Would a weak ground plane polygon affect my circuit?

[krishnakumar.r93]

Hi all,

I use Proteus ARES for my PCB designs. When i use a polygon for a ground plane and export the layer as pdf, i get lot of vertical lines in the polygon area instead of solid fill. When i zoom in/out, the vertical lines disappear and i get a solid fill. But when i outsource in to my manufacturer for fabrication, i still get the vertical lines on my board instead of solid fill. There is connectivity, but i feel the plane is weak. Will this vertical lines weaken the ground plane of my circuit?

I have attached the model images of the problem i have. Somebody help me out ASAP.

 

[KlausST]

Hi,

maybe a wrong setup. the lines should rather overlap than leaving gaps.

This gives no good gorundplane.

Klaus

 

[ads-ee]

The slots, which is what they look like, will result in all kinds of problems with ground loops running all over the board. This isn't a ground plane.

 

[marce]

That is a copper pour not a ground plane.
How are you sending data to your manufacturer?
What are the settings for the polygon fill?

 

[Mattylad]

It wouold suggest to me that too thin a copper code is being used, the d'code in the gerber need IMO to be thicker.

 

[krishnakumar.r93]

The slots, which is what they look like, will result in all kinds of problems with ground loops running all over the board. This isn't a ground plane.

Is the procedure of taking ground connection from the polygon fill wrong..?

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That is a copper pour not a ground plane.
How are you sending data to your manufacturer?
What are the settings for the polygon fill?

I use the copper pour as ground.
I outsource data to the manufacturer as PDF and gerber as well.

- - - Updated - - -

It wouold suggest to me that too thin a copper code is being used, the d'code in the gerber need IMO to be thicker.

@Mattylad: Should i change it in any of my procedure or will it have to be done by the manufacturer.?

 

[KlausST]

Hi,

I personally don´t rely on a PDF as data format for PCB manufacturing.

***
Gerber is much better.

Is the procedure of taking ground connection from the polygon fill wrong..?

I don´t know if the procedure is wrong. But the result seems to be wrong.
A true power plane is better than a copper pour. But a good considered copper pour may be almost as good as a true power plane.
(In former there were true "power layers". usually without traces. The data format was negative, with every flash/line generating isolation instead of conductive copper wires. This reduced the amount of data extremely. Nowadays nobody cares about some megabytes of data)

To test: Generate gerber data and use GCprevue (or similar gerber viewer software) to validate the data. If you see gaps, then you should adjust your PCB layout software.
If you don´t see any gaps, then it´s a problem of the PCB manufacturer.

****

I recommend to give valid data to the manufacturer. In my eyes it´s on the designer to generate valid data. My manufacturer is adviced not to change my data, instead he should tell me what to change.
So i´m sure my data are up to date, and if i decide to change the manufacturer I expect no problems.

Klaus

 

[krishnakumar.r93]

I personally don´t rely on a PDF as data format for PCB manufacturing.

I send PDF along with Gerber files.

A true power plane is better than a copper pour. But a good considered copper pour may be almost as good as a true power plane.

I use the polygon as a ground power plane.

 

[Mattylad]

As it appears that you cannot output this with a thicker line then it appears that it is just a failing of the output process.

What output are you making? rs274 or rs274-x ?

 

[krishnakumar.r93]

What output are you making? rs274 or rs274-x ?

I'm making the RS274X format..

 

[Mattylad]

So it should not be a misinterpretation of the apetures used.

I remember seeing copper like this when EasyPC did it, boards still came back OK - the manufacturer just filled the whole copper area.
Check with them.