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A PCB (printed circuit board) begins life as a solid
sheet of thin copper foil across a backing material
made of epoxy resin. Then, using a photographic
process, a circuit is imprinted onto the foil and all
unnecessary copper is etched away. What's left are
copper foil "traces" that take the place of wires. To
prevent shorts, PCBs are laminated with a colored
insulating material that functions just like the
shielding around insulated wire.
Although PCBs may be from one to many layers thick,
the PCB used in the "Tiny
which makes it fairly easy to work on or modify.
PCBs cost substantially less to produce than their
predecessors, i.e. point-to-point circuit boards.
And are used by amp manufacturers to maintain
affordable prices for consumers.
On a PCB components are often attached to the
top of the board and then soldered from the back
via pass-through conductive "eyelets" where they
follow the copper traces that make up the circuit.
Asian-made PCBs are typically not as resilient as
2
1
5
Various examples: 1. Jumper. 2. Jumper. 3. Trace repair
(jumper soldered from terminal to terminal on same trace). 4.
Trace repair (ditto). 5. Damaged eyelet repair (lead is soldered to
a revealed trace).
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This project and its documentation is the result of technical investigations made by the engineering staff of Mercury
Tips 'n Tricks for
Working on PCBs
Terror" is double-layered,
3
4
Orange "Tiny
the furnishing of these documents does not constitute an expresed or implied license to use such materials.
Damaged
eyelet
Repair to a damaged eyelet: The lead from component bypass-
es the damaged eyelet and is soldered to either a revealed trace
or another terminal on the same trace (as in this example).
those made in the west. Therefore they're likely to
require patching and repair work as you make the
Upgrade. This is normal, and easy to do – as long
as you know a few tricks.
Revealing a
Trace: Sometimes we need to "reveal"
traces so that the PCB can be modified or repaired.
An easy way to do this is to take a sharp knife or
Exacto and carefully scrape away the lamination
to "reveal" the copper foil under it. Use high-grade
(99%) Isopropyl alcohol and a Q-tip to clean these
new contacts before soldering to them.
Terror" • Mercury "Holy Terror" Upgrade Kit
Magnetics. The disclosure of the information herein may pertain to proprietary rights and
Intact
eyelet
Continued on next page è
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