ALWAYS use the largest trace width possible for power and ground! As a bonus,
if you make your own boards, that is all the less copper you have to etch away.
Same goes for all the other traces. For thru hole boards, 30 mils is the
minimum. Especially if you have any rework, you have something to solder to
that won't float away.
Rick

http://www.pic101.com/pcb_checklist.htm



Larry Bradley wrote:

> I'm laying out a PCB for a PIC 16F877 project, and I'm wondering about the
> minimum trace widths to use for the power and ground traces. The standard
> width used for all the traces (so far) is 10 mils. And life is easier,
> layoutwise, if I can use 10 mil for the power and ground traces as well.
> The current consumption as around 35 mA, and the board is 5" by 2.5 ",
> double sided. I'm using some analog circuitry, but it has it's own ground
> which is tied to the power ground at one point close to the regulator. The
> analog 5V is decoupled from the digital 5V.
>
> I'm new to this layout stuff. Can any of you experts out there tell me if I
> can use a 10 mil trace, or should I use something larger?
>
> Thanks
>
> Larry Bradley
> Orleans (Ottawa), Ontario, CANADA
>
> --

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