PCB Design Mistakes - Ten Things To Avoid That Will Save You Money & Time

It's no secret that designing a printed circuit board (PCB) is an expensive process. It takes time, effort and money to get everything right the first time around which means errors can really add up fast if they're not caught before it happens! In this article we'll discuss ten mistakes you want avoid in order lower costs while still achieving what needs done on your project design cycle without wasting too much precious cycles or cash

Whether you're starting out as a PCB designer or an experienced layout artist, there are a plethora of rules of thumb to follow in order to get your design done. Even more work is required to get it done well.

No matter your level of experience, it's important to familiarize yourself with the dangers of poor PCB design. Avoiding these dangers can save you a lot of time, money, and headaches down the road.

In this blog post, we'll discuss some of the most common dangers associated with poor PCB design decisions. By understanding these dangers, you will improve as a PCB designer and as a member to any team you're working with, helping to improve the industry.

The dangers of Poor PCB Design

You have many obstacles to achieving proper layout, namely in design for manufacturing (DFM), signal integrity, electromagnetic

compatibility (EMC), high speed digital design and other numerous factors.

I will briefly cover some issues based on category, starting with DFM.

The Effects of Poor Design for Manufacturing

DFM is the process of designing a product in such a way that it can be manufactured easily, quickly, and cheaply. It considers all aspects of the manufacturing process, from raw materials to assembly to packaging.

Poor DFM can lead to increased production costs, longer lead times and poorer quality products. Given that every PCB needs to be manufactured, there are no exceptions to the rule of using good design practice for manufacturing.

That's why I've prepared a video highlighting five things you should check for every PCB design. You can download the Altair PollEx trial software to follow along with the video.

Altair- Altium® - Five DFM Manufacturing Problems That Affect Your PCB Design

(M)anufacturing Design

Engineers talk about being afraid that their board will have mistakes. A PCB product is a mechanical device. Something that you can hold in your hand, okay, and it has these little components on here that are subject to the elements, okay, mechanical stresses, physical problems that can render the PCB useless or too expensive.

And who’s going to pay for an overpriced board, right? Or a board that takes forever to make. Or one that can’t be tested properly.

Things to consider when designing for manufacturing:

• Design for Fabrication (DFF)
• Design for Assembly (DFA)
• Design for Testing (DFT)
• Design for Electrical (DFE)
• Design for Cost (DFC)

Finally, electrical performance checks combined with the netlist at the end of the day are mandatory so that our PCB matches the intent of the electrical design. Know that even the perfect PCB layout cannot fix an incorrect schematic design.

After checking for DFM, you want to look at electromagnetic fields and signal integrity, but for now I’ll focus on signal integrity.

The Effects of Poor Design for Signal Integrity

Signal integrity is the study of how electronic signals behave as they travel through a circuit. It includes the effects of crosstalk, noise, impedance mismatches and other factors that can degrade the quality of the signal.

Poor signal integrity can lead to data loss, errors, and other problems. It is especially important in high-speed digital designs, which are becoming standard in industry.

Signal integrity issues are becoming ever more an issue, even for older designs, because our devices are getting faster as I type this sentence. That's why I made this video highlighting the things you always want to look for when designing any PCB, especially high-speed boards. Altair-Altium Video 4 Five Signal Integrity Problems That Affect Your PCB Design

To follow along with the video, download Altair PollEx free trial and try out these design checks in the tool.

(S)ignal Integrity

Even if you design a board for high yield and mechanical reliability, it might still not work. Why? Electromagnetic interference & Signal Integrity

• Is all about making sure that signals that get transmitted get received
• It depends on signal propagation and the PCB material
• And how we route the PCB, which affects impedance continuity or discontinuity and therefore how our signals behave
• And just a little secret, layer stack up and the strategies we use help solve the problems we get with EMI
• Fun fact, EMI is in fact caused by and related directly to SI issues

Now we understand the importance of DFM and signal integrity. While knowing how to fix these problems Is extremely helpful, we want to avoid having them happen in the first place.

That’s why I support design practices that avoid creating these issues above in the first place. So here a video explaining how you can avoid mistakes in your design.

How to avoid the dangers of poor PCB design

The best way to avoid the dangers of bad PCB design is to educate yourself on the design process and understand the potential problems that can arise. There are many resources available to help you improve your skills as a designer, especially in the courses at HaSofu .

For deep understanding, consider reading design for manufacturing guides from your manufacturer, and books and courses on signal integrity and electromagnetic compatibility.

Conclusion

With the world looking for new ways to make our lives easier, developing skills in PCB designing is an important step. Not only will it help you find success within any industry but also ensure that society has access and use of fresh technologies!