a few tips since I built almost 10 now..
1. pre-bend all your resistors, then insert them into the board in groups so they are not in each others way, then solder them in groups so that you are not always picking up and putting down your soldering iron
2. for mosfets etc, make sure you insert them into the board in the right orientation, if you do it wrong it's a pain in the butt to take them back out without damaging the pcb
3. don't over do your solder joins, enough to fill the hole and keep the part in is good.. any more to make a mountain is just waste and might hinder performance
4. i ran a wire to the back of the chassis to ground the pcb instead of the front.. since I am waiting for the front panels
5. use the battery as a jig to solder in the battery holder.. put a bit of solder to hold the holders in place, REMOVE THE BATTERY then solder .. otherwise you will melt the battery with the heat.. also make sure the polarity is correct!
6. while the battery holder is still hot, it's easier to do all three legs at the same time.. then turn the pcb around and solder the top side for added strength.. if you wait and it cools down, it takes forever to solder because the holder becomes a giant heatsink!
7. i daisy chain 4-5 of them together and run music through them for at least 24 hours before they start to sound steady..
8. I use flux remover and a flux cleaner to get the board nice and clean.. i do it outside because it smells
-joe
1. pre-bend all your resistors, then insert them into the board in groups so they are not in each others way, then solder them in groups so that you are not always picking up and putting down your soldering iron
2. for mosfets etc, make sure you insert them into the board in the right orientation, if you do it wrong it's a pain in the butt to take them back out without damaging the pcb
3. don't over do your solder joins, enough to fill the hole and keep the part in is good.. any more to make a mountain is just waste and might hinder performance
4. i ran a wire to the back of the chassis to ground the pcb instead of the front.. since I am waiting for the front panels
5. use the battery as a jig to solder in the battery holder.. put a bit of solder to hold the holders in place, REMOVE THE BATTERY then solder .. otherwise you will melt the battery with the heat.. also make sure the polarity is correct!
6. while the battery holder is still hot, it's easier to do all three legs at the same time.. then turn the pcb around and solder the top side for added strength.. if you wait and it cools down, it takes forever to solder because the holder becomes a giant heatsink!
7. i daisy chain 4-5 of them together and run music through them for at least 24 hours before they start to sound steady..
8. I use flux remover and a flux cleaner to get the board nice and clean.. i do it outside because it smells
-joe
Good tips! As for soldering the small components such as small diodes and resistors, I usually solder those first so I can cut the leads short, and get good wetting action on the solder joints. If the larger components are soldered first, I have trouble keeping the small components staying in place.
I put one together last night- here are some shots of it if anyone is interested:
O2 Headphone Amplifier - Photography by Travis Dodd
O2 Headphone Amplifier - Photography by Travis Dodd
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