Star-shaped solder pads for through hole components in Apple power supplies
Folks, including Daniel Giesbrecht, P.Eng. on X (formerly Twitter) have looked at the construction of Apple power supplies. Note the through-hole component pads on the circuit board with a star shape. Why are the pads shaped like that?
Various reasons are postulated in the comments. A prominent one notes a Phillips patent from 2005 for PCB solder pads to make a radial arm shape for benefits in soldering.
Users cannot agree on the soldering method employed, re. use of soldering paste or wave soldering. The shape may improve the reliability of the connnection given the leads of the through-hole components can act as heat sinks.
What is your take? Please leave your comments below. And read the comments on X in the thread here.
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I built an Ed Fong antenna that you hang from a tree and when I did that, I didn’t listen to those giving me lessons on how to solder because I already knew how to solder. I imagine that something flexible hanging from a tree would break from being wrapped up and from the movement of even wind. I decided against convention to give my solder joint extra solder to be able to hold up in a mobile environment.
I built an Ed Fong antenna that you hang from a tree and when I did that, I didn’t listen to those giving me lessons on how to solder because I already knew how to solder. I imagine that something flexible hanging from a tree would break from being wrapped up and from the movement of even wind. I decided against convention to give my solder joint extra solder to be able to hold up in a mobile environment.