EEVblog 1559 – PCB Design: Trace Current Rating

Dave answers a Twitter question: How should I design a PCB trace to carry 80A of current, and can this be done on one PCB layer? The answer is, well, complicated. Let’s go down the PCB design rabbit hole of current rating PCB traces.

Designing a PCB trace for 70-80A.

How should I design the trace from the connectors to a Mosfet(THT) device for this current rating?
Is it possible to use only one layer?@eevblog

— Abhinav Chinnusamy (@abhinav_937) August 8, 2023

PCB Design Video Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8D3B363139B67FF3

Forum: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-1559-pcb-design-trace-current-rating/

00:00 – Twitter question: How should I design a PCB trace to carry 80A of current
01:09 – Ohms law and copper losses
02:06 – PCB Trace calculator
02:45 – The three (four) major factors to PCB current handling calculations
02:54 – Trace Width and Copper thickness (weight) and PCB stackups
04:18 – A trap with Multilayer PCB designs
05:20 – External vs Internal layer matters with thermal design
06:20 – What happens if you exceed the maximum current rating?
07:23 – PCB plating matters
08:12 – Electrical vs Thermal design considerations
09:30 – 1oz copper vs 2oz vs 4oz
10:35 – Solder and tin plated traces
11:37 – Let’s look at what a PCB manufacturer offers, HASL, SMOBC, ENIG etc
12:46 – How do you get your PCB traces plated in your design?
14:31 – Those are rookie temperature numbers, you gotta pump those up!
14:51 – The IPC 2152 and IPC 2221 standards are a bit How’ya’Doing
16:30 – The physical and thermal part of your product design matters
16:47 – Thermal conduction to planes matters
19:30 – Does VIA stiching matter?
20:30 – Have you considered a Bus Bar?
21:56 – We can get 80A on a single PCB trace, BUT…
23:18 – Can I interest you in bodge wire Sir? It’s complete legit.
24:17 – PCB Standard WARS!
26:19 – Forget about etch factor
27:08 – Internal vs External trace calculations

Podcast: Download