Hi Davide
I posted a quick clip which shows the soldering process for one of the diodes in the kit. It's pretty poor quality (taken with a digital camera), but at least it should address some of the confusion.
For the record, that tip was too large for SMD, and the solder was far too large. Usually you want much finer solder, and a smaller (but not needle point) tip.
If you have some solder wick, the you can go back and clean up any joint that has a little too much solder on it. with a tip that large, and solder that thick, it's easy to get too much solder on the joint.
hope this helps.
YouTube - MVI_5833.AVI
Cheers,
Owen
I posted a quick clip which shows the soldering process for one of the diodes in the kit. It's pretty poor quality (taken with a digital camera), but at least it should address some of the confusion.
For the record, that tip was too large for SMD, and the solder was far too large. Usually you want much finer solder, and a smaller (but not needle point) tip.
If you have some solder wick, the you can go back and clean up any joint that has a little too much solder on it. with a tip that large, and solder that thick, it's easy to get too much solder on the joint.
hope this helps.
YouTube - MVI_5833.AVI
Cheers,
Owen
but those diodes are easy, I think the main issues they are having are with the 1210 size caps as the pads are only a tiny bit larger than the cap. I noted this issue myself in an early post, but didnt really have any problem after I sorted technique on the first one. you do have to place it dead center though, which could prove to be the most difficult thing for people without such steady hands
The purpose of the video was purely to demonstrate the basic technique we've both been describing in words. When Davide mentioned he had parts sticking to his iron, and not being able to hold solder, tweezers and the iron at the same time, I figured people were not really getting the basic concept.
The finer points of how to remove the iron from the joint, how much solder to apply, and exactly how to apply the iron to the part/pad are all things people will need to master on their own. I'm not sure you'd get much from a video when it comes to that stuff. You just have to do it.
Granted the caps are a little harder, but its the exact same thing, just adjust the technique a little bit. In the case of the 1210 caps, you end up heating the parts a little more than usual, but as with you, once I did one or two parts, I got the hang of it.
As for the steady hands, people are on their own with that one. All the videos in the world won't help with that! Take a deep breath, relax for a second, and go for it.
Cheers,
Owen
The finer points of how to remove the iron from the joint, how much solder to apply, and exactly how to apply the iron to the part/pad are all things people will need to master on their own. I'm not sure you'd get much from a video when it comes to that stuff. You just have to do it.
Granted the caps are a little harder, but its the exact same thing, just adjust the technique a little bit. In the case of the 1210 caps, you end up heating the parts a little more than usual, but as with you, once I did one or two parts, I got the hang of it.
As for the steady hands, people are on their own with that one. All the videos in the world won't help with that! Take a deep breath, relax for a second, and go for it.
Cheers,
Owen
fair call mate, wasnt really criticizing, just being picky as is my way, you know that 
even though that seems to be the tradition around here. regardless I think its great, reckon it'll help either way.
main issue with the caps is probably the ground plane and not tinning the ground pad first, also not being afraid to crank the heat right up, as long as you move confidently and quickly all is well. as you say its something that just has to come with practice
even though that seems to be the tradition around here. regardless I think its great, reckon it'll help either way.main issue with the caps is probably the ground plane and not tinning the ground pad first, also not being afraid to crank the heat right up, as long as you move confidently and quickly all is well. as you say its something that just has to come with practice
So, it looks like my SMD component are done. Just some tips from my side for people who do SMD for the first time:
1) Start with the diodes of the rectifiers, they are the easiest component.
2) Resistors follow: they are very small, but the pads are big enough to allow good contact between the iron and the component.
3) Zener: I did the track side before the ground plane. This allowed me to place the component in order to leave as much space as possible on the ground plane pad to push the iron on it and have good contace.
4) Capacitors are the most difficult, as there is not much space to put the iron and to heat the track. I did, but here I'm not sure of the results. I did this as first components, and I think it was a mistake.
I used 400 C as temperature and for few pads on the ground plane I had to rise it a bit.
Owen, think for the video, it was very useful. Few questions:
1) Is the headphone amp the same level of complexity ?
2) Does it matter what kind of tin do you use ? I saw you have a super duper one.
I'll post some pictures soon.
Thanks,
Davide
1) Start with the diodes of the rectifiers, they are the easiest component.
2) Resistors follow: they are very small, but the pads are big enough to allow good contact between the iron and the component.
