Actions
Forum Thread Details
  • Replies 5 replies
  • Subscribers 180 subscribers
  • Views 941 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Related

Incomplete ground plane

autodeskguest

Hi,

 

On most of my designs I like to add ground-plane. I do this by adding a

polygon to each side and setting the name to GND. This works 95% of the

time, the problem is that occasionally because some components are very

close to each other the ground plane fails to flow through the gap between

two components or tracks. The result is that I end up with isolated islands

of bare board (i.e. no copper) on my final pcb (after etching).

 

Ok, I know this isn't a major problem, but it is aesthetically displeasing,

is there anyway to force the groundplane to occupy ALL unused parts of the

board?

 

thanks

--

Web access to CadSoft support forums at www.eaglecentral.ca.  Where the CadSoft EAGLE community meets.

 

Parents

  • On 21/08/16 13:21, Lima wrote:

    Hi,

     

    On most of my designs I like to add ground-plane. I do this by adding a

    polygon to each side and setting the name to GND. This works 95% of the

    time, the problem is that occasionally because some components are very

    close to each other the ground plane fails to flow through the gap between

    two components or tracks. The result is that I end up with isolated islands

    of bare board (i.e. no copper) on my final pcb (after etching).

     

    Ok, I know this isn't a major problem, but it is aesthetically displeasing,

    is there anyway to force the groundplane to occupy ALL unused parts of the

    board?

     

     

    Yes. The setting is called "orphans" and it's a property of the polygon.

    Be aware, though, that some people advise against this practice.

     

     

     

Reply

  • On 21/08/16 13:21, Lima wrote:

    Hi,

     

    On most of my designs I like to add ground-plane. I do this by adding a

    polygon to each side and setting the name to GND. This works 95% of the

    time, the problem is that occasionally because some components are very

    close to each other the ground plane fails to flow through the gap between

    two components or tracks. The result is that I end up with isolated islands

    of bare board (i.e. no copper) on my final pcb (after etching).

     

    Ok, I know this isn't a major problem, but it is aesthetically displeasing,

    is there anyway to force the groundplane to occupy ALL unused parts of the

    board?

     

     

    Yes. The setting is called "orphans" and it's a property of the polygon.

    Be aware, though, that some people advise against this practice.

     

     

     

Children
  • in reply to autodeskguest

    Thanks Rob,

     

    I found this and tried it - it seems to do exactly what I want, why is it

    advised against?

     

    Cheers

    --

    Web access to CadSoft support forums at www.eaglecentral.ca.  Where the CadSoft EAGLE community meets.

     

  • in reply to autodeskguest

    lima7 wrote on Sun, 21 August 2016 21:04

    Thanks Rob,

     

    I found this and tried it - it seems to do exactly what I want, why is

    it advised against?

     

    Cheers

     

     

    Because it creates copperplanes without any electrical connection, not even

    GND.

    In other words, they are electrically floating. This is considered bad

    design.

     

    It's better to not allow "orphans" and to use extra via's in order to let

    appear again

    the groundplanes.

     

     

    --

    Web access to CadSoft support forums at www.eaglecentral.ca.  Where the CadSoft EAGLE community meets.