Re: repairing broken traces on a PCB

On Fri, 24 Feb 2006 22:35:36 +0100, Frank Bemelman wrote:

"samIam" <him@xxxxxxxx> schreef in bericht news:pzHLf.17$Ry.12@xxxxxxxxxxx
I have broken traces on a PCB I recently etched. Just a handful ...

I am wondering how some of you repair them. Trying to tap into your body
of experience with this.

More interesting is to hear about experiences in finding hairline cracks
in tracks.

I bought a signal generator that failed to power up. I checked the
power supply and it was OK, but the circuit wasn't energized. I followed
the power trace, and realized that the voltage stops on a fat trace near
the edge of the board, right after the area with a mounting screw.
I had to use a magnifying glass to see the crack---apparently the unit
was dropped and PCB cracked. I soldered a piece of wire across the
crack, and it all works now. I was lucky that it was a fat trace, and
that it was the supply and not some internal circuit.
.