Homebrew PCBs

Never being one to assume I do everything just "oh so perfect", I 
looked over the traces with a glass to see if there are any breaks - 
sure enough, I have 5 broken traces on one board - the other two are A-
okay from what I can see.

These are tiny, .010" wide traces running parallel to other traces or 
a ground plane.  The few times in the past I have hed to do repairs 
such as this, I simply laid a piece of thin wire along side the trace 
and hit it with the soldering pen - worked okay.

This time, there isn't enough room to that.  I know I could run 
jumpers and bypass the trace but I am guessing you guys got some 
tricks on how to do such a repair so that it looks good in the end.  

So, lesson #643 for me, any givers out there willing to share a few 
tricks?

Chris

Tin the broken trace. Tin a longer piece of stripped wire wrap wire. (30 
gauge).
  Lay wire wrap wire onto top of tinned trace. Reheat with iron. Cut excess 
wire with an exacto blade.

   Real tiny breaks, I just bridge with solder.

  Not perfect, but reasonably clean.

-carl


At 04:46 PM 10/25/2005, you wrote:

>Never being one to assume I do everything just "oh so perfect", I
>looked over the traces with a glass to see if there are any breaks -
>sure enough, I have 5 broken traces on one board - the other two are A-
>okay from what I can see.
>
>These are tiny, .010" wide traces running parallel to other traces or
>a ground plane.  The few times in the past I have hed to do repairs
>such as this, I simply laid a piece of thin wire along side the trace
>and hit it with the soldering pen - worked okay.
>
>This time, there isn't enough room to that.  I know I could run
>jumpers and bypass the trace but I am guessing you guys got some
>tricks on how to do such a repair so that it looks good in the end.
>
>So, lesson #643 for me, any givers out there willing to share a few
>tricks?
>
>Chris
>
>

My first post here in this fascinating group :)

The trick I use for repairing the finest of damaged traces, involves 
using conductive paint.
This is usually quite expensive to purhase as a generic product 
through electronics outlets, but can be obtained from most car 
parts shops as 'windscreen/windshield heater repair paint'.

Acurately position 2 lengths of low-tack MASKING tape, either side of 
the broken track. Press in place firmly. Using a small fine brush, 
paint over the broken track (don't 'blob' the paint - thinner is 
better). It dries very quickly, so you can remove the tape after only 
a minute.

Masking tape is preferable to clear sellotape, as it absorbs all of 
the excess paint and prevents any 'fringing' at the edges.

Having a very low resistance of typically <0.1 ohm / inch, it will 
carry heavy currents and makes a excellent permanant repair !

Richard



--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "lcdpublishing" 
<lcdpublishing@y...> wrote:
>
> Never being one to assume I do everything just "oh so perfect", I 
> looked over the traces with a glass to see if there are any breaks -
 
> sure enough, I have 5 broken traces on one board - the other two 
are A-
> okay from what I can see.
> 
> These are tiny, .010" wide traces running parallel to other traces 
or 
> a ground plane.  The few times in the past I have hed to do repairs 
> such as this, I simply laid a piece of thin wire along side the 
trace 
> and hit it with the soldering pen - worked okay.
> 
> This time, there isn't enough room to that.  I know I could run 
> jumpers and bypass the trace but I am guessing you guys got some 
> tricks on how to do such a repair so that it looks good in the 
end.  

> 
> So, lesson #643 for me, any givers out there willing to share a few 
> tricks?
> 
> Chris
>

On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 23:25:27 +0200, Henry Carl Ott <carlott@...>  
wrote:

> Tin the broken trace. Tin a longer piece of stripped wire wrap wire. (30
> gauge).
>   Lay wire wrap wire onto top of tinned trace. Reheat with iron. Cut  
> excess
> wire with an exacto blade.
>   Real tiny breaks, I just bridge with solder.
>  Not perfect, but reasonably clean.
> -carl


Same here. Use individual strands of stranded wire for the really really  
thin traces.

ST

That shoudl work, it is essentially the same process as I did on 
bigger traces, but only with a smaller element.  I have plenty of 
stranded wire around so that will be my first stab at it.

Thanks guys!

Chris



--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Stefan Trethan" 
<stefan_trethan@g...> wrote:
>
> On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 23:25:27 +0200, Henry Carl Ott <carlott@i...>  
> wrote:
> 
> > Tin the broken trace. Tin a longer piece of stripped wire wrap 
wire. (30
> > gauge).
> >   Lay wire wrap wire onto top of tinned trace. Reheat with iron. 
Cut  
> > excess
> > wire with an exacto blade.
> >   Real tiny breaks, I just bridge with solder.
> >  Not perfect, but reasonably clean.
> > -carl
> 
> 
> Same here. Use individual strands of stranded wire for the really 
really  

> thin traces.
> 
> ST
>

Welcome Richard and thanks for the tip.  I will be on the look out 
for that paint so I have it around for the "next time".

By the way, I am the group stooge here.  I am learning a ton from 
all of these guys and it's been great.  While I still can't do too 
much on my own yet, I have learned SO MUCH, that it is scary.  
Frankly, it is one of the groups where we can all speak pretty 
frankly with each other, debate some things, and at the end of the 
day, everyone is still cool and it seems as though everyone gains 
(especially me).

Hope to gain some of your knowledge too!

Chris



--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Richard" <Richard@T...> wrote:
>
> My first post here in this fascinating group :)
> 
> The trick I use for repairing the finest of damaged traces, 
involves 
> using conductive paint.
> This is usually quite expensive to purhase as a generic product 
> through electronics outlets, but can be obtained from most car 
> parts shops as 'windscreen/windshield heater repair paint'.
> 
> Acurately position 2 lengths of low-tack MASKING tape, either side 
of 
> the broken track. Press in place firmly. Using a small fine brush, 
> paint over the broken track (don't 'blob' the paint - thinner is 
> better). It dries very quickly, so you can remove the tape after 
only 
> a minute.
> 
> Masking tape is preferable to clear sellotape, as it absorbs all 
of 
> the excess paint and prevents any 'fringing' at the edges.
> 
> Having a very low resistance of typically <0.1 ohm / inch, it will 
> carry heavy currents and makes a excellent permanant repair !
> 
> Richard
> 
> 
> 
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "lcdpublishing" 
> <lcdpublishing@y...> wrote:
> >
> > Never being one to assume I do everything just "oh so perfect", 
I 
> > looked over the traces with a glass to see if there are any 
breaks -
>  
> > sure enough, I have 5 broken traces on one board - the other two 
> are A-
> > okay from what I can see.
> > 
> > These are tiny, .010" wide traces running parallel to other 
traces 
> or 
> > a ground plane.  The few times in the past I have hed to do 
repairs 
> > such as this, I simply laid a piece of thin wire along side the 
> trace 
> > and hit it with the soldering pen - worked okay.
> > 
> > This time, there isn't enough room to that.  I know I could run 
> > jumpers and bypass the trace but I am guessing you guys got some 
> > tricks on how to do such a repair so that it looks good in the 
> end.  
> > 
> > So, lesson #643 for me, any givers out there willing to share a 
few 

> > tricks?
> > 
> > Chris
> >
>