Hi @SembazuruCDE ,
Thanks to the input of @jos and @kpfleming I changed the way I composed socket + chip completely. I went the following way (example given for a 24 pins 7.62mm wide IC but the way of working is the same for whatever DIL chip):
- Open the Footprint Editor (no need to have a project open, you can do this from the main KiCAD dialogue screen)
- Make sure you have the Package_DIP library available. If not, add it to the list of libraries
- Expand the Package_DIP library and select the (in this example) DIP-24_W7.62mm_LongPads (or the regular pads, whatever you prefer most)
- Right-click on the item and save it to your own personal library (we don’t want to change the content of the original library)
- Move to your own library and expand the content: a new item should be added.
- Select the item DIP-24_W7.62mm_LongPads and then select the icon Footprint Properties in the menu icon bar on top (positioned next to the last zoom symbol)
- Once the Footprint Properties dialogue is open, select the 3D Settings tab: you should see the IC in 3D view
- Go to the Offset section (bottom-left) and change the Z parameter from 0.0000 mm to 3.600 mm: this will lift up the IC just enough to fit onto the socket that we’ll add in a minute
- Next, click the + button just above the 3D view: a new line will be added in the 3D Model(s) section
- Copy the content of the line above and paste it in the new line + postfix it with _Socket; this should be the result:
See the red indications: one is to show the postfix and one is to show the result. You see that the socket and IC fit nicely. - If you press OK then your copy of the DIP-24_W7.62mm_LongPads will now contain both the chip as well as the chip socket
- If you now go to your schematic and put a 24-pins IC on your scheme you can select your newly created IC + socket combination when assigning footprints. The result will be something like this:
Neat, heh?
Advantages:
- No need for extra sockets on your drawing
- You can use your original IC on your schematic and wire it as if there were no sockets around
- Your PCB can be routed as if there was only the IC, but in reality it’s the combination of both IC + socket
- The resulting 3D view is almost the reality
Disadvantages:
- Any? Pls. let me know…
Just wanted to let you know there’s no need for extra stuff on your schematics, you can do it “the straight way”…