I was drilling the Neovibe PCB and a had a problem with the pads lifting (more than usual) and was trying to troubleshoot the cause. I'm using a Dremel press so the bit is secure when drilling the board. The bit size is just large enough to fit cap/resistor legs. The etching was done with Ferric Chloride. Could the problem be any of these?
1. etched too long?
2. bit speed too slow?
3. thin traces more prone to lifting? This board has smaller traces compared to most so is this problem more common to boards with thinner traces.
Any insight into how to prevent this or is this a case where I might be better off buying a board from JD at GGG? :icon_question:
heat and pressure.
oh and if the etchant gets under the trace, that helps lift it too.
so far the only instance I've had of a trace pulling up was too much heat, resolved it by getting a variable heat iron... $50 well spent.
Hi.
In my estimation, the No 1 cause is a poor quality blank board.
The No 2 cause is when I remove a component, then try to insert a new one without re-drilling the hole to clear excess solder away.
In either case, try wrapping the pad around the leg/pin and soldering well. 90% of the time you can get away with this. The other 10% requires replacing the pad or track with a wire. Component legs are good for this.
cheers