Cover (tent) vias with solder mask at the next board revision
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Assessment
- Difficulty
- 2/5
- Estimated time
- 1-3 hours
- Newbie friendliness
- 79/100
- Issue type
- Feature
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Activity status
- Active
- Domain
- embedded-iot
Research direction
Start with Hardware/LiDAR_Lite_Interface_HardSwitch.brd and the two board files under Hardware/UntestedDesigns; inspect their Eagle design rules and any corresponding .dru files. Set the via stop-mask limit to at least 14 mil, and check the solder-mask Gerbers for all three boards. Done means the Gerbers show no openings over vias.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Description
Present design
Hardware/LiDAR_Lite_Interface_HardSwitch.brd uses the Eagle design rules oshpark-2layer with mlViaStopLimit at 0 mil. Eagle covers a via only when its drill is at or below that limit, so all 51 vias on this board are open on both sides. The two boards in Hardware/UntestedDesigns (Basic/LiDAR_Lite_Interface.brd and HandSolder/LiDAR_Lite_Interface_CAN.brd) carry the same rules, and their 24 vias each are open as well.
Decision
All Northern Widget boards now cover (tent) their vias with solder mask. This was decided on 2026-11-11 and is recorded in Project-Margay #78. Margay and Okapi already do this in their KiCad conversions.
Why
These boards live in damp enclosures that freeze. Bare via copper can corrode there, and it can carry leakage that matters at microamp sleep currents. Mask also keeps solder from wicking off fine-pitch pads into nearby vias during reflow.
Probe access
You can still probe a covered via: scratch the mask off with a knife tip. For a rail that you check on every board, add a labeled test pad instead.
What to do at the next revision
- In Eagle, open the design rules (DRC > Masks) and set the via stop-mask limit (
mlViaStopLimit) at or above the largest via drill. The largest via drill here is 0.35 mm (13.8 mil), so 14 mil or more covers every via. Set it in the board's design rules, and in the.drufile if you keep one. - In KiCad, open Board Setup > Solder Mask/Paste and tent vias on the front and the back. KiCad's Eagle importer already writes this setting.
- Check the solder-mask Gerbers before you order: no via should have an opening.
🤖 Generated with Claude Code
- Dominant language
- C++
- Stars
- 0
- Forks
- 0
- PR merge metrics
- No merged PRs in 30d
Getting set up
- No Dockerfile or Docker Compose file
- No pull request template
- Read the contributing guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
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