All things EasyEDA pcb design

[AlanJ]

I thought i’d start a thread about the pcb design program easyeda.

Up till now i’ve used eagle to design pcbs but it has two issues
1. free version has limited board size and the paid version is too expensive for my limited use - £400 pa
2. whilst there are lots of parts libraries for eagle, it doesn’t have most of the parts for jlcpcb who i use to do smt assembly

Hence i’ve decided to switch to easyeda as it’s free and fully integrated with jlcpcb parts libraries.

Thought it would be good to share any tips on easyeda here

I’ve got the hang of the schematics designer and the board layout, but the auto router that comes with it is pants. it can’t resolve even fairly simple layouts.

I downloaded an external router that’s written in java and is free. that appears better but is slow (compared to eagle), and i’ve had a few issues with it not importing back into easyeda properly.

Anyone recommend another auto router tool?

Any other tips / comments on using easyeda?

 

[Mike Parkins]

I used EasyEDA to make my Raspberry Pi carrier board but it was very difficult to master. It wasn't the PCB layout that foxed me, more the selection of parts which was very frustrating to find exactly what I needed. Next I wanted to make a small LED board compatible with 6803 games (like the Yoppsicle) but I couldn't find the Basic parts so JLCPCB would assemble it and gave up.

 

[stumblor]

I never use any auto routing features because a) it always ends in ugly board designs and b) I don't design using schematics (eeek)

@Mike Parkins use the JLC parts finder to massively speed up finding what you need, since the inbuilt easyeda library search aint great.

This, on the other hand, *is* great:

JLCPCB SMT Parts Library & Component Sourcing

100k+ in-stock electronic components for online parts sourcing & PCB assembly, 24-hour rapid SMT assembly

jlcpcb.com

Ie:


It'll return all the automated parts available, and their stock numbers. Make sure you sort descending on "stock" to pick a part that isn't going to run out anytime soon (if thats possible). Also pay attention to the price (obviously) but also whether the part is 'basic' or 'extended' - as extended parts will add cost. Likewise through hole parts, although you can add them (and get them manually populated!), which is awesome and helps massively.

Once you find your part, click the 'copy' button next to the JLCPCB part number, stick that in the library search, and hey presto.

If it's possible, always design single sided boards, otherwise you'll be doing some of the population yourself, and I don't dig inhaling lead fumes at 2am when I should be snuggled up in bed.

 

[AlanJ]

I never use any auto routing features because a) it always ends in ugly board designs and b) I don't design using schematics (eeek)

What do you do instead?

. Also pay attention to the price (obviously) but also whether the part is 'basic' or 'extended' - as extended parts will add cost. Likewise through hole parts, although you can add them (and get them manually populated!), which is awesome and helps massively.
I’ve used smd parts to be built but never tried jlcpcb to place the through hole components. i guess it adds to the cost quite a bit.

I too like to use the jlcpcb parts search then just enter the part number in easyeda

 

[stumblor]

What do you do instead?

Nothing, just straight into PCB design

 

[AlanJ]

made some progress with the free external auto router.

When it’s done its job you save an output file and reimport into easyEda. If you use a hyphen in a net name, it enclosed the net some in quotes “ “. silly easyEda then creates a netname using the quotes!!!! I can edit the file & remove the quotes, or better still i changed my net names to avoid any special characters. now it’s importing just fine.

 

[AlanJ]

Nothing, just straight into PCB design

That’s advanced stuff.

I have 7 sockets each with 8 pins. 7 of the pins on each socket all need connecting to the 7 corresponding pins on each of the other sockets. and then the 8th pin from each is separate (chip select) - then all the 7 commons and the 7 individual select lines all head to a 14 pin header

if i try to lay that out manually- i end up with about 3 times the number of vias compared to passing it to an auto router, so i’m clearly missing some layout tricks

 

[stumblor]

One technique I use (and sorry if this is already understood) is to always try and work in the same direction on the same layer. For example, the top layer would always be vertical, and the bottom layer would always be horizontal. I don't follow that pattern for the whole board, but it certainly helps in areas where things are more congested.

This is the Steady Eddy - you can see what I mean with the red verticals.

 

[AlanJ]

that makes sense @stumblor ty.