3) Zener: I did the track side before the ground plane. This allowed me to place the component in order to leave as much space as possible on the ground plane pad to push the iron on it and have good contace.
4) Capacitors are the most difficult, as there is not much space to put the iron and to heat the track. I did, but here I'm not sure of the results. I did this as first components, and I think it was a mistake.
I used 400 C as temperature and for few pads on the ground plane I had to rise it a bit.
Owen, think for the video, it was very useful. Few questions:
1) Is the headphone amp the same level of complexity ?
2) Does it matter what kind of tin do you use ? I saw you have a super duper one.
I'll post some pictures soon.
Thanks,
Davide
I like cardas organic flux, if you only use a little bit it doesnt need cleaning, well it doesnt need cleaning at all, but if you use too much its a bit ugly.
Davide: as far as solder, I go for either cardas tri or quad eutectic, although perhaps this is a bit large gauge for SMD beginners, best thin gauge flux core wire solder IMO is Kester 331 which has a water soluable flux core, but the flux like most is corrosive if you dont clean it, for no clean Kester there is Kester 245 for leaded or Kester 275 for no clean all the Kester products mentioned here are available in Sn63Pb37or Sn96.5Ag3.0Cu0.5, I prefer the latter; for audiophile peace of mind more than anything. I always go for quad or tri-eutectic alloys if I can and that one is the best lead free mix I know is tin silver and copper. it is available as small as 0.25mm which is what I use. brands like mundorf are IMO more for cables and I dont even like it for that due to high heat needed to get it to flow properly and it will melt the insulation of some wires before it wets properly. so yeah one of those, cardas and the kester are flux core, but I recommend getting some flux as well to use for stubborn joints; I actually use it on every joint out of habit.
hope that helps
Davide: as far as solder, I go for either cardas tri or quad eutectic, although perhaps this is a bit large gauge for SMD beginners, best thin gauge flux core wire solder IMO is Kester 331 which has a water soluable flux core, but the flux like most is corrosive if you dont clean it, for no clean Kester there is Kester 245 for leaded or Kester 275 for no clean all the Kester products mentioned here are available in Sn63Pb37or Sn96.5Ag3.0Cu0.5, I prefer the latter; for audiophile peace of mind more than anything. I always go for quad or tri-eutectic alloys if I can and that one is the best lead free mix I know is tin silver and copper. it is available as small as 0.25mm which is what I use. brands like mundorf are IMO more for cables and I dont even like it for that due to high heat needed to get it to flow properly and it will melt the insulation of some wires before it wets properly. so yeah one of those, cardas and the kester are flux core, but I recommend getting some flux as well to use for stubborn joints; I actually use it on every joint out of habit.
hope that helps
I realy do recommend tinning the ground pad first of all the joints not just soldering it first, but tinning it first before there is a component anywhere near it, then reflow the solder on the pad and move the part in then hold till it cools. cant get more room to solder it than not having a part there at all
yes before I bite anyone elses head off for asking about fets (you know who you are 
) 75% of my state is underwater (an area several times the size of many European countries, or Texas), my house is on high ground near the coast, so my house itself is not flooded. Many areas of Brisbane have indeed been evacuated, there are 12 dead with something like 70 missing, its impossible to move around and now this water has started moving to other states. it is the worst natural disaster in australian history, will cost 5 billion dollars in QLD alone!and for you Americans, i'm talking about a real billion, not your imitation as in 1000 million
some will know or have heard me complaining about the constant rain for the last 2-3 months and I mean constant, so when a massive rain event happened in the brisbane catchment the other day (80mm+ per hour of rainfall) it was too much for our dams to hold without risking collapse so they had to make controlled releases. we always took for granted that these dams would protect us as they were built to protect from an event larger than the last major flood, our capital city CBD is built entirely around the river. I have never seen anything like it and to make it even more surreal the rain stopped yesterday, so the sun was shining brightly as the worst happened and the river rose by 4.5M with some shops completely underwater, some parts of the city are under 22m. the flood event that happened out in the major water catchments of brisbane valley and inland took 36hrs to arrive so the damage was already done, we could only wait.
this guy deserves a medal!! thats a 300m long section of walkway that usually sits down in the CBD along kangaroo point cliffs and he pretty much single handedly without cable or rope or anything managed to guide it down the river preventing collision with the gateway bridge down near the mouth. incredible work just by ramming it and nudging it into position.
