Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Comments on Can the via-in-pad (VIP) get damaged due to hand soldering during rework?

Post

Can the via-in-pad (VIP) get damaged due to hand soldering during rework?

+0
−0

Background: I have already posted my question on electronics.stackexchange.com (EESE) and I did get an answer too. However, I am not satisfied by the explanation so far.

Literature survey done till now: I have gone through questions such as question 1 and question 2 on EESE. I have also gone through discussions on reddit such as reddit discussion 1 and reddit discussion 2. I found a few discussions on eev forum blog too such as eev discussion 1, eev discussion 2, and eev discussion 3.

From the literature survey I concluded:

  1. Much of the discussion on via-in-pad (VIP) was either about heat dissipation for ICs in BGA package or QFN package. Or, from the perspective of soldering, mainly reflow (what can possibly go wrong while soldering components on top of these vias). Not much discussion was about VIPs and hand soldering.
  2. People have mixed opinion about VIP. Some favour it and encourgae others to use it, while many oppose it and advice the same to others.
  3. The engineering community is clearly divided about VIPs.

My Question: To minimize the routing complexity on my PCB (2 different designs, each with 12 (+5) and 20 (+9) MOSFETs (+diodes) respectively along with their individual isolated power supplies), I intend to use the VIP (vias of 0.3 mm diameter) concept for laying down my PWM tracks. The final layout is not complete yet, however, I have shared a tentative idea of the layout approach that I have in my mind using the screenshot attached below:

Image_alt_text

I have attached the 3d image of the PCB layout too for reference.

PCB Top View:

Image_alt_text

PCB Bottom View:

Image_alt_text

The resistors $R\_G\_Q\_L1$ (gate resistor) and $R\_GPD\_Q\_L1$ (pull down resistor) will be of 2512 package. $R\_G\_Q\_L1$ is not optimized yet. Therefore, based on measurements, it will be changed as many times as needed, which implies the VIPs will also experience the same amount of heat as the pads themselves. I am a beginner to SMD soldering, in fact, I am not too good with through-hole soldering either. I am willing to learn and upskill myself though.

My questions to the experienced engineers here are:

  1. Is it okay for a beginner to work with VIPs?
  2. Can the via-in-pads get damaged due to the heat of the iron during repeated rework?
  3. Is via plugging (using plate over or epoxy or any other method) necessary for such a trivial application?
  4. At 0.3 mm via hole with hand soldering, apart from solder melting through the holes, what else may possibly go wrong in this approach?
  5. Any other advice/precaution that you think benefit me is also welcome.

I look forward to insightful and in depth answers and opinions from the experts.

History

2 comment threads

Is the via going to be filled? (4 comments)
Try to make your question more stand-alone here. (2 comments)
Is the via going to be filled?
Nick Alexeev‭ wrote 2 months ago

Ankit, is the via going to be filled with epoxy and plated over? Or, is it going to be filled with copper? Or is it going to be a simple unfilled hole in a pad? Is it going to be tented on the other side (opposite side from the pad)? [The words via in pad get misused sometimes, unfortunately.]

ankit.kumar‭ wrote about 2 months ago

Thank you for commenting Nick Alexeev‭. You make a very good point. I am new to PCB designing, with minimum knowledge. I came across an answer written by you to this question on EESE. I did not realize via-in-pad and via in pad are different.

From your answer I realized via-in-pad is costly. It is a prototype at an academic level, therefore, I would prefer to go with the cheapest option. I really don't know what will be the best for me. I can work with your guidance.

ankit.kumar‭ wrote about 2 months ago

Nick Alexeev‭, Thank you for editing the post on my behalf. I saw it just now. I am grateful to you. I too have edited the question and included the layout, and top and bottom view of the PCB as per the layout. I am sorry, for late reply and for deleting the image that you uploaded.

Now that the images are visible, could you help me by providing your suggestions, please?

ankit.kumar‭ wrote about 2 months ago

Hello Nick Alexeev‭, Could you answer to my question please?