IPC 2221 vs. 2152: The Truth About PCB Trace Current Ratings

About this episode

This episode discusses the critical differences between IPC 2221 and IPC 2152 standards for PCB trace current ratings and thermal management.

Altium Develop gives your entire team real-time visibility into PCB designs, supply chain data, and manufacturing feedback — so thermal and power decisions never get made in isolation: https://www.altium.com/develop?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=ontrack-podcast&utm_content=ipc-2221-vs-2152-the-truth-about-pcb-trace-current-ratings If you've ever sized a PCB trace using the IPC 2221 charts or relied on a 10°C rise rule of thumb, this episode of the OnTrack Podcast is essential viewing. Host Zach Peterson sits down with Mike Jouppi — the engineer behind IPC 2152 — to unpack decades of misunderstood standards, flawed assumptions, and what designers should actually be doing when it comes to conductor sizing and thermal management. Mike walks through the critical differences between IPC 2221 and IPC 2152, explains why the internal trace data in 2221 was never derived from actual in-board testing, and reveals how adding copper planes to your design can dramatically increase power dissipation even while keeping temperature rise "within spec." If you're designing power-carrying traces without thinking in terms of power loss budgets, this conversation will…

People in this episode

Host: Zach Peterson

Guest: Mike Jouppi

Topics covered

• PCB design
• trace current ratings
• thermal management
• IPC standards
• power dissipation

Keywords

• PCB design
• IPC 2221
• IPC 2152
• trace sizing
• thermal management
• power dissipation
• copper planes

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Altium LLC.

Books & works: IPC 2221, IPC 2152

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