Cay16 vs Cat16

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jamielaing
 
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Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2010 6:44 pm

Cay16 vs Cat16

Post by jamielaing »

Can anyone tell me why I would want to choose a CAT16 resistor network over CAY16?

I'm looking at the docs and I see it means concave vs. convex, but why would someone care about that?

Example:

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bou ... 16-220J4LF
vs
http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDet ... 16-220J4LF

Thank you!

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adafruit_support_mike
 
Posts: 67446
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:51 pm

Re: Cay16 vs Cat16

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

It's basically a tradeoff between strength and size.

The solder fillet on a convex array will extend outward from the edges of the component. The footprint is 50%-100% wider than the part itself. That produces strong joints with a lot of leverage, so the part will have a strong tendency to self-align on the pads during reflow.

The solder fillet on a concave array pulls into the dimple. The footprint only needs to be about 25% wider than the part, meaning you get higher component density. The joint also uses slightly less solder, which matters when you buy it by the barrel. The joints don't stand up against flexing as well as the ones on a concave array though, and they don't self-align quite as well.

For hobbyist and short-run purposes, the differences aren't that significant. Concave arrays do have the advantage of being easier to connect to wire when you're free-forming though.

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