A). Each one takes about 80mA to operate. I 
had just guessed and used a 20 thou' trace (0.02 inch). According to 
the calculators I've found though, 1oz copper carrying 160mA with a 
max temp rise of 5C only needs to be 0.0014 thou' (1.4 mills). Is 
this correct? Are the trace sizes I see on boards as big as they are 
simple due to limitations in the pcb making process and not for 
carrying current?

What trace sizes do you generally use for TTL circuits?

And actually, while I'm at it - what pad sizes do you like to use? 
PCB123's default pad size is 0.05 inch. Seems pretty small to me 
but, I'm just a noob :D Any trouble soldering on pads that small?

Attachments

Move to quarantaine

This moves the raw source file on disk only. The archive index is not changed automatically, so you still need to run a manual refresh afterward.