[Elecraft] Cutting Traces

[Steven Pituch]

Hi all,
This is just a helpful tip for those who might need to debug an Elecraft
product.

I needed to isolate some items on my KPA100 that used the 5V line.  If I cut
a couple of traces it would be very easy to do the trouble shooting.  What I
was afraid of was that the trace repairs would be unsightly.  For the first
cut I made sure that I choose the narrowest section of the trace thinking I
would do the least amount of damage.  However, I was wrong.  Because the
trace was so thin I could not get the solder to bridge the slit in the
trace.  By the way, the cuts I made were with a straight edge razor which
were very thin.  So I had to use the nice green insulated hook up wire
contained in one of the Elecraft kits and bridge the two solder lands
nearest either side of the cut.

The next cut I made was in a much thicker section of another trace.  This
time the width was about equal to the width of a solder land for the typical
IC socket pin.  When it was time to repair the trace I gently scratched away
the green coating on the trace on either side of the cut for a width about
equal to a solder land for an IC socket pin.  When I added the solder it
bridged the cut very nicely.  In fact the repair looks just like the IC
socket pin land after it is soldered. Very neat and hardly noticeable. 

So in summary, if you are going to cut a trace for diagnostic purposes and
intend to repair it later on, make sure you choose a part of the trace that
is wide enough to allow you to bridge some solder over the gap when you do
the repair.  The results will not even be noticeable.  Conversely, repairing
narrow traces are difficult to impossible, at the best unsightly, and will
require a wire jumper repair to bypass the trace.

72,
Steve, W2MY

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