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- February 7, 2023
- PCB knowledge
- (0)
- 06 mins
PCB jumper – a basic guide for beginners
Are you worried about component placement and connecting them to circuit boards?
PCB jumper is a convenient medium for ensuring secured and functional connectivity between circuit board elements.
If you aren’t an expert, this article is the best solution for optimizing PCB jumper in 2023. Let’s make a move.
What is a jumper in PCB?
A PCB jumper is a specific connecting component in a printed circuit board that allows bypassing and stopping a connection. Compatible with simple soldering, these jumpers are mounted on the circuit board.
Usually, jumpers in a PCB are helpful for quickly and economically replacing or conducting fault correction of an unused PCB components. You don’t need to alter the design or stop the functionalities of the entire circuit to substitute a component while you are using jumpers.
Besides, these connecting elements control the current conduction and keep the bridge current around the PCB trace. That’s why jumpers are unavoidable components in modern PCBs.
Why is jumper wire used in PCB?
Jumper wires are particular connectors that are used for the modification of a circuit board. Jumper wires join two circuit terminals through connector pins at both terminals without being soldered.
The main reasons for using jumper wires of different colors are-
●Jumper wires allow bypassing a faulty connection having no resistor.
●A feasibly connected jumper wire can help control current conduction through a circuit board.
●These wires enable the switch or wires to stretch to a certain degree.
●It is effortless to stop a circuit board from operating by withdrawing the wires from the connections.
●PCB Jumper wires effectively detect faults in PCB connections by handling current and voltage ratings.
●Where traditional; wiring functions stop, their jumper wires become superbly viable.
●As jumper wires are colorful, changing, or any kind of alteration in prototypes, breadboard PCBs become very simple with these wires.
●PCB jumpers are often used to modify the circuit board’s mode, pull-up resistors, serial UART, potential level, etc. But the alteration of these features depends on the PCB designs and types.
What is a PCB jumper pad?
PCB jumpers come with pads, especially PTH (Plated Through-hole) pads, where a minimum spacing between pads is necessary. You must use jumper wires, 2-pin jumper blocks, and extra solders to establish connections via a PCB jumper pad.
What is a PCB jumper connector?
A PCB jumper connector, a viable alternative to a DIP switch, is a metallic connecting method that actually shuts or opens portions of an electric circuit.
PCB jumper types
PCB jumpers are found in three basic categories concerning their purpose of use. Whatever circuit board jumper you take out, it can fall in the following types-
- Jumpers for design
These PCB jumpers are included in the PCB as a base component. That means you must incorporate these components while designing the printed circuit board.
- Jumpers for modification
These are post-design circuit board elements. Usually, designers add such jumpers to route the PCB traces and terminate the joints.
- Jumpers for error correction
If you detect any error in design and intend to add a jumper to resolve the issue, these PCB jumpers will come to the scenario.
Usually, manufacturers incorporate numerous zero-ohm jumpers into the circuit design. For example, jumpers of SMAF, SOD, SM, SOT, MSOP, TSSOP, VSSOP, DIP, SOIC, DPAK, QFN, Cross-over, QFP, etc series are trendy in the market.
These commercial-grade Zero-Ohm jumpers come with numerous pin numbers and schematic designs. Such as, SOD123FW wide and flat jumpers have 2L pins and almost 7-inch diameter. You need to choose your desired jumpers, depending on your PCB designs.
Besides, You can find PCB jumpers in surface mount and through-hole patterns. SMD jumpers offer outstanding advantages in thermal dissipation and routing. These connectors mainly create an interface between the ground plane and PCB components, dissipating excessive heat.
Thus, SMD jumpers make the copper substrate more compact in design, creating a bunch of channels for PCB vias and trace routing. These channels improve thermal efficiency to a great extent.
On the other hand, THT jumpers provide flexibility to add components covering a wide range. As through-hole jumpers have a simple connection area, designers can easily place them in high-density PCBs compared to SMD jumpers. These jumpers lack reliability in terms of thermal conductivity and cost-efficiency.
How do you use a jumper in PCB?
You can smoothly incorporate PCB jumpers into a circuit following some basic rules. Such as-
- Ensure that the jumpers are non-conductive and electrically isolated. These issues keep the jumpers safe from being shot while placed on a circuit board.
- Try to use jumpers having some pseudo-space fillers. That means there is no internal connection inside these jumpers. That’s why the jumpers can protect the connections from short circuits. Besides, PCB jumpers with dummy space, used as empty PCB pads, help alter the flow of electricity.
- Use a rugged switch to avoid soldering issues.
- Never use PCB relays; having no potential and power ratings.
You can check this video to learn more about this issue-
How to cut PCB jumper wire?
You can easily cut a jumper wire by using a wire cutter and stripper. You just need to set the wire size you require and strip the insulation from the wire through the cutter.
Watch this video to have a better understanding of how to cut and solder jumper wires-
How to work with jumper pads and PCB traces?
Working with PCB traces and jumper pads during PCB manufacturing involves the following features-
Trace cutting
In this case, you need to initially identify the trace you intend to cut. The next job is to adjust the voltage level from 5V-3.3V.
Usually, you can find three pads behind a circuit board jumper. Then, locate the trace with a red solder mask and smoothly cut the connection using a knife.
In the case of a 5V FTDI (Future Technology Device International) breakout, you can see a trace that has a common connection with the middle and right pads. But the trace is, by default, attached to a 3.3V when you have to deal with a 3.3V FTDI.
Inclusion of solder jumper
Here, you must set the soldering iron tip on the left and the middle pad. The left pad is usually placed at 3.3V side. Then, heat the solder jumper through the iron and transfer the solder paste to the right portion. You can apply solder as much as you need.
If a default solder jumper connection pad exists, you must remove the PCB jumper and set the connection.
Connection checking
Now, it’s time to check the continuity through a multimeter. You must set the multimeter probes at the center and right pads. If you hear any noise there. It means the traces are not cut completely. Zero noise indicates you move for further processing.
Repairing and rerouting
While working on the previous processes, there is a possibility of cutting off an adjacent trace. In that case, you must repair and reroute the faulty or disconnected trace before powering the circuit board.
A PCB jumper is a specific connecting component in a printed circuit board that allows bypassing and stopping a connection. Compatible with simple soldering, these jumpers are mounted on the circuit board.
PCB jumpers come with pads, especially PTH (Plated Through-hole) pads, where a minimum spacing between pads is necessary. You must use jumper wires, 2-pin jumper blocks, and extra solders to establish connections via a PCB jumper pad.
A PCB jumper connector, a viable alternative to a DIP switch, is a metallic connecting method that actually shuts or opens portions of an electric circuit.
Final words
This is all about PCB jumper, including its use, routing, repair, modification, etc. Dealing with PCB jumpers will be more convenient for you now.
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