Gap between fill areas

[kevint]

Hi
I laid out a high current area of a board using copper fill. When I run a drc, each corner of the fill is marked as
‘copper areas intersect or are too close’. The gaps between the copper areas is 0.5mm, and the inter-track gap is set to 0.2mm. Where do I set the gap between fill areas? I am using 5.14

[der.ule]

if you can post a couple of screenshots it may be easier to see the problem and try to help out. (If you are a new user, you’ll need to post one per post, no biggie).

[eelik]

Maybe this can help, too: How to create a power plane (using zones)

[kevint]

Here is the picture showing the markers. The planes do not overlap.

[der.ule]

On the “Copper Zone Properties” there is the field “Clearence” take a look at the link provided by @eelik to see what I mean, in your case it should be set at 0,5mm, don’t forget to refill the Zones after changing the value.

[eelik]

Even though your zones don’t overlap they may be too close to each other. Change some clearance values, orr move the zone edges, or set priority values for zones. Note that the gap must be larger than the net class clearance (the same as for tracks).

If you set priority values, things happen automatically, but you won’t get exact filling inside the edges because some zones avoid others.

[kevint]

Thanks
You have to be creating the plane in order to see the values! The default is 0.508mm, hence the problem
Thanks

[eelik]

I just added information about clearances in the FAQ post linked above. Maybe it will help someone in the future.

[der.ule]

Not necesarely you can also click on the border of the zone (line with the slashes for lack of a better name) and hit the E key or right click and properties (the gear icon). Then you can edit the zone properties.

[kevint]

Would it not be easier for users if you created a default value field under board setup?
I must say, I am very impressed with Kicad these days, a lot of little things have been added that make it very productive and pleasant to use.

[eelik]

Do you mean setting default values for Zone Properties clearance, minimum width etc.? That would be a good idea.

[kevint]

Yes, it would make sense. Default track settings are there, and it where I would expect to find copper fill defaults as well.