Ottawa, ON
awesome! tagged for interest!
(Topic ID: 242158)
You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider pin_fandango.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.
great work Victor! I got your message, will respond as soon as I complete my parts order from Digikey! getting the BOM for my driver board. Really excited! 
what a beauty!
Well done!
and yes, Victor is amazing. I am getting a nice collection of boards off him and I am looking forward to doing some soldering!
Quoted from DumbAss:Thank you everyone for the kind words. I try to separate myself from others by the level of support provided. It is often something that is not considered by shoppers when purchasing a product.
A small announcement and minor product update. I have some small products outstanding that will get updates when they work.
I am planning a long overdue break from building boards. I have family in a different continent. Borders that have been closed for over 1.5 years are now open. I did not go last year due to border closure. Lost time cannot be made up. The time has come to take advantage of the opening. I expect to stop building and/or shipping bare boards for the approximately two months that I will be gone which is effectively the whole months of December and January. I have outstanding builds for about one two to three weeks so I am unable to commit to any more builds until after I return. I can still deliver bare boards up until about the last week of November (around US Thanksgiving). Presently, it might be three weeks before my planned departure but I have learned an important lesson from looking at the side rear view mirrors of vehicles: Warning: Objects in calendar are closer than they appear.
I have been sitting on these small boards for months now. I pulled the components but never got around to building them or testing them. Two features combined into a simple concept. A board and cable solution for the System 11 Auxiliary Power board LED flasher/flipper problem and WPC-89 tieback diode insurance. I verified the System 11 boards. I went to verify the WPC boards but the orientation of the header needs to be flipped so I will flip that and then verify it (get some images).
My original tieback diode solution. I built this about two to three years ago.
[quoted image]
The cabling I built.
[quoted image]
The new tieback diode solution. A simple wire needs to be constructed.
[quoted image]
The same solution is applied to the tieback diode for WPC typically recommended for Terminator 2 and Star Trek TNG. The solution can be used for any tieback diode requirements.
awesome work Victor. I will be placing my order tonight, just need to respond to our latest correspondence. thanks
3 weeks later
Quoted from DumbAss:Not quite there yet. Got some more answers tonight and there will be one more post after this one with some images of those boards.
I want to try to get resolution and tie up all the loose ends before the break because it's likely I will forget if I don't do it now. I have one more experiment that does not work as planned and I need to do some more reading and learning before I can get it to work. It involves analog to digital conversion and from what I have read analog circuits are much harder to design than digital circuits. That is definitely the case from my experience. Someone like me that has extensive digital experience (software but some hardware) ... analog is a whole new world.
I finally got around to uploading the speaker pop eliminator comparison videos.
Speaker Pop (normal behavior):Speaker Pop Eliminator (modified behavior):
It can be heard but it's much more pronounced in person. The pop on power off on this Terminator 2 is LOUD.
This system:Works for any of WPC-89, WPC-DCS and WPC-95.
Consists of three boards per machine.AC power tap.
Speaker output intercept.
Relay performing the actual intercept.Requires constructing wire cables between the component boards (0.156 pins and housings) - no soldering.
Does not modify the original machine wiring in any way - i.e. non-invasive and is completely reversible.
Great work as usual! I am also jealous you have a T2, I sold mine in March and I regret the decision. IF you ever want to sell it to me.... lol let me know!
1 week later
I got my boards and can’t wait to put them together. Will do that right after finish with some other pending work.
Dealing with Victor was and is an absolute pleasure, his support and attention to detail is bar none the best.
Thanks Victor!!
1 month later
awesome work Victor, I am slow at building but the first driver wpc89 is almost done. looking great!
1 week later
Lol here I am making my first driver board taking my sweet time and he pumps all of these in a little while.
Victor isnt human!!!!!
Quoted from harig:Wow, thats a lot of work
I am just rebuilding the lower part of a wpc89 cpu after an alkaline repair and have build some Sys11 led displays before and was wondering about the labor-but that is still small compared to your e.g. PDB boards
Thx for your detailed answer and your work here in general
Threw that in the grbage and make a new board with Victor’s design. Alkaline damage = unreliable board forever
2 weeks later
Quoted from radium:Not sure what you mean. When I buy a kit from BDE or GPE it is a bag of parts. I don’t expect anything more. Cutting a strip of 27 diodes off the reel and dropping them in a box is a lot less labor for victor than separating 27 diodes, bending legs, stuffing a board, soldering, clipping leads, etc. That’s all I’m getting at.
Victor does not sell parts or components so I do not think it is fair to compare his service to these other vendors.
Anybody will be interested in what you have in mind, that does not mean it is a bad idea, however, it is unrealistic to expect that level of service at the cost - I imagine - you are hoping to get it for.
I would encourage you to build your first board and experience the time needed to source all the components, the difference vendors, the wait, the shipping, the bagging, the labelling, ETC ETC ETC, you then, very quickly realize why this service is not offered. It just would not make sense for anybody involved and nobody would be willing to pay for this.
If you dont have the time to look for the parts, why do you expect Victor to do it for you for free? The only way I can see this being fair, is for Victor to offer the board plus part at the same cost it would cost him to put them together, otherwise, why would he do it? It is ludicrous.
Quoted from Tophervette:I appreciate your posts, inciteful information, helpful hints and the tested working boards that you make! I look forward to making my first board, to test my soldering skills. I bought the recommended solder too (Kester water soluble 026"). Thanks.
[quoted image]
I was about to ask was was the water solluble flux solder wire recommended as I only have RA flux and it gets messy fast.
Will move on to water solluble now, need to get it to finish my first board!
Thanks for that Victor.
Now that we are on the topic, could you tell me please what is your preferred method for washing water solluble flux off the board?
For example, warm tap water? Cold? Hot? Or do I need distiller water?
Sounds silly but it is not, lol.
I have been using isopropyl alcohol 99% and yes it can leave white residue, however I found a way to use and be succesful with it. But it does require a lot of alcohol and it is getting expensive to wash the board this way.
Another question, do you find the water solluble flux needs to soldered at a specific temperature for the flux to be activated?
I only know what I have read online and have not used it yet.
The issues I have with ra flux are
I need a lot of alcohol to clean the board well.
It can be toxic if exposed to it a lot.
I can’t smell it (got covid and my sense of smell is gone)
So after washing a board I had my entire family show up in my shop asking me what that smell was - I could not smell a thing -
So water soluble I think is going to be better all around, and like I was discussing with Victor in another conversation maybe easier to clean in hard to reach parts, or under components close to