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Through Hole vs. Surface Mount

Being cheap is part of it, when it makes sense to go that route. I needed one (and will almost certainly never need another) adapter between ARM7 20-pin and 14-pin JTAG headers. Simple layout and several (ISTR three) fit on a scrap of stock so an etching booboo would have been a non-issue. Zip-zap and it was finished at essentially no cost, since I already had all the fixings to hand.

And part of it is craft. Anybody can buy "breakfast biscuits" at the local drive-thru but there's extra satisfaction in having your own batch come out of the oven just right.

But cross the line to tighter than about 15/15 rules, or beyond single-sided with a couple of jumpers, then going with a board house starts to make a lot of sense.

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Rich Webb     Norfolk, VA
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Rich Webb
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AMEN!!!

JF
Reply to
John Fields

I use the TPS40210-11 Boost controller in 10 pin MSOP with powerpad. They aren't that bad. Drill one or two holes under the IC put light solder under the IC, and a dab of solder on the power pad. The parts are so tiny you can heat the exposed copper pore on either side of the IC causing the solder on the power pad to reflow. The other way is heat the wires you use for vias under the IC to reflow the solder.Just dont go crazy with the solder under The IC or when it settles it will push the solder on the pads; short phhsst!

The only thing about those parts if you suspect it's damaged there's no easy way to swap it out without damaging all the pads and traces.

Reply to
Hammy

The chemicals are practically free. Muriatic acid $5 at the hardware store. Acetone $5. You could get about a hundred boards from each, the cost per board doesn't even count. You'll spend more on the transfer paper.

As a student, I don't have $50 to spare, nor is my time worth more than $50 for the same. It makes sense to make my own boards.

There is one more advantage you missed. I also get them same day, a service you'd be charged many times the list price from a commercial supplier.

Tim

--
Deep Friar: a very philosophical monk.
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms
Reply to
Tim Williams

I've had no issues at all with it. Very clean solder joints, and they stay clean.

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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Reply to
Joerg

tore.

er

50

rvice

That's a fair statement. Several, in fact. I was a student myself the last time I went the DIY route. Perhaps it is a rite of passage? :)

Never again though.

Reply to
mpm

Hammy wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

my problem isn't in soldering the IC,but in laying out and etching a PCB with such fine pitch leads. (I had thought the IC would be bigger...)

Also,I was mistaken about the 603 size,they are 805,except for the coil and diode.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com
Reply to
Jim Yanik

Thats exactly the wrong way. Fine pitch is best soldered using a think flat soldering tip and flux. Its faster and it works better.

--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
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Reply to
Nico Coesel

I would think ExpressPCB is plenty capable of this. That can lay out SSOP ICs with .025 inch pitch, also custom pads.

- Don Klipstein ( snipped-for-privacy@misty.com)

Reply to
Don Klipstein

--------------------

Well I would hope so are they may want to get out of the PCB business;-).

What's the concern with laying out an etching? I do 0.0256 pitch regularly using the toner transfer method.

Reply to
Hammy

If you are young (good eyes), the smallest parts to use would be

0402. That said, fine pitch QFPs are not a big problem if pads are pre-tinned.
Reply to
Robert Baer

"No-Clean"? GACK! avoid that junk like the plague it is...

Reply to
Robert Baer

Chacun à son goût!

--
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence 
over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."
                                       (Richard Feynman)
Reply to
Fred Abse

Whoa! You'll get plonked by JT for that...

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Thanks,
Fred.
Reply to
Fred Bartoli

But you don't get a bag of trail mix with the shipment like I got last time :-))

I still have two gallons of muriatic acid sitting in the garage. Our pool used to need that on a regular basis. Right after I bought a new carton it stopped needing it. Beats me why.

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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Reply to
Joerg

Because it realized how cheap you are and refused to be used as your etchant bath?

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Thanks,
Fred.
Reply to
Fred Bartoli

1) What do you use to clean the glop off? 2) What about leakage current issues? 3) What about high voltage issues? 4) What about reliability issues if glop is left alone?
Reply to
Robert Baer

There is no glop.

Never had any.

I have test gear here that I built years ago. Totally reliable. In fact I have to build some more today, need a variable frequency mains supply to test for international voltages and also 400Hz aircraft stuff.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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Reply to
Joerg

Oh yeay, maybe the two bottles secretly joined a union :-)

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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Reply to
Joerg

All I can tell you is that there is no glop. I just did a few more solder joints and held them under a magnifier -> nada, zilch, clean.

Maybe you used the wrong temperature? My Weller is running at 640F right now.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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Reply to
Joerg

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