Hmm.....odd issue with power plane net connection during autoroute

[kittmaster]

I'm trying to use a copper plane as a heatsink and when i tell it to connect the power plane to the pad of the regulator it accepts it.  During autorouting, the router makes the connection to the plane since it is valid, but now the clearance is tunneling into the plane and causing a disconnect........WTF.....I can't seem to correct it.  Any idea what I'm missing here??  See image......thanks.....

Message Edited by kittmaster on 10-24-2008 11:47 AM

[dbur]

Is this the other thread you wanted me to look at?

I see this all the time when the DRC button needs to be clicked to 'refresh the rules'.  I assume you've done that.

Also, is the plane explicitly assigned to the correct net in it's properties?

I do this kind of thing all the time with no problem, though I seldom use the autorouter.

David B

[kittmaster]

yes this is the thread........I didn't do a drc check on it, this is the result that is left after the autorouter completes.  I can do it manually as you mention, but the autorouter leaves this.  I have done a DRC after the fact and it always comes back as missing connections because of this behaviour.  My quick workaround was to create to lines in a "cross" across the pad, and then put a polygon around it, but this is half ass.  The net is 83, and you can see it generate the thermal relief after I assign the polygon to the net.  Then the autorouter trys to place a line to the polygon entity but the the clearnace rules are hollowing out the connection......weird.......and annoying.......and killing my productivity to use copper areas.  If you could, try to place a regulator, a polygon, connect it to the tab......and then run the autorouter that requires multiple connections to the same net, the autorouter should yield that result......:(

[hgregg]

Yep I've had this problem many times. I don't use the autorouter though and I usually add copper areas when I near completion. I have had both traces and vias at first connect fine, but then I'll see later the clearance making them disconnect. I don't have a good fix to tell you however because I just tinker with it until I get the thing corrected. Sometimes running DRC helps. Sometimes I get different results depending on if I use Place--> Copper Area or Place--> Polygon on a copper layer. It is very annoying and I have to check my gerber output very closely. I have sent off files before only to find out later a via did not connect.

I'm still using version 9. Are you running 10?

Hg

[kittmaster]

Sorry for the delay, I was traveling........I'm using 10's latest and greatest......I've done the same things as you describe, the main reason this is such a pita is that while on screen they both "should work", the larger the polygon/copper area, the harder it is to solder!.......I've also noticed that adding a copper area to a layer when it comes to SMT pads, also isn't leaving thermal reliefs and soldering a ground pin to an SMT device with such a huge heat dissipator, is causing poor solder joints on that pin........I am not happy.....