Mystery dot in layer 1.

Community PCB Design
1

I’m in the process of finishing my first PCB design using Eagle 5.6.0, I’ve been correcting the errors given from the design rule check, and am down to the last 4. They are all related to a weird red spot which I can’t seem to select nor delete.

Here’s a screenshot:

http://yfrog.com/n6eaglescreenshotkj

Has anyone got any idea what it is and how to delete it?

Or is it not important and can be ignored?

I’ve found a lot of useful info on here before, but I had no idea how to search for this issue, apologies if such a question exists.

Thanks, Lucien

2

Check the Gerber file using a Gerber viewer such as GC-Prevue. That will show if it is is a genuine piece of track.

3

Looked at the Gerber file, and it’s real alright.

http://yfrog.com/izgerbermysteryp

Wonder why I can’t delete it!

Argh.

4

The easiest thing do do would be to rip up the long trace so it’s replaced with an airwire. You’ll probably be left with a tiny line segment where the bump is. Rip that segment up and then re-route the long trace. Depending on where you click to rip up, the entire trace from start to end might go away - if this happens, just “undo” and try it again. You can rip up segment by segment so you won’t have to re-draw anything but the straight part.

5

The bump isn’t actually part of the long trace though, I can rip those up fine but the tiny spot always remains, and I can’t select it to see what it is either!

http://yfrog.com/02rippedupp

I guess the question is, can I just ignore it?!

Although the perfectionist in me would love to get rid of it…

Thanks

Lucien

6

That is strange.

Try selecting delete, then group. Drag a rectangle over it and see if it gets selected.

Do you have the tplace layer enabled?

It probably won’t hurt anything but I always worry when something doesn’t make sense - it often is an indication of bad news someplace.

Also, I always use Advanced Circuits FreeDFM service. Go to www.4pcb.com, upload your files and with luck, you’ll get an email back shortly that says the board is good to go. If the reply takes longer, it may say that there are problems with the board and give some examples. They are really helpful and I’ve even had them call me to help me figure out a problem. A mirrored layer on an almost symmetric board can be hard to figure out!

7

It’s part of the Top (1) layer for sure, I hide that and it disappears. When I drag a group box over the area it just says “group is empty”.

Most annoying…

8

If it’s part of one of the footprints and you have the tplace layer off, it won’t be selected. With tplace off, you can’t move parts or select them.

9

I have all layers enabled and it’s still un deletable, un selectable, and un anything else that I’ve tried able.

10

Post the eagle files, and we can try fixing it / figuring out what’s wrong.

Alternatively - use GERBV to touch up the gerber file [by deleting the track] before sending it to production.

–David Carne

11

Are you trying to select just that dot, or have you tried selecting everything on your board and seeing if the dot also get selected? I’m 99% sure it’s attached to one of the parts in your design. If you drag a selection box over a section of a part but miss the origin of the part, it won’t be selected.

12

Found it! It was attached to a random custom part. I must have put a spot of wire in the footprint when I made it, and it was so far from the origin that I didn’t notice.

Selecting everything was the key, did that, it highlighed, ah!

Select the bottom half, still highlighted, etc.

Thanks a lot people!

Lucien