1. Home
  2. Electronics Design
  3. Damn those tiny parts and pc boards!

Damn those tiny parts and pc boards!

Damn all those miniature parts and the tiny PCBs that carry them. The parts are so small a sneeze will send them off, never to be found again. And now I've learned that the boards are so small and thin they can easily disappear without a trace.

Some of you have been following a thread here, "low-cost high-voltage electrometer amplifier", about a circuit I first designed two weeks ago, and have been improving since, as I found time.

The prototype has about 30 SMD parts on a pc board the size of two postage stamps. But it's so small that now I can't find the *^&v#- board!

I took it home a few days ago - dunno why - to examine HV clearances, to show my wife, or perhaps just to admire it. At least I think I took it home - but I don't remember actually seeing it at home, and it's nowhere to be found here. But I haven't been able to find it at work either. I checked the pockets of pants and shirts in the laundry, I looked under the car seat, I sifted through folders to see if it's between pages.

It's just so small, it's gone! Damn!

Reply to
Winfield
Loading thread data ...

"Winfield"

** Maybe the dog ate it.

Thee do that to " homework " - a lot.

....... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

I found my ID after it was lost for a couple weeks. It was in a washed shirt.

greg

Reply to
G

One of my thumbdrives went through the washer + dryer a few weeks ago, and survived just fine. It was a Lexar, and perhaps the cover kept the water out.

Reply to
Winfield Hill

Clear plastic bags have saved me from this difficulty--a tiny thing in a much larger bag is easier to find, and much harder to misplace.

Condolences on your loss but rest assured: it'll show up as soon as you've replaced it.

Cheers, James Arthur

Reply to
James Arthur

I'm thinking to put the small boards in a mailing envelope, and write the contents on the outside.

Yes, that idea worked - I found it just now, after I'd merely decided to rebuild it. It was hiding between the passenger seat and the seatbelt clamp.

Reply to
Winfield Hill

I always pull a few extra parts from stock, on the theory that I'll probably tiddly-wink a couple into the carpet before I can get them soldered down.

The smallest board I've done is an adapter that solders onto an existing SO-8 footprint. Up top, it has an ecl comparator, two resistors, and a couple of diodes. It replaces the defective/defunct MAX9690.

John

John

Reply to
John Larkin

Great!

Cheers, James Arthur

Reply to
James Arthur

What you do is forget it and look for something else you really

*need* - and you will not find that, but that circuitboard will appear like magic.
Reply to
Robert Baer

Zip-lock plastic bags are better, as you can see inside them, and nothing can fall out. Use a permanent marker pen.

Reply to
Clifford Heath

Yeah, I've done that - dropped a populated board from my desk to the floor, and I couldn't find it to save my life! I later found it in the cuff of my slacks. :-)

Reply to
Richard H.

Cuffs? Slacks?

I've even heard that people used to wear shirts with things called "collars."

John

Reply to
John Larkin

Shirts? No, collars belong on Cats & Dogs! ;-)

--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

formatting link 

--
Many thanks,

Don Lancaster                          voice phone: (928)428-4073
Synergetics   3860 West First Street   Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552
rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml   email: don@tinaja.com

Please visit my GURU's LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com
Reply to
Don Lancaster

ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.