I have problems to accomplish the above step.
When I am in the schematic editor, browse the symbol library, and under mechanic I find the MoutingHole, how do I associate the required footprint from the “Mounting Hole” footprint library?
I mean, if I click the mountinghole, it creates one in the schematic editor, (I do not have them in the schematic so far), like in the image below:
I followed the above instructions, it did remove some of the errors, but others are still persisting.
Maybe they are not important though.
The clearance is now 1mm, like the original crossover.
No need to make the central hole bigger (the one of the large inductor), as I will use 5 rubber grommets under each mounting hole (copper side) and I will screw the board with 5 screws inside the speaker.
One weird thing I noticed is that although I named the nets: Net 1, 2, 3, and 4,when you see the errors, only Net 1 is visible in the keepout area error for H1, maybe because I re-designed that keepout area, the others I left them as they are.
In the 3D model, why do the pads appear as a circle copper on the front.cu (green side)?
I would expect them to be without copper on that side. I tried to change the copper layer of the pads to 'connected layers only, but then I see a black circle on the green side of the PCB and the copper on the copper side. In the original crossover, on the top side (where the components are), there are no copper pads.
I still need to add the names to the silkscreen for the three terminals, I want to find first the same ones as the crossover, and of course, they will not be in the default library.
By the way, all the custom footprints, are in a separate library, so I do not see why I get those footprints errors, but again, I think they are not relevant.
Perhaps, what I will do is to try to reduce a little bit the board dimensions, from 21cm x 16cm to 20cm x 15cm. Is there a way to do this without reworking tracks and zones?
NPTH means Non Plated Through Hole Pad. which means you are still using a pad for the footprint for the Mounting holes instead of the Mounting hole footprints in the Kicad library.
DRC can be ignored, however, you should check the size of the holes in these pads. They will need to be a suitable size for the screws you intend using.
Also, with respect to the pad holes for the components, you are using some large components so check that the holes in the pads are of a suitable size also.
Which is Net 1?
Sorry, someone else may help. I only ever “played” with 3D for a couple of weeks when I first tried Kicad, at least three years ago.
In the 3D model, why do the pads appear as a circle copper on the front.cu (green side)?
I would expect them to be without copper on that side. I tried to change the copper layer of the pads to 'connected layers only, but then I see a black circle on the green side of the PCB and the copper on the copper side. In the original crossover, on the top side (where the components are), there are no copper pads.
Apart for the above, anything else I should be doing before I export to .gerbers?
This is my first time I create a PCB, so not sure what to expect the next steps, any suggestion is very welcome!
As @jmk mentioned please check your hole sizes before creating the gerbers. They look very small for the size of components you are using especially the coil in the middle.
I have resized the board and made the holes sizes of the inductor bigger (1.40mm).
Although I cannot see why I get the errors above, especially the ones related to the NPTH Pad, (since they are mounting holes imported from the schematic) as per image below:
I can live with them, but two are my outstanding and unresolved questions:
1)
In the 3D model, why do the pads appear as a circle copper on the front.cu (green side)?
I would expect them to be without copper on that side. I tried to change the copper layer of the pads to 'connected layers only, but then I see a black circle on the green side of the PCB and the copper on the copper side. In the original crossover, on the top side (where the components are), there are no copper pads.
2)
I noticed that in the 3D Model, the areas I merged (I had to cover that area with 3 different separated areas and merge them, I could not find a way to draw that area in one shot due to its shape), they show a right angle instead of a fillet radius of 2mm, like in the other corners not merged.
No, it is not. If you only change the mask layer, then the pad is still there, but it just gets covered by solder mask, and that is why it turns dark green.
If you want to remove the pad from the top side, you have to set the Copper layers to Connected Layers Only, and also not draw a track from the pad on the top layer.
Anoter way to achieve a similar result is to use a combination of an SMT pad on the bottom, and either an NPTH pad or a THT pad with a very thin annular ring.
How are you intending to solder this? You might find it surprisingly tricky as you have big copper planes without any thermal reliefs on any of the pads. Do you have a fairly powerful soldering iron?
What wattage is your soldering Iron?
Does the crossover board have thermal relief?
The sole purpose of thermal relief is to make soldering components to the PCB easier. Copper is a very good conductor of heat. If 50% of the copper between the pad and surround is removed (the gaps between the spokes) far more heat is retained on the pad for soldering the component instead of being dissipated into the copper zones.
With a 20W iron you could probably be able to comfortably use 2mm spokes and .5 - 1mm gap. Others may have a different comment on this.
