Cmoy Amp Troubleshooting

[burntpotato]

First of all, I have some advice for those who may be considering building their 1st Cmoy. DON'T USE RADIOSHACK PROTOBOARD!!!
I decided to get nice components and scrimp on the board, and I've ended up having to buy and try another TWO boards because the three couldn't withstand the heat of tinning once and soldering once. The first board worked till I tried to resolder the faulty ground connections. In some areas of the board the copper just falls off from the temporary heat.
Needless to say this made some connections bad, so after transferring my setup twice and all that heat and stress on the parts, the dual power supply has uneven output. I think the caps in the power supply are burnt, everything else seems functional, but my multimeter doesn't have the capability to test the caps.

Two options now:

1. I can get better protoboard and replace the caps, and risk transferring the components AGAIN -
2. Or I can use the protoboard design, etching materials, and micro-components at my school. and find some way to adapt a full size OPA2132PA to a board with micro-components.


I don't really have any questions, but if any of you have advice I'll gladly take it.

[motherone]

I've built probably 30+ projects on the protoboards from ratshack and never had a problem. Are you overheating the copper traces? The only time I seem to lift traces is when my iron is cranked up on high.

What type of soldering iron are you using? If you're going to be building more stuff, I highly recommend getting even a basic regulated temperature iron.

To remove the caps and try again, radioshack has a handy $11 desoldering iron that works pretty well. Just another handy tool to have in your kit, especially if you decide to mod gear or rework projects.

Sometimes if you're building something for the first time around, use generic parts. That way you get a feel for the project and can use the "good" stuff later on. It's also a good way to tell how much a given circuit benefits from boutique parts. I also always buy a few spares of every part when I start a project in case I toast a few during the building process.