thick copper pcb
Assembling a high current, heavy copper PCB board can be difficult, but not impossible. Extra care and engineering when designing the board must be observed to allow the thermal transfer of the heat from a soldering iron to the pads. The use of track neck downs, as well as large open thermal reliefs, help the soldering iron deliver the heat needed. It is not recommended to IR or wave solder a thick copper PCB board. The heat picked up by the copper will be retained for so long that the heat in the FR4 joint will cause failure, and the copper traces will lift off the board.
The soldering of thick copper PCBs can present problems if your assembly company is not experienced in trying to get enough heat into the board to solder the components. Much thick copper PCB PCBs need to be hand soldered on a hot plate just to get a high enough temperature to solder properly. The very thick copper PCB in the vias can make heating the via pad to a high enough temperature difficult without losing adhesion to the FR4 and lifting the pad. Most experienced thick copper PCB designers will add extra vias around the pads to rivet the pad to the FR4 board. It is recommended that the thick copper PCB manufacturer use high-temperature lead-free rated laminate to help keep the pads attached with all the retained heat.
Documentation packages should consist of a master drawing and copies of the artwork masters. The package may be provided in either hard copy or electronic data. The layout should always be drawn as viewed from the primary side of the thick copper PCB board. All drawings and electronic files should be identified with the heavy copper PCB board part number and revision status. Notes are especially important for the engineering review; outlining non-standard tolerances, plating requirements, board stack-up, and inspection criteria.
Hemeixinpcb prefers that all master artwork be sent in Gerber RS-274X (with embedded apertures) electronic file format. Alternatively, we also work with ODB++ files. Please contact us with any special electronic file requirements. All other electronic data (drawings, specifications, assembly part lists, etc.) may be sent in a variety of file formats although some (such as DXF and PDF) are preferred.
