PCB design tips – how to avoid the most common design mistakes

We have created a tool for engineers, designers and anyone else involved in the PCB design or production process, that identifies some common mistakes, the implications these may have on the finished PCB and how to avoid them.

Our design tips in brief

There are many reasons for mistakes. Whether it’s a default in your CAD program which was missed because of a variance, all the way to complex designs which require the implementation of very specific rules. These are the top most common design mistakes we come across. The ultimate goal of this design tips tool is to provide support in producing reliable PCBs.

As always, you can reach out to NCAB’s technical team if there are any questions on this, or anything having to do with your PCB design.

The 13 most common PCB design mistakes

  1. Annular ring issues
  2. Plated Through Hole (PTH) to Copper
  3. Non-plated Through Hole (NPTH) / NPTH slots to copper
  4. Holes located on edge of surface mount device (SMD) pad, or very close to SMD
  5. Trace width and isolation spacing doesn’t work with the selected base copper foil thickness
  6. Stubs (unterminated traces) on copper layer
  7. Slivers and same net spacing in copper layers
  8. Copper to edge – distance between copper features and profile
  9. Improper SMD/BGA pads design
  10. Soldermask is oversized / lack of oversize in the same design
  11. Soldermask bridge / web to small
  12. Coverage of soldermask
  13. Legend print problems

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Access our PCB design tips tool

To access our tool as a PDF – and learn how you can avoid the most common design mistakes – please complete the short form below.
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