but not everything was so successful
and the pictures are just unreal! especially the aerial ones. so yeah im not directly effected as in i'm not underwater personally, but some of my friends and family are, I will be going in to help clean up as soon as the authorities say its OK to do so, travel is impossible at the moment anyway. I WILL be effected directly, but i'm just lucky my house isnt lost
so I dont know whether the heatsinks were already on the way to me when this happened, but I dont think so, I will be telling them to wait till after the weekend to send it if they havent, as I cannot afford express with insurance and I dont want to send them into this with regular postage.
for those of you who wonder why I was online last night, we were confined to the house and any distraction was a good distraction, every channel was full of imminent flooding.
thanks to those who have already send their well wishes
and sory to those who caught my mood last night
) 75% of my state is underwater (an area several times the size of many European countries, or Texas), my house is on high ground near the coast, so my house itself is not flooded. Many areas of Brisbane have indeed been evacuated, there are 12 dead with something like 70 missing, its impossible to move around and now this water has started moving to other states. it is the worst natural disaster in australian history, will cost 5 billion dollars in QLD alone!and for you Americans, i'm talking about a real billion, not your imitation as in 1000 millionsome will know or have heard me complaining about the constant rain for the last 2-3 months and I mean constant, so when a massive rain event happened in the brisbane catchment the other day (80mm+ per hour of rainfall) it was too much for our dams to hold without risking collapse so they had to make controlled releases. we always took for granted that these dams would protect us as they were built to protect from an event larger than the last major flood, our capital city CBD is built entirely around the river. I have never seen anything like it and to make it even more surreal the rain stopped yesterday, so the sun was shining brightly as the worst happened and the river rose by 4.5M with some shops completely underwater, some parts of the city are under 22m. the flood event that happened out in the major water catchments of brisbane valley and inland took 36hrs to arrive so the damage was already done, we could only wait.
this guy deserves a medal!! thats a 300m long section of walkway that usually sits down in the CBD along kangaroo point cliffs and he pretty much single handedly without cable or rope or anything managed to guide it down the river preventing collision with the gateway bridge down near the mouth. incredible work just by ramming it and nudging it into position.
but not everything was so successful
and the pictures are just unreal! especially the aerial ones. so yeah im not directly effected as in i'm not underwater personally, but some of my friends and family are, I will be going in to help clean up as soon as the authorities say its OK to do so, travel is impossible at the moment anyway. I WILL be effected directly, but i'm just lucky my house isnt lost
so I dont know whether the heatsinks were already on the way to me when this happened, but I dont think so, I will be telling them to wait till after the weekend to send it if they havent, as I cannot afford express with insurance and I dont want to send them into this with regular postage.
for those of you who wonder why I was online last night, we were confined to the house and any distraction was a good distraction, every channel was full of imminent flooding.
thanks to those who have already send their well wishes
and sory to those who caught my mood last nightAttachments
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that being said i'll probably get some work done today to distract me, but without the MF15-1F-75 sink that is with the IV sinks that I have been waiting on since last week I can only measure one device at a time. all services are delayed, so I doubt I will recieve them today. power supplies are built, test circuit is built and all 170 fets are labelled and waiting, so i'll crawl through some today
yes before I bite anyone elses head off for asking about fets (you know who you are
some will know or have heard me complaining about the constant rain for the last 2-3 months and I mean constant, so when a massive rain event happened in the brisbane catchment the other day (80mm+ per hour of rainfall) it was too much for our dams to hold without risking collapse so they had to make controlled releases. we always took for granted that these dams would protect us as they were built to protect from an event larger than the last major flood, our capital city CBD is built entirely around the river. I have never seen anything like it and to make it even more surreal the rain stopped yesterday, so the sun was shining brightly as the worst happened and the river rose by 4.5M with some shops completely underwater, some parts of the city are under 22m. the flood event that happened out in the major water catchments of brisbane valley and inland took 36hrs to arrive so the damage was already done, we could only wait.
this guy deserves a medal!! thats a 300m long section of walkway that usually sits down in the CBD along kangaroo point cliffs and he pretty much single handedly without cable or rope or anything managed to guide it down the river preventing collision with the gateway bridge down near the mouth. incredible work just by ramming it and nudging it into position.
