If you're doing manual soldering, I'd recommend sticking with the wide pads; it's a lot easier to solder them when the pad extends from the device. The manufacturer's recommended pad layouts are never very good for manual soldering. The pads themselves in the "wide" one were still too narrow, however, as they don't extend enough underneath the pins.
For SMD packages, I draw my own footprints in KiCAD, starting with the manufacturer's recommended layout. Then, I enlarge the pads as much as I can reasonably, so there's more area to touch the iron and solder to the pad so it flows under the part better. For thru-hole devices, I enlarge the pad there as much as possible too, while leaving the hole size the same. Dan --- In [email protected], "Jim Hughen" <jhug...@...> wrote: > > http://www.judiandjim.com/linkfiles/KiCad3D3b.jpg > > With 3D viewer, a mistake is found in the footprint pad design (pads were too > wide). > > After fixing the footprint, the pads look too close. A modification will > improve soldering.
