Soldermask opening versus pad opening in standard footprints( Kicad, SnapEDA, UltraLibrarian)

Thread Starter

mnielsen

Joined Oct 21, 2021
2
In nearly all standard footprints you can get from Kicad, SnapEDA, Ultralibrarian the soldermask opening is the exact same dimension( 1:1) as the pad opening.

IPC standard IPC-7351B snippet attached. Many tutorials/ recommend websites recommend to not follow this ipc standard and make the solder mask opening slightly larger than pad. Here's an example.

https://www.epectec.com/pcb/soldermask-design-basics.html

Unless it's a BGA package 1:1 is rarely used. In my opinion the IPC standard should be changed to add a "standard tolerance" ( between 0.05-0.1mm) for soldermask opening greater than pad.
 

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Thread Starter

mnielsen

Joined Oct 21, 2021
2
Does anyone know how to report potential changes to the IPC? I didn't see anything or any forums on their website. I was mostly curious if anyone else had noticed this issue/reported it
 

DickCappels

Joined Aug 21, 2008
10,152
A letter, phone call, or fax should get you what you are after.

IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries | 3000 Lakeside Drive, 105 N, Bannockburn, IL 60015 | PH + 1 847-615-7100 | FAX +1 847-615-7105
 
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