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Re: Using Printed Circuit Boards
On Tue, 21 Mar 2000 12:20:27 -0700, you wrote:
>Original Poster: "Lau, Gary" <Gary.Lau@compaq.com>
>
>I see no functional reasons not to use PCB's. It's just that in protection
>networks, the number of components is something you can count on one hand
>and it will take a lot longer to design and build a PCB than to throw a few
>wires onto a piece of perfboard. Even in MMC's, you're only going to build
>one of these, so perfboard is faster.
>
>In many applications, you need considerable space between wires to avoid
>arcover, so 99% of the board would be just open space. Lastly, I've found
>that in my coiling experience, few things remain unchanged for long before I
>want to change them. Perfboard is more flexible in this regard. Of course,
>if someone is willing to design and build you these for free, it'll look
>real nice...
Two potential problems you should be aware of. - A PCB is a nice
smooth flat surface, so any moisture, dust or condensation could lead
to tracking/arcing, which would rapidly carbonize the surface
rendering it conductive.
As PCB tracks are thin, the track edges have a small radius of
curvature, and hence there is a potential corona problem.
Conformal coating should reduce both of these problems significantly.
>Regards, Gary Lau
>Waltham, MA USA
>
>>Original Poster: "Mark Broker" <broker@uwplatt.edu>
>>
>>Hello again,
>>
>>I've seen a lot of great coils on the Web. But I noticed that no one (that
>>I can recall) used a printed circuit board for any of their electronics
>>(MMC, NST protection circuit, ect). I saw a lot of perf board, though...
>>Anyways, one of my good friends makes printed circuit boards as a second
>>home-job/hobby. He has pretty much offered to donate the board and the
>>materials to make some nice boards for my TC. I'd intended to use them for
>>my MMC (hardwire the caps into strings, but leave the strings to be
>>connected via standard wire) and also in my NST protection circuit. I had
>>intended to use wide lines (1/4"+) on the boards.
>>
>>Since I haven't seen any pc boards on the Web, I thought that there may be
>>a drawback to using them in TC operation (not just an availability
>>problem). So is there a problem here?
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>>Mark B
>
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