Perfboard

Page issues

Top of a copper clad Perfboard with solder pads for

each hole.

Perfboard is a material for prototyping

electronic circuits (also called DOT PCB). It
is a thin, rigid sheet with holes pre-drilled
at standard intervals across a grid, usually
a square grid of 2.54 mm (0.1 in) spacing.
These holes are ringed by round or square
copper pads, though bare boards are also
available. Inexpensive perfboard may have
pads on only one side of the board, while
better quality perfboard can have pads on
both sides (plate-through holes). Since
each pad is electrically isolated, the
builder makes all connections with either
wire wrap or miniature point to point wiring
techniques. Discrete components are
soldered to the prototype board such as
resistors, capacitors, and integrated
circuits. The substrate is typically made of
paper laminated with phenolic resin (such
as FR-2) or a fiberglass-reinforced epoxy
laminate (FR-4).

The 0.1 in grid system accommodates

integrated circuits in DIP packages and
many other types of through-hole
components. Perfboard is not designed
for prototyping surface mount devices.

Before building a circuit on perfboard, the

locations of the components and
connections are typically planned in detail
on paper or with software tools. Small
scale prototypes, however, are often built
ad hoc, using an oversized perfboard.
Software for PCB layout can often be used
to generate perfboard layouts as well. In
this case, the designer positions the
components so all leads fall on
intersections of a 0.1 in grid. When routing
the connections more than 2 copper layers
can be used, as multiple overlaps are not a
problem for insulated wires.

Once the layout is finalized, the

components are soldered in their
designated locations, paying attention to
orientation of polarized parts such as
electrolytic capacitors, diodes, and
integrated circuits. Next, electrical
connections are made as called for in the
layout.

One school of thought is to make as many

connections as possible without adding
extra wire. This is done by bending the
existing leads on resistors, capacitors, etc.
into position, trimming off extra length,
and soldering the lead to make the
required electrical connection. Another
school of thought refuses to bend the
excessive leads of components and use
them for wiring, on the ground that this
makes removing a component later hard
or impossible, e.g. when a repair is
needed.
If extra wires need to be used, or are used
for principal reasons, they are typically
routed entirely on the copper side of
perfboards, because, as opposed to
stripboards, nearby holes aren't connected,
and the only hole in a pad is already
occupied by a component's lead. Wires
used range from isolated wires, including
verowire (enameled copper wire with a
polyurethane insulation supposed to melt
when soldered), to bare copper wire,
depending on individual preference, and
often also on what is currently at hand in
the workshop.
For insulated wires thin solid core wire
with temperature-resistant insulation such
as Kynar or Tefzel is preferred. The wire
gauge is typically 24 - 30 AWG. A special
stripping tool can be used, incorporating a
thin steel blade with a slit that the wire is
simply inserted into and then pulled loose,
leaving a clean stripped end. This wire was
developed initially for circuit assembly by
the wire wrap technique but also serves
well for miniature point-to-point wiring on
perfboard. Bare copper wire is useful when
merging a number of connections to form
an electrical bus such as the circuit's
ground, and when there is enough space
to properly route connections, instead of
wiring them rats-nest style.

Intentional solder bridges can be used to

connect adjacent pads when necessary.
Careful hand–eye coordination is needed
to avoid causing inadvertent short circuits.

Circuits assembled on perfboard are not

necessarily fragile but may be less impact-
resistant than printed circuit boards.

Perfboard differs from stripboard in that

each pad on perfboard is isolated.
Stripboard is made with rows of copper
conductors that form default connections,
which are broken into isolated segments
as required by scraping through the
copper. This is similar to the pattern of
default connections on a solderless
breadboard. However, the absence of
default connectivity on perfboard gives the
designer more freedom in positioning
components and lends itself more readily
to software-aided design than stripboard
or breadboard.

Bottom of a
copper clad
A 555 timer
 A 555 timer
Perfboard with a
circuit on
ground plane
perforated board

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related
to Perfboard.

Stripboard (Veroboard)
Breadboard (Protoboard)

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Perfboard&oldid=815105803"

Last edited 2 months ago by Westle…

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless
otherwise noted.