The Most Common 2-Layer PCB Design Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

День тому

In this video, Tech Consultant Zach Peterson tackles some of the most common mistakes he's noticed on two-layer boards and why upgrading to a four-layer board might just be the solution you need.
We've received tons of one-minute design reviews (link below), and while the feedback has been fantastic, Zach's noticed a recurring theme - the tendency to stick with two-layer boards. Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with that, but it can lead to some avoidable issues.
Join Zach as he explores common pitfalls in areas like signal integrity, impedance, crosstalk, and PCB layout. He shows you how these can be easily rectified by making the leap to a four-layer board with internal ground.
From USB line routing to RF designs and power distribution challenges, Zach covers it all. Discover the benefits of having dedicated ground layers, preventing crosstalk, and improving overall signal quality. Plus, Zach addresses the importance of layer-to-layer shielding to minimize electromagnetic interference.
Whether you're a seasoned designer or just getting started, this video is packed with insights to elevate your PCB game. So hit that Subscribe button, give us a thumbs up if you find the information valuable, and don't forget to share your thoughts in the comments.
0:00 Intro
0:37 Common 2-Layer Power Problems
2:46 Importance of Internal Ground in High-speed Design
3:13 Impedance Considerations in RF Design
4:01 Jumping to 4-Layers?
4:49 Power Rail Impedance Issues
5:58 Benefits of Internal Ground Layers in Power Distribution
6:32 Problems with Traces in Power Rails
8:03 Dedicated Power Layers?
8:27 Noise Problems
9:57 Ground Pour: Potential Solution?
For more PCB Layout videos, click here: • PCB Layout
For more PCB Design for Beginners videos, click here: • PCB Design for Beginners
For more Tech Consultant Zach Peterson videos, click here: • Technical Consultant Z...
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👉 RF Power Amplifier Design Followup: PCB Design: • RF Power Amplifier Des...
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👉 Understanding 2-Layer PCB Ground Planes: resources.altium.com/p/unders...
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КОМЕНТАРІ: 32

@allanknox8216 5 місяців тому

Misleading title. "Add more layers" is not fixing a 2 layer. Also ignores cost and delivery benefits. I'd like to see some real "2 layer fixes"

@onesimpleneed 5 місяців тому

Yep. Been doing this 36 years and get all sorts of work on reducing cost by reducing layer counts. Good designers first place everything correctly, then run their power and ground and critical traces and then everything else. I can do on two layers what other people need 4 and even 6 layers to do.

@OpenLogicEFI 5 місяців тому

Yeah, I was actually quite frustrated watching this video. I didn't learn anything for my two-layer board projects.

@Karthik_Selvam 5 місяців тому

Hi Zach it's really useful. Also I looked out your article on the pcb design magazine. I love it sir. Thanks for providing good information 👍😊

@rewq7041 6 місяців тому

Thanks for the informative sharing, Peterson. When first looking at the topic, I think that the content will be some techniques about 2-layer PCB routing, but it is not. I agree that moving to 4-layer PCB is the general solution to many problems we encounter in 2-layer PCB layout, but in many low cost applications, this approach will not be considered due to cost and lead time issues. Even in some industrial grade or medical grade open frame power supplies, single layer or 2-layer PCB stackup is used, and they meet the class B EMI standard with margin. I am interested at these designs and the grounding techniques, like the co-planar signal track design with proper ground gridding, in 2-layer PCB applications.

@Zachariah-Peterson 5 місяців тому

I understand but the video was meant to be about some instances where 4 layer might be better due to the speed/noise problems faced in some systems or when modifying the 2-layer to have ground fill is an option, especially when there are a lot of digital components. In many instances 2 layer is fine if you design it appropriately, or you just might have to accept more noise as long as you don't fail EMI. For 2 layer the solution is usually coplanar ground fill but that solution may not work when you get to more advanced designs like much higher speed/higher frequencies. If you want a video specifically on 2-layer grounding I can get it into our queue.

@adrianmoldovan2793 5 місяців тому

What a great and informative video. Lerned a lot from this. Great work! Congratulations!

@AltiumAcademy 5 місяців тому

Thanks so much!

