Talk:Via (electronics)

Untitled

Maybe add diagrams and pictures for all three (standard, buried, and blind) Matejhowell 15:25, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

diagrams added M adler (talk) 18:26, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

I would like to sugest a link to this site: http://www.micromultek.com.br/RigidCircuit/microvia.asp It contains a good ilustration to several tipes os vias. -- Akira - Cleber Akira Nakandakare 21:11, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

How about adding the definition that "via" is derived from (it's an acronym. . . ) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.249.47.163 (talk) 16:37, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Vertical interconnect what?

I suspect that "vertical interconnect access" was made up after the event, as I can't find any corroboration of it that isn't an obvious copy of Wikipedia. Why make up a clunky, redundant acronym like that when there is a perfectly good Latin word via (way) that it is more likely to be derived from? --Heron (talk) 12:48, 5 March 2011 (UTC)

That addition to the page appeared in early 2010. Google searches reveal earlier-dated references for "vertical interconnect access". That doesn't rule out that it is a backronym, but it demonstrably predates this Wikipedia page.192.139.122.42 (talk) 23:43, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

Current capacity diagram

I have just removed the following from the article inserted by User:Binarysequence:

PCB VIA current capacity chart for a typical 1mil plating for various temperature rises

I have several problems with this, but most importantly I am disputing the accuracy.

• It is not made clear which plots are for current capacity and which are for resistance. I am assuming that the orange and blue plots are for resistance based on the slope of the curve.
• That means the red and green plots are for current capacity. Both of these have a discontinuity in the slope where it goes negative. There needs to be some explanation why a monotonically decreasing resistance does not have a monotonically increasing current capacity. There are several other places where the curves depart from the expected smoothness but less dramatically. I suspect these are all artifacts of not taking sufficient data points.
• Some small formatting issues:
  • Via should not be in all caps. It is a normal uncapitalised noun in running text.
  • The text "using Saturn PCB v5.8 by EEVblog" would be better in the Source field of the image page rather than the title of the diagram. By the way, if this came from a blog then that is probably not a reliable source.
  • We have "decC" instead of "degC" in two places. There should be a space in there as "deg C".
  • Writing the resistance units as "mOhms" is incorrect, both because of capitalisation and mixed abbreviation full word. It should either be "mΩ" or "milliohm"
• Providing the algorithm used to generate these plots on the file's page would be extremely useful. This would allow other editors to produce a more accurate plot in the preferred SVG format. SpinningSpark 13:07, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

— It looks like the above issues were dealt with, and the diagram returned. Additional concerns:

• The text doesn't mention the diagram. This is particularly confusing because the text does mention a diagram "on the right", that actually lines up with this instead of the earlier diagram it is talking about.
• Either the legend should mention units (Amperes?) or the title should mention abbreviations (R and A) -- it takes some previous knowledge to realize that "Current capacity" would be abbreviated "A".

JimJJewett (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 23:59, 17 February 2021 (UTC)

Article scope

Both integrated circuit and circuit board vias are covered by the article. The only similarity between these types are function: connecting things on different levels. Everything else is different once the details are considered. Perhaps there should be a separate article for vias in ICs and those in circuit boards? 99Electrons (talk) 05:06, 8 January 2019 (UTC)

I agree, User:99Electrons, there are such substantial differences in implementation and manufacturing that circuit board and chip level vias deserve separate articles. ArticCynda (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 16:21, 14 July 2022 (UTC)

Clean up inconsistencies and perhaps clarify

Under the "In Printed Circuit Boards" heading at the end of para.1 it says: "Thermal vias carry heat away from power devices and are typically used in arrays of about a dozen.[2][3]" I do not have access to reference 3, but reference 2 plainly states: "What little additional benefit thermal vias may offer is limited to a very narrow area around the via itself."..."Finally, any thermal vias that are added to the board tend to only have a “point” impact. That is, they tend to only impact the pad at the point where they are placed. That is the main reason why so many previous authors think that a large number of thermal vias is typically required." This article contradicts what the wiki page states. I might suggest wording more in line with reference 2.

In the figure: "PCB via current capacity chart" this appears to be based on an IPC calculation, that is fine, but vias do not carry current in isolation. That is, they have to be connected to traces to carry current. In this case the situation changes. Douglas Brooks proved with simulations and actual measurements that the trace temperature is ultimately what controls the via temperature and that this is ultimately determines the current carrying capability of the via. See: https://www.signalintegrityjournal.com/articles/1459-vias-are-cooler-than-we-think So I might suggest a sentence or two explaining the charts via calculations in terms of actual use with traces and then referencing Mr. Brooks analysis. — Preceding unsigned comment added by LostInSpace2020 (talk • contribs) 18:41, 16 February 2026 (UTC)

It happens that sometimes sources conflict with each other. Designers may be using thermal vias as described, even though it doesn't work very well. It is not Wikipedia's job to determine best practices. We only paraphrase what we can find in reliable sources.

If two sources are in conflict and you can determine that one of them is not a reliable source, then you may resolve the conflict in favor of the reliable source. Constant314 (talk) 02:46, 17 February 2026 (UTC)

EDN and Signal Integrity are lessor WP:RSs and have equal reliability. Constant314 (talk) 02:52, 17 February 2026 (UTC)