I am new to KICAD and designing my first PCB, my question might be straight forward to some of you but not for me.
I have almost completed the whole circuit now i just need to assign the footprints, i did it for almost everything expect capacitors, i mean when i select a footprint it is giving me the size for example : C_0805_2012METRIC now i can’t seem to find the voltage rating of the capacitor on KICAD, how does one choose the physical size of the caps related to the voltage rating ?
Thank you very much for any inputs
I hereby certify that I am not simply asking someone else to design a footprint for me.
This is an auto-generated message that is in place on the “footprints” section of the KiCad.info forum. If I remove it and ask for a footprint to be designed anyway, I understand that I will be subject to forum members telling me to go design my own footprint or referring me to a 3rd party footprint site.
KiCad cannot know of all the available capacitors on the market . . . and even less can it know where you are going to be able to buy from.
What can you buy for the capacitance and voltage rating you need ? when you know that you will know the sizes available to you then you can select the corresponding footprint.
Footprints are only concerned with physical dimensions. The footprint you cite is a surface mount capacitor 0.08 in by 0.05 in or 2.0 mm by 1.2 mm. Electrical characteristics such as the value and voltage are not needed for a footprint. You as the designer should know what the specify when sourcing the component.
Each capacitor I plan to use is a separate symbol in my library and have footprint assigned (according to what I found is accessible in Mouser, Digi,…)
Adding capacitor at schematic I select one from my library (I don’t use symbols that are not in my libraries)
For all symbols after placing them at schematic I don’t change value or footprint assigned.
I skip the footprint assigning step (I have never even seen how it looks).
Going to PCB I have all footprints already selected.
SM devices are tiny and will be supplied on tape which means minimum quantity orders. Whether you are getting your board assembled by the PCB factory or doing it yourself, it is worthwhile reducing the number of different values of components to lower cost. For example if the value is not critical say for decoupling capacitors, standardise on say 100 nF.
Most common parts can be ordered from DigiKey or Mouser in single-unit quantities, in the form of “cut tape”. It’s worth looking at the price break, though, because sometimes you can get 10 for the price of 7. It’s so easy to lose a smaller SMD that it’s well worth buying extras.
