madbeanpedals::forum

I've been running all my boards in black for a few years now. It looks the best and is most consistent with color. Often red, blue, etc run in different batches can be different shades from one another. I don't care for yellow and I hate white ones because they contrast badly with flux.

So I was thinking of going back to plain old boring green. The reason is it's much easier to follow the traces on the boards that way. Black is very hard to pick out with my aging eyes. So, maybe it's better to go with the color that's most beneficial to actual builders?

One other possible reason. I read recently about the different ways solder mask color is achieved and there was a claim that the materials used for black could become conductive in the wrong situation. I don't know the truth of that but I personally have had a couple cases where I picked up voltages on boards where none should exist. And this has only happened in the last year or so. I can't attribute it to anything in particular but it's for sure caused me to rethink how I have the boards made.

Green is cool, classic old school. I'm not a snob about board colors so green is fine with me as I'm sure everyone else would be. As long as the project is fire who cares about the color.

I remember getting my first black 'Bean PCB and thought it looked super sleek, like I'd accidentally been sent the pro version or something. But I'm an idiot, and green is great. Bring back the lean green music machines.

In the case of unintentional conductivity with the black mask, and the fact that it's easier to follow the traces with green, I say go with green! Also anything is better than white. I went back and cleaned up a retrograde I built and thought the flux looked like rat piss all over the board. It got a scrubby scrub

Apparently, black and blue have carbon in them that make them conductive.

Green FTW!

Quote from: Aentons on March 12, 2022, 04:11:26 PM

This might be where I heard the black solder mask thing from. I'm subscribed to most of Simon Whistlers youTube channels, haha.

I'll second the white-board sentiments. Ordered up some for another project and exactly like you said, the flux makes it so awful. In the vintage Mac land, purple has been the new hotness, but I think it might be getting out of control...

But really, are you using clear enclosures? How often are you cork smelling with your PCB amongst pedal pals?

Green is the new black :P

Please change to green. I have never liked black due to not being able to see the traces.

I can't stand green, but now that you say that, I've had trouble with white solder masks just plain coming off. As far as seeing traces, I wear bifocals, then reading glasses, then magnifier glasses. So much blind. Green may help.

I like colors, but green is definitely easier to see. I wish they made clear solder mask.

Quote from: culturejam on March 12, 2022, 07:05:45 PM
I like colors, but green is definitely easier to see. I wish they made clear solder mask.

Osh park has the 'after dark' variant. Check it out.

Quote from: benny_profane on March 12, 2022, 07:35:33 PM

Quote from: culturejam on March 12, 2022, 07:05:45 PM
I like colors, but green is definitely easier to see. I wish they made clear solder mask.

Osh park has the 'after dark' variant. Check it out.

Thanks! I will definitely check that out.

Personally I hate the look of green boards and prefer pretty much any other color (except white for previously mentioned reasons), but it's not like it'd stop me from buying them and ultimately practical considerations outweigh aesthetic ones so if it works better and makes things easier for you than go for it!

Quote from: culturejam on March 12, 2022, 09:33:12 PM

Quote from: benny_profane on March 12, 2022, 07:35:33 PM

Quote from: culturejam on March 12, 2022, 07:05:45 PM
I like colors, but green is definitely easier to see. I wish they made clear solder mask.

Osh park has the 'after dark' variant. Check it out.

Thanks! I will definitely check that out.

I used it for something. I think it was a transparent mask, but it was a while back and I vaguely remember thinking I messed it up somehow cause it wasn't all black.


I'm in favor of green if everyone thinks it will be easier to follow the traces. I can generally manage fine with the more matte black Brian has been using, but green seems to be the industry standard and there's probably a reason for that.

Quote from: Invertiguy on March 15, 2022, 03:59:17 AM
Personally I hate the look of green boards and prefer pretty much any other color (except white for previously mentioned reasons), but it's not like it'd stop me from buying them and ultimately practical considerations outweigh aesthetic ones so if it works better and makes things easier for you than go for it!

Yeah, I don't like green at all.  Far prefer black or blue.

I think White can look great, you just need to wash the boards.

(https://i.imgur.com/ww4yAf0.jpg)

"Damnit, I don't care if the board works as advertised, as long as I know the PCB I cannot see inside of the enclosure is the proper color!"

- NO ONE EVER

;D

Personally.... I get what I get and I don't get upset.

Quote from: pickdropper on March 15, 2022, 11:11:59 AM
I think White can look great, you just need to wash the boards.

Yes, white can look great.  But, like a properly set up single-coil strat, it will show the world every place you mess up with exquisite clarity.  :P

Quote from: madbean on March 12, 2022, 02:15:05 PM
One other possible reason. I read recently about the different ways solder mask color is achieved and there was a claim that the materials used for black could become conductive in the wrong situation. I don't know the truth of that but I personally have had a couple cases where I picked up voltages on boards where none should exist. And this has only happened in the last year or so. I can't attribute it to anything in particular but it's for sure caused me to rethink how I have the boards made.

I've heard this as well, maybe from the same articles even... but assuming there's any basis in fact, I would submit that it's more than likely something that happened very early on when black soldermask was first developed and has since been resolved as part of the developmental leaps in PCB manufacturing technology (skyrocketing quality and plummeting costs). Oftentimes those cautionary stories survive long after the need for caution has disappeared.

