Traces Options

[jeffek]

does anyone know how to cut traces

a tut would be great

[killswitch engage]

yeah same need some help there

[Dano2k0]

If you want to cut a trace, a very sharp craft type knife would be best, using abit of pressure and a gentle sawing action, just be carefull A: not to cut too deep and B: not to cut much further away from the trace you are wanting to cut through.

On another note, depending on why you want to cut the trace, try finding where the trace runs, and chances are there may be a component on there you can just remove to dissable the trace anyway, this will make it less permanent if you like.

Hope this helps

[jeffek]

that def. helps
thank you i will give it a try

i am not looking to disable a trace though . i need to cut into it to solder a jumper wire from the trace to another component.

after i cut through the trace
can i just solder to the end where i made the cut ???
or do i have to scrape anything





thanks

This post has been edited by jeffek: Apr 26 2007, 11:02 AM

[RDC]

If ya cut thru or into it too deeply you'll be disabling it. If you want to attach a wire to it then just scrape off the masking (green stuff) and expose the copper trace under it, then solder to that. Just be careful, depending on how big the trace is even scraping off the masking can damage the trace and then you'll have to fix that.

This post has been edited by RDC: Apr 26 2007, 01:58 PM

[Dano2k0]

Yeah i thought you wanted to dissabled a trace for some reason, as you said you wanted to 'cut a trace'

If all you want to do is attach a wire to the trace use a small knife and gently scrape some of the circuit laqure off the trace untill its a nice golden copper colour.

Other than this, do it the right way and buy a fiberglass pen which is used in SMD rework, just rub the fiber glass pen over the trace(s) you wish to expose, and that will remove the laqure for you, just use abit of flux then solder away.

On a side note, it does worry me your asking these questions and are going to attempt to solder to a trace in the DVD drive / on the motherboard, not being very experienced = easy for something to go wrong, just thought i'd give you a heads up, its somewhat delicate work.

Good luck

[RBJTech]

.. depending on the application - just follow the trace back/forward to a normal solder pad/component and then use that to solder the new wire to ...

If there are no such points, then follow RDC/Dan2Ko's advice ...

[Dano2k0]

Yeah well mentioned RBJ, didn't think to mention that before, a little pin point type solder pad can be found at the end of the majority of traces, or you'll come to a component, usually when talking of SMD type stuff, you can often find a small component such as a capacitor or resistor to solder straight onto, it makes the job alot easier and neater.

Oh and if you have a multimeter, set it to continuity test, it'll be helpfull when checking your on the right trace

[jeffek]

thanks for all the help
i am sucsessfull in my attempt .

plus i learned alot about how pcb boards work