Hello
I have a project where I power a lot of LEDs - about 10A (50W) worth. I am making a 4 layer PCB with a power plane. A DC power socket is mounted through-hole on the PCB. That connects to a power switch. I want the output of this power switch to connect to the power plane. What's the best way to do this?
Obviously my first thought is a via, but I don't know how big it needs to be to handle the current. The calculators on the net (like Saturn) use terms I don't understand like: "Via Hole Diameter" (Is that the drill hole diameter or the total via diameter?) and "Ref Plane Opening Diameter" (??).
Also, if the required via ends up have a really large diameter, is there a preferred way to use closely spaced smaller vias connected together by track?
I guess at the end of the day, I'm just trying to figure out the safest via size for distributing 10A through to the internal power plane.
Thanks for your help in advance.