Re: Using Printed Circuit Boards

• To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
• Subject: Re: Using Printed Circuit Boards
• From: "Mike Harrison" <mike-at-whitewing.co.uk> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)
• Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2000 07:32:05 -0700
• Approved: twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net
• Delivered-To: fixup-tesla-at-pupman-dot-com-at-fixme

On Tue, 21 Mar 2000 12:20:27 -0700, you wrote:

>Original Poster: "Lau, Gary" <Gary.Lau-at-compaq-dot-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-at-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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