but not everything was so successful
and the pictures are just unreal! especially the aerial ones. so yeah im not directly effected as in i'm not underwater personally, but some of my friends and family are, I will be going in to help clean up as soon as the authorities say its OK to do so, travel is impossible at the moment anyway. I WILL be effected directly, but i'm just lucky my house isnt lost
so I dont know whether the heatsinks were already on the way to me when this happened, but I dont think so, I will be telling them to wait till after the weekend to send it if they havent, as I cannot afford express with insurance and I dont want to send them into this with regular postage.
for those of you who wonder why I was online last night, we were confined to the house and any distraction was a good distraction, every channel was full of imminent flooding.
thanks to those who have already send their well wishes
Terrible pics of the situation, I am sorry for all AUS people mate, don't worry about mine heatsinks.
I wish you the rain stops.
Cheers,
Felipe
Thanks for the update qusp. I'm glad to hear you are alright (those are some crazy pictures).
When you put it into perspective, getting FETs or heatsinks a week or two earlier is really not important. Just get to it when you can, and I am sure can all show some patience.
When you put it into perspective, getting FETs or heatsinks a week or two earlier is really not important. Just get to it when you can, and I am sure can all show some patience.
Thanks for the update qusp. I'm glad to hear you are alright (those are some crazy pictures).
When you put it into perspective, getting FETs or heatsinks a week or two earlier is really not important. Just get to it when you can, and I am sure can all show some patience.
Amen
thanks guys! really.. so much destruction here and all over the world at the moment caused by la ninia (sp) as terrible as the destruction wreaked on my home state and continues to cause destruction across the country is and the loss of life and livelihood for many, (there is also a catagory 2 cyclone off the coast about 600km, but we do not think it will make it here) its amazing not more were killed. for an area that makes so much from tourism this will continue to hurt for years to come most likely.
the financial, emotional and property damage will be/already is massive and almost incomprehensible to me, but this can be recovered (mostly, of course some objects and of course human life are not replaceable and many beautiful historic buildings have been lost). places from my childhood are completely wiped from the map.
Fortunately my country is fairly affluent and relief efforts well organized and has many friends worldwide that would come to our aid if needed (but so far we have refused), so far at least it would seem that the cost at this stage (monetary), though very large, can be completely covered by cash reserves due to a strong economy of late; other countries however do not have this luxury
as bad as it is, its important not to lose sight of the terrible things that go on in the world every day, my heart goes out to the Sri Lankans whos flooding from the same kind of weather has caused destruction and loss of life on a human scale that makes our event look and sound pathetically small with 1 000 000 displaced and 25 dead last I saw. the comparatively sparse population here helps us there. it does not diminish the terror and heartache here, but puts things in perspective.
anyway back to the build thread thanks again for your thoughts guys, i'll keep you in the loop.
the financial, emotional and property damage will be/already is massive and almost incomprehensible to me, but this can be recovered (mostly, of course some objects and of course human life are not replaceable and many beautiful historic buildings have been lost). places from my childhood are completely wiped from the map.
Fortunately my country is fairly affluent and relief efforts well organized and has many friends worldwide that would come to our aid if needed (but so far we have refused), so far at least it would seem that the cost at this stage (monetary), though very large, can be completely covered by cash reserves due to a strong economy of late; other countries however do not have this luxury
as bad as it is, its important not to lose sight of the terrible things that go on in the world every day, my heart goes out to the Sri Lankans whos flooding from the same kind of weather has caused destruction and loss of life on a human scale that makes our event look and sound pathetically small with 1 000 000 displaced and 25 dead last I saw. the comparatively sparse population here helps us there. it does not diminish the terror and heartache here, but puts things in perspective.
anyway back to the build thread thanks again for your thoughts guys, i'll keep you in the loop.
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Dear Jeremy,
I hope the situation will be back to normal soon. Don't worry about DIY. I was in Queensland two weeks ago, but a bit norther than Brisbane. However I have never seen rain like this. It was like a wall of water.
Back to the thread, I am having difficulties in finding the EPCOS caps. Any alternative, better if available on Mouser. What features of the cap do I have to look for ?
Thanks,
Davide
I hope the situation will be back to normal soon. Don't worry about DIY. I was in Queensland two weeks ago, but a bit norther than Brisbane. However I have never seen rain like this. It was like a wall of water.
Back to the thread, I am having difficulties in finding the EPCOS caps. Any alternative, better if available on Mouser. What features of the cap do I have to look for ?
Thanks,
Davide