Purpose

A clearance that is replaced by a thermal pad or omitted altogether can become a nightmare for the fabricator. It causes a direct short between a power plane and a ground plane with the usual disastrous results. Detecting shorts between two different P&G layers is crucial, even though sometimes false alarms are reported.

Function

Reports drills that touch large copper nets (not NFP) of more than two P&G layers.

The logic is that if a drill is drilled thru thermal pads of two different P&G layers, it shorts the planes.

Activation