Gabi, A couple of things for you to consider.
You don't want to base your gap size on breakdown in air. You will need to account for the dielectric material of the PCB and possibly a conformal coating or solder mask on top of the etch. You need to decide whether or not you really want a discharge gap inside your unit possibly close to critical components. A breakdown inside your unit may be more trouble than the problem it solves. Bob Howland dBH Consulting -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Gabi Hoffknecht Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2002 11:33 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Using PCB traces as transient voltage suppressor Hi all, I have seen PCB designs with two triangular shaped copper pads pointed towards each other at very close proximity, meant as an air gap discharge path for transients. Does anyone have information about such designs, whether they work and how well ? At a breakdown voltage for air of 1 Megavolt per meter, they should theoretically work: 10mil distance would have a breakdown voltage of only 254V. Such a PCB design basically comes for free, so I was thinking of adding it on top of my already existing series impedance - TVS network. Thanks in advance for your comments. Best regards, Gabi Hoffknecht ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: [email protected] Dave Heald: [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://ieeepstc.mindcruiser.com/ Click on "browse" and then "emc-pstc mailing list" ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: [email protected] Dave Heald: [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://ieeepstc.mindcruiser.com/ Click on "browse" and then "emc-pstc mailing list"
