I am doing my first PCB on Eagle by using dual layer PCB (top and bottom). I route all the through hole components on the bottom and used the top part of the board to provide ground plane. I am going to send the layout to PCB manufacturing and they are providing a free plating for all the holes (all holes are plated by default). My question here is does it effect the circuit when the bottom traces holes are plated? Since the whole top part of the PCB is a ground plane. Do I need to tell them that the holes does not need to be plated?
I know that the ground holes needs to be plated to be connected to the top part but if the whole bottom traces holes are plated, will the whole circuit be grounded? (No signals).
Thank you for helping, Excuse my bad english explanation.
Best Answer
You really want the through-hole plating on all holes. They will be electrically isolated from the ground plane, but they provide significant additional mechanical strength for the traces that connect to the pins and allow the solder to flow through the hole and provide a mechanical connection on both sides of the board. This reduces the possibility that the pad on the bottom will separate from the board because of mechanical stress or thermal cycling.