Pi Pico Security Alarm Driver

Author	Message
Solar Mike Guru Joined: 08/02/2015 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1255	Posted: 03:45am 12 Sep 2021         Volhout said   Impressive job Solar Mike. The boards all look absolutely good. Please also post some pictures when they are assembled. About the power outputs. 50A - 100A are impressive currents, especially in the common path (all outputs loaded). Did you take special precaustions to prevent the PCB from overheating ? Is it 2 ounce copper ? or even thicker ? Volhout The underside of the pcb (1oz) current tracks has a tinned solder mask, so additional heavy gauge wire can be soldered on to augment the current capacity. Alarms are not running continuously and of limited duration, so not too worried about some short term heating. The mosfets have well in excess of 100 amp rating, so can switch very high peak currents, ie the truck horn requires > 40 amps on start. Will post the zipped up gerbers to anyone here who wants them, no doubt the pcb could be used for other generic purposes. Cheers Mike