I'm trying to make a 10x scope probe that is capable of dealing withslightly higher voltage levels of about +/- 20v yet at a highimpedance ~20Meg. This link "" has some photo's showingthe probe and board warpage. The board was made from double sided0.020-inch stock etched with a PCB milling machine (perhaps part ofthe problem). It is (obviously) hand assembled. I would appreciateany tips or techniques that I could use to keep this board fromturning into a potato chip during assembly.Thank you.al

What can I do to keep this board from warping?

Sep 25, 2009 30 Replies

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Wild_Bill 16 years ago

I'd probably try a couple of methods which may or may not help. In welding, the welds are often alternated from one side to the other, as the cooling phase causes distortion. The alternating method minimizes distortion.

Another method that I'd consider, would be to raise some of the axial-lead components slightly above the board surface, where space permits. A shim of file folder material may be enough to leave a small gap, so the lead positions wouldn't be so rigid. (the shim removed after the solder cools).

Jumper wires (soldered with a shim underneath them, or a slight hump) placed laterally where they wouldn't interfere with other components or signals, may add some flexibility to the overall assembly.

-- Cheers, WB .............

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Archimedes' Lever 16 years ago

You're a retard, and we ain't making nor talking about some crap that barely makes class one standards.

Your mind set is so archaic it is funny.

Just so you know, I could properly produce 10k solder connections a day in my heyday. I am quite sure that I still could.

I used to teach soldering processes as well.

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Archimedes' Lever 16 years ago

You're an idiot, and every solder joint anyone you ever supervised was improperly constructed.

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Archimedes' Lever 16 years ago

You wouldn't know what was right if it bit you in the ass.

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Archimedes' Lever 16 years ago

No, I have seen the results of 800° retarded pencil-tip geeks. You have no clue what is or is not obvious.

You're an idiot. NASA was not about temperature, they were about the mass of the solder joint. Sorry, but you cannot guess your way around everything.

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Nik Rim 16 years ago

I think it might be time to review the meds Lever Boy. ; )

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Archimedes' Lever 16 years ago

I've got nine inches of 'boy' to go up in your fat ass with, little girl.

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ChairmanOfTheBored 16 years ago

Purchase rigid (of course) Silica plates (heat sink media). You could very likely get 0.020" thickness, no problem. You could also likely get the exact size you need as well. Then you proto by dead bug (or not)glue the chips and other parts on, and hand wire the nodes between them. Your proto could then turn into a flex circuit to replace all the hand wiring for the SMD circuitry, glued (attached) onto one of your already existing Silica base plates that you bought say 100 of for the first proto and production runs.

As small as it looked, I could easily build many of them a day even as proto style. But the flex circuit with the heat absorbing capable Silica back plate sounds like a candidate for being called a solution.

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David Nebenzahl 16 years ago

On 9/30/2009 5:04 PM Archimedes' Lever spake thus:

Sounds like a proposal to me!

Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

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Nik Rim 16 years ago

I'd take him up on it only I suspect his Boy has has "made in china" imprinted on its base.

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Archimedes' Lever 16 years ago

100% pure US citizen here, and my base only has "It ALL belongs to me" imprinted on it.

You wish you could take me up on it. Problem is, I'd rather go up in you with a fast moving hunk of lead, so your encounter may not turn out the way you would like it to.

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