Pads in Eagle are smaller than usual.

[orangepit]

I need some help understanding eagle. I've built several pcbs and the pad sizes have always been fine for drilling.
Today, I finished up a single sided pcb for the echo base v2 and when I printed it the pads are way too small for me to successfully drill. I am using the exact resistor packages as usual. The one thing that I did differently was start with another person's eagle files so that I didn't have to draw up the whole schematic.

In the design rules, the maximum pad size is set to larger than what I need. I can double the percent for pad size in drc but that also changes the IC pads and expands them too much.

I'm really bummed. I stared at my computer for so long routing this that I never want to see another pcb again! There's no way that I am starting over. If I can't salvage this I will route and etch a double sided board based on the musicpcb one. I really wanted to make a single sided board to share. What can cause the resistor/cap pads to be smaller than usual?

[UKToecutter]

I'm not an expert on Eagle but I do have experience with another package called DipTrace.
The first thing that came to mind was that if you'd used another's schematic to work from that he may have specified a different component.

What I mean is that the individual used a different resistor to the one that you use.
If you are able to replace the components on the schematic with the ones that you normally use it may solve your issue.

[italianguy63]

I have a limited knowledge too.. but know enough to be dangerous in Eagle.

Since it was someone else's base schematic, there may have been discrepancies in component "libraries."  Maybe they didn't mesh up between versions, or edited, or something like that.

You need to look at the "devices" and make sure they are what you want.  Then you can replace them or edit them to be what you want.  I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS review the files and Gerber layers to ensure the pads are good, and the holes are big enough.  I have had this same issue exactly.  You learn from experience on this one....

MC

[r.mckillop]

I have a rule set up in my DRC that specifies the minimum and maximum size for pads as the same value (20mil usually).  This will automatically resize any pads that are not the exact size you want.

[italianguy63]

Cool!

[karbomusic]

I have a rule set up in my DRC that specifies the minimum and maximum size for pads as the same value (20mil usually).  This will automatically resize any pads that are not the exact size you want.

Well that's darn handy to know. I've been pulling my hair out with this problem to the point that I export my PCB image, pull it into Photoshop and enlarge all the pads manually. This is the first thing I'm going to try when I get home. Thanks!

[davent]

No idea whether this can apply to Eagle but with ExpressPCB if i want to convert the pad size enmass i place a pad of the size i want somewhere off board, highlight it and all the components with pads i want the same size, double click my target pad, dialog box comes up with the pad data, click OK and all the highlighted pads are converted.

If i have a pdf of someone elses pcb(Tonepad), open in Inkscape and do a similar conversion. If the pdf is locked (Madbean's), still open in Inkscape but drop the new pad over the old ones. I generally use 75mil pads with 20mil holes for ease of drilling.

[karbomusic]

I have a rule set up in my DRC that specifies the minimum and maximum size for pads as the same value (20mil usually).  This will automatically resize any pads that are not the exact size you want.

Well that's darn handy to know. I've been pulling my hair out with this problem to the point that I export my PCB image, pull it into Photoshop and enlarge all the pads manually. This is the first thing I'm going to try when I get home. Thanks!

Reporting back... It worked!

[orangepit]

Thanks for the replies.
I played with it some more and discovered that the problem is not what I thought. Changes in DRC do solve my problem with one annoying exception. The molex connectors that I used for easy pot [dis]connecting enlarge to the point of leaving hairline spaces between pads when I up the pad sizes in DRC. The weird thing is that every 1% I increase, the molex pads grow, but the rest of the pads only grow every 5% or so, so by the time I get to the resistor/cap pad size I like, the molex pads are too big.
Also, when I open the molex connector package, it will not let me modify the pads. I can change everything else, but not the pads!?

[duck_arse]

I sometimes come up against the "can't delete" something or other problem with eagle libs. if you create a new molex layed out how you want it, and then copy the molex whatever and paste it into the new device, it should have no connected pads or anything stopping changes.

[orangepit]

I'll give that a shot when I have time.
Is there any way to select certain packages to NOT be affected by DRC changes? That would be very handy.