I have a 2 cell battery holder that has 2 mounting holes on the bottom that I plan to use for two thermistors to measure the cells’ temperatures. I put two circles on the front silkscreen for the battery holder footprint so I would know where to put the thermistors.
I am getting a Courtyards Overlap error for both thermistors. Are they popping up because the thermistors have a courtyard and I placed the thermistors inside the battery holder’s courtyard?
What is the best way to fix this short of just ignoring the error? I am worried that if I ignore the error, the pcb builder will have issues down the road.
Yes, that is the sole intention of the courtyard layer, to ensure that footprints have enough room around them so the PCB can be manufactured and assembled by Pick & Place machines.
Open the properties of your offending thermistor footprints and then Exempt from courtyard requirement
But probably that only solves the requirement for a courtyard, and not the courtyard violation itself.
That could be fixed too by editing the footprint and removing the courtyard altogether.
But overall it’s simpler to just right click on the error and then select Exclude this violation
Yes, you are right to be worried about this. Preferably you tell them in advance about this issue. The hole is probably made in the battery holder for exactly this, but as a result there is also a manufacturing limitation and the thermistor has to be placed before the battery holder. It may also influence how the solder behaves during reflow, as the solder for the thermistor is partially isolated and will heat up more slowly.
The pcb manufacturer is not installing the battery holder; I am after the boards are made. The battery holder is TH part, and JLCPCB does not want to install those parts, or they charge an arm and leg for doing it. I think if they can just place the thermistor on the pads, and the pads are in the area defined by the holes, I should be good to go.
The holes in the battery holder are for mounting screws, but I will use a bit of double stick foam under the battery holder so I am not just relying on the 4 TH solder joints to hold the battery holder and batteries. The foam will also give me some additional height to keep the batteries from crushing the thermistors.
I think I will keep the error to remind me to let JLCPCB know about the issue.
If you are soldering the battery holders yourself afterward, then there is no problem whatsoever concerning the SMT assembly. It’s just a thermistor with a lot of empty space around it.
I have courtyard at my footprints in 0.1mm grid and working with 0.1mm grid I am placing footprints touching each other. This generates hundreds of Courtyard Overlap errors. I have in Board Setup this error set to Ignore.
