Electronic – PCB Design- 4.5KV

high voltagepcb-design

Guys I am new to the PCB design. The PCB I am designing has a connection to 4.5KV. I have a question related to the ground pour, should I avoid the ground pour on the entire top layer or should I just avoid the area around the 4.5KV connection (it’s an IGBT). In case avoiding only the IGBT area is sufficient how much should be the clearance. Moreover, it would be helpful to know what other problems can arise by having such high voltage on the PCB.

Best Answer

IPC-2221 specifies recommended clearance rules for given peak voltages. Based on this calculator, per IPC-2221B you need a minimum of 13 mm (512 mil) clearance between the high voltage traces and surrounding copper/components, assuming your traces are on the top or bottom layer and are coated with soldermask.

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When working with such high voltages, it is advisable to include a creepage gap as well - a slot in the board between the high voltage section and the rest of the board to prevent any arcs from tracking along the surface.

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This combined with the above clearance requirement should help protect your board from undesired arcing.