It still happens. In fact, it just happened last night. We had a PCB with plus (+) mark to indicate the polarity of diode. Unfortunately, that doesn't tell us which way to put the diode.

You just can't always tell. If it's a barrier diode or a zener, the cathode might very well be the positive side. Or, it could be the negative side. An LED will usually have the anode positive, but again, there may be a few scenarios where it's not. The bottom line is that a plus (+) or minus (-) sign doesn't give us enough information to orient the diode.

We prefer that you use the actual diode symbol, or an industry standard anode or cathode indicator. "A" orGood markation "C" for anode or cathode can also work. Just make sure you also put the reference designator (D1, D2...) so we know it's not a capacitor.

In the job last night, the build instructions were conflicting so we called and with the help of the designer, figured it all out, but it's always best to do it right the first time. So be clear with your silk screen, the PCB you save may be your own.

Duane Benson

Spider or worm?

http://blog.screamingcircuits.com/