Bill,
The easiest way to increase the distance is to add a surface that is
perpendicular to the board that has to be between the offending traces.
Like what a barrier terminal does. Another is to change the medium to
something with more resistance than air, coat the traces with a epoxy.
IMHO,
Rod 

-----Original Message-----
From: DesignerCouncil [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Brooks,Bill
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2005 12:39 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [DC] High voltage breakdown... solutions?

It's Monday... had your coffee yet?

I'm trying to gather together some potential solutions to High Voltage
breaking over and arcing between traces on board. The things I know
contribute to this are things like, too little spacing between traces on
the
surface or in the inner layers, sharp points on traces, board
cleanliness or
the presence of contaminants between the potential voltages.
It was suggested that conformal coating the boards after a real good
cleaning might improve the insulation resistance between traces, has
anyone
done this successfully? Do you have any other ideas short of a re-layout
of
the board that could perhaps repair a problem like this?

Any ideas are most appreciated.

Bill Brooks - KG6VVP
PCB Design Engineer, C.I.D.+, C.I.I.
Tel: (760)597-1500 Ext 3772 Fax: (760)597-1510
Datron World Communications, Inc.
_______________________________________
San Diego Chapter of the IPC Designers Council
Communications Officer, Web Manager
http://dcchapters.ipc.org/SanDiego/
http://pcbwizards.com

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