RJ,
first of all, thank you for making the changes you did. Not only did you look at what I suggested, you used the opportunity to make a change that seems to have improved the design no end.
extra details withheld pending a PM.
Considering Microchip thinks it's OK to hook the PIC's straight to the Triac without an opto at all I do not consider the two pins too close together a HUGE problem either if a builder does not bridge the gap but it could be improved and should, and in the process I found a better improvement that removes this issue and saves precious build time for our users also.
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How much space is there on a triac leg between pads? 1mm same as we are talking about.
But what do they know? it's not like they are professionals or anything.
The fact is all of us should be thankful for the input on the issue as it has led to improvements of the design. It was only the reaction afterwards that I questioned.
keep in mind when looking at this design that it is isolated from the user by use of a IR remote. so there are no low voltage sections of the board carrying data to other devices (pc's etc) .