I see black used all the time in high-end computer motherboards, GPUs, etc. where the slightest bit of soldermask conductivity would cause huge performance issues—applications that are exponentially more complex than our circuits whose technology stopped being leading-edge in 1977!

Quote from: aion on March 17, 2022, 03:23:04 PM
I've heard this as well, maybe from the same articles even... but assuming there's any basis in fact, I would submit that it's more than likely something that happened very early on when black soldermask was first developed and has since been resolved as part of the developmental leaps in PCB manufacturing technology (skyrocketing quality and plummeting costs). Oftentimes those cautionary stories survive long after the need for caution has disappeared.

I see black used all the time in high-end computer motherboards, GPUs, etc. where the slightest bit of soldermask conductivity would cause huge performance issues—applications that are exponentially more complex than our circuits whose technology stopped being leading-edge in 1977!

Yeah, those are all great points. Myth does abound. I would say as far as hi-end stuff (cough, Apple) using black there's a lot of testing and burn-in built into that production cycle. So, who knows what the rejection ratio is! Any chance, if even remote, is probably not worth the risk if it's one guy building one board. But, I don't take a lot of stock in the conductivity claim, either.

Since green is the favored the next projects and re-stocks will be that. I appreciate the input everyone. I'll save black for the Pro series and ENIG finishing. That's where it looks its best.

I'm a fan of purple.

Quote from: Govmnt_Lacky on March 15, 2022, 11:24:25 AM
"Damnit, I don't care if the board works as advertised, as long as I know the PCB I cannot see inside of the enclosure is the proper color!"

- NO ONE EVER

;D

My guess is that most pedal customers don't care one way or the other.

But for those of us that like looking at the insides, I don't think it's all that strange to care about internal aesthetics.  Personally, I'm tired of green and I like the other colors.  I mostly order boards with black solder mask, but I also order boards that are blue, red, white and occasionally purple.  Green is the one color I almost never order.  If I was building a board that somebody else made, green certainly wouldn't prevent me from buying or building it, but I would have a preference.

Quote from: pickdropper on March 19, 2022, 12:13:49 PM
My guess is that most pedal customers don't care one way or the other.

But for those of us that like looking at the insides, I don't think it's all that strange to care about internal aesthetics.  Personally, I'm tired of green and I like the other colors.  I mostly order boards with black solder mask, but I also order boards that are blue, red, white and occasionally purple.  Green is the one color I almost never order.  If I was building a board that somebody else made, green certainly wouldn't prevent me from buying or building it, but I would have a preference.

Although my response may have sounded harsh, it was not meant that way.

I guess I have never been much of an aesthetics person. Although I do like to keep builds tidy and looking good, the color of the PCB never played into it. If green is better for troubleshooting and/or tracing then I'm all for it. Bottom line for me is as long as it works properly then the color is of no consequence.

A thought.... maybe use PCB color to denote build difficulty? Green for the Noob boards up to Black for the hardest builds??

Quote from: Govmnt_Lacky on March 21, 2022, 11:08:56 AM

Quote from: pickdropper on March 19, 2022, 12:13:49 PM
My guess is that most pedal customers don't care one way or the other.

But for those of us that like looking at the insides, I don't think it's all that strange to care about internal aesthetics.  Personally, I'm tired of green and I like the other colors.  I mostly order boards with black solder mask, but I also order boards that are blue, red, white and occasionally purple.  Green is the one color I almost never order.  If I was building a board that somebody else made, green certainly wouldn't prevent me from buying or building it, but I would have a preference.

Although my response may have sounded harsh, it was not meant that way.

I guess I have never been much of an aesthetics person. Although I do like to keep builds tidy and looking good, the color of the PCB never played into it. If green is better for troubleshooting and/or tracing then I'm all for it. Bottom line for me is as long as it works properly then the color is of no consequence.

A thought.... maybe use PCB color to denote build difficulty? Green for the Noob boards up to Black for the hardest builds??

Hey, it's all good.  There's nothing wrong with not caring about the color of PCBs.  One could even argue that's a healthy attitude.  I'm well aware that I'm aesthetically picky.  I'm not particularly apologetic about it, but I don't expect everybody to feel the same way, either.

Solder mask color to reflect difficulty is a smart idea, I think.

Not sure I agree on the board colour for difficulty idea.

On the one hand, a black board means hard to read traces, which is a horrible thing to do on a Genius level PCB.

On the other hand, hard to read traces is not a nice thing to do to new builders.

Quote from: alanp on March 23, 2022, 05:41:30 AM
On the other hand, hard to read traces is not a nice thing to do to new builders.

Well, if you are a NEW builder then jumping into a Genius level build wouldn't be a good thing.

Also, if you are a Genius level builder then you should be able to use the included schematics to troubleshoot... right?

True, and Brian's build docs show the traces quite clearly for handy reference.  No need to squint at the board too hard.

That said, I'd hate to have to figure out where the traces go in a 4-layer board, even with a handy diagram.

Someone please remind me, why are we trying to read traces again?  I buy a PCB so I don't have to worry about the part-to-part connections.