A ‘via’ is a passive electronic component that connects one layer of tracks to another layer of tracks on a Printed Circuit Board.

When building your own double-sided PCB, you don’t really need a special via pin, just a piece of wire will do ... unless you have lots holes to fill - then it’s much quicker to use the proper thing...

Via pins like these, are slightly tapered and when they’re pushed into a hole, they won’t fall out when you’re soldering the top side of the circuit board.

The other reason to use via pins instead of wire is that via are ‘tinned’ which allows for extremely easy to soldering to the copper track.

They come joined together for easy handling.

Tip: Push them in from the bottom side of the PCB.

Solder the ‘thin’ (PCB top). Trim with a pair of side-cutters and sand flat to allow mounting underneath surface mount devices!

Better than a piece of wire - a ‘via’.