PCB layout and perfboard
Take a circuit from the bench to a board. The perfboard tool places the parts on a 2.54 mm grid and lets you solder the back with bridges, tinned wire and hook-up wire, with a design check that shows what is joined and what is not. The PCB tool places and routes a two- or four-layer board with copper traces sized by IPC-2221, vias, a ground pour and a design-rule check, and the finished board runs on the same solver as the bench, so you can measure it before you order it. Boards and perfboards can be dragged and checked in 3D.
Open the labFree, in your browser, no account needed. Part of a free electronics simulator with 293 parts, 193 lessons and 66 builds.
What you can do
- Lay out any lesson's circuit on a perfboard or a PCB with one command and compare it with the bench, net by net.
- Learn how a PCB is made, layer by layer, in the fabrication lesson.
- Size traces for current with the IPC-2221 calculator.
Builds (3)
LM386 speaker amplifier box
Small amplifier for a phone or radio.
65 W USB-C PD charger from scratch: mains flyback (UC3844, 800 V MOSFET, PQ2625 transformer), TL431 + PC817 feedback, PD controller
65 W USB-C PD charger from parts: mains input filter, bridge and bulk, UC3844 flyback with RCD clamp and aux-powered…
Piso Wi-Fi on solar: how big a panel and battery for a router and coin box
100 W panel, a 10 A MPPT charge controller, a 12 V 30 Ah LiFePO4 battery and the box: router plus coin acceptor on the…
Lessons (3)
Perfboard: make every connection yourself
A breadboard joins each 5-hole strip for you. A perfboard joins nothing: every hole is its own island until you solder…
How a PCB works: the layer stack-up
A printed circuit board is a stack: copper etched into traces and pads, glued to fibreglass, coated with solder mask…
PCB layout: route the board and run it
Schematic → layout → simulate. The circuit on the left is the schematic: a 9 V battery, a 470 Ω resistor and a red…
Parts (17)
Breadboard
Half-size solderless breadboard · 30 columns × a–j + 2 power rails each side
Perfboard
Prototype board 24 × 18 holes · 2.54 mm pitch · FR-4, plated through-hole pads on both sides · no…
Via
Plated via · 1 mm pad, 0.5 mm drill · joins top and bottom copper
Printed circuit board
2-layer FR-4 board 102 × 66 mm · 1.6 mm · 1 oz copper · 0 nets from the schematic · showing the…
DC barrel jack
Panel / breadboard jack · 5.5 × 2.1 mm · centre pin + · 5 A
USB-A receptacle
USB-A receptacle (female), through-hole · pins VBUS, D−, D+, GND · a phone plugged in checks…
Wall outlet
Duplex universal outlet · 2 sockets on one 16 A rating · 250 V · neon indicator
Net meter
Bi-directional kWh meter · 1000 imp/kWh
Energy sub-meter
Single-phase DIN-rail energy meter · 230 V 5(63) A · 1 module · shows V, A, W, PF and kWh · wire…
PZEM-004T v3.0 AC meter
Peacefair PZEM-004T V3.0, 10 A version (shunt inside) · 80–260 V AC · measures V, A, W, Wh, Hz, PF…
Junction box (PH, PVC)
4×4 in square orange PVC junction box · empty: the wires come in through the knockouts and are…
Terminal junction box (EU / panel)
4×4 in (100 × 100 mm) PVC utility box · 4 screw terminal strips (L, N, S1, S2) × 5 clamps · 450 V…
Screw terminal block (KF301)
PCB screw terminal (KF301 type) · 2 way · 5.08 mm pitch · 300 V 16 A · pins solder into the board…
TO-220 heatsink (LM317)
Black-anodised aluminium, 15 °C/W in free air · drop it on a TO-220 part (MOSFET, 7805, LM317) to…
Project enclosure
ABS enclosure 160×110×70 mm · IP65 · parts inside run hotter: inside = ambient + P × θ_box
DIN rail (35 mm) (TS35)
TS35 top-hat rail, 300 mm, steel zinc-plated · clip breakers, charge controllers and terminal…
M3 standoff
M3 × 10 mm brass hex standoff with screw · lifts a board off the enclosure floor so air flows and…
Calculators
PCB trace width calculator (IPC-2221)
How wide a copper trace must be for a current
Resistor colour code calculator
Read a 4-band or 5-band resistor
Also on the lab
Solar PV simulator · Battery and BMS simulator · ESP32 simulator · Arduino simulator · Breadboard simulator · House wiring simulator · Brownout backup · Piso Wi-Fi on solar · Questions answered · Compared with other simulators