@Graham_Wideman 6 місяців тому

2:00 Talks about the problem of crosstalk between parallel traces and possible radiated emissions. Zach first suggests orthogonal routing to prevent this, but doesn't explain why that would help either problem. It seems to me that the several signals still have to get from component A to component B, and to do so have to run parallel to each other, whether using random routing or ortho routing. In other videos on this channel, the recommendation is to space traces farther apart if they need to run parallel. To gain enough space to do so might entail putting some of the parallel traces on the other side of the board (ie: contradicting ortho routing). The other recommendation Zach makes is to go to a 4-layer board. Of course that always helps everything 🙂except cost, but specifically in this case how does it help reduce crosstalk between these parallel traces? I guess part of it is in shielding top traces from bottom traces. Also, the ground planes will attract the electric field lines from the individual traces, so that they impinge less on neighboring parallel traces. It also provides a better-defined and closer transient return current path, resulting in less magnetic emission impinging on the neighboring parallel traces. But still trace spacing will be an important contributor.

@r4yguzman190 6 місяців тому

tutorials on PSpice simulations for beginners would be good.

@user-tl2yf8vy4v 3 місяці тому

Good afternoon Can you tell me if the intersection of polygons of different names is allowed? Example: Layer 2 is analog ground, and layer 3 is digital ground?

@Zachariah-Peterson 3 місяці тому

What you are describing is the usage of two polygons with different nets on different layers. The system will always allow you to do this. If you have two polygons with different nets on the same layer, then the polygons will pour around each other. You can manage the pour order in the Polygon Manager dialog, this will allow you to choose which of the intersecting polygons gets cleared out when being poured.

@salh2665 6 місяців тому

❤❤❤شكرا التوم ❤❤❤

@fouzifouz3412 2 місяці тому

hello sir ...im a beginner and i just want to know a thing .... how can we move different elements throw different layers without causing problems ..thank you

@Zachariah-Peterson Місяць тому

I'm not sure what you mean by "move different elements through different layers," are you referring to routing in multiple layers?

@bitstobytes08 5 місяців тому

Sir. can you suggset some books for pcb designing that includes all the factors for designing pcb like an expert

@Zachariah-Peterson 5 місяців тому

Unfortunately there have not been some good new books prepared on this in a long time. But I can give you some direction to help you get started: Printed Circuits Handbook, by Clyde Coombs BGA Breakouts and Routing, by Charles Pfiel High Speed Digital Design, by Howard Johnson and Martin Graham

@bitstobytes08 5 місяців тому

Thank you sir for refering three books @@Zachariah-Peterson

@shubhamsamal6712 5 місяців тому

Sir How to send board design to review and receive comment on it

@AltiumAcademy 5 місяців тому

You can send it to Zach on LinkedIn here: www.linkedin.com/in/zachariah-peterson/

@bitstobytes08 5 місяців тому

@@AltiumAcademy Thankyou sir

@rfrisbee1 5 місяців тому

There might be some milage for a whole series of videos like this one. I.e. "N layer PCB fixes" videos which each suggest the fix being to go to a N+2 layer PCB. 😉

@AltiumAcademy 5 місяців тому

Great suggestion!

@Zachariah-Peterson 5 місяців тому

Haha! What about N-2 layer fixes? Like layer consolidation under a BGA, which is something I had to do recently.

@rfrisbee1 5 місяців тому

@@Zachariah-Peterson That would be interesting to see and certainly much more challenging than increasing layer count.

@OpenLogicEFI 5 місяців тому

I appreciate the information but unfortunately this doesn't help me with my two layer boards. This video just seemed like It should have been titled "why not to use two layer boards". I really would love some good videos on proper design using two layer boards.

@Zachariah-Peterson 5 місяців тому

First off, most designs that you want to run into production and ensure you have low noise/pass EMC will be 4 layer and not 2 layer. But if you're looking for some practical tips for 2 layer boards, I'll make a video out of it.

@OpenLogicEFI 5 місяців тому

@@Zachariah-Peterson I definitely would love some 2 layer tips. I apologize if you took offense to my statement but the title "the most common 2-layer PCB design mistakes and how to avoid them" made me think the video was about 2 layer boards. I don't generally do many high speed designs. I generally use a mcu dev board and make shields for automotive use. The highest speed section on a few of my designs is a usb2.0 to serial converter that traces to the Dev board. I'd love to see some more basic videos on tips of proper signal and higher current (2-6amp) low voltage (12-18v) traces and layouts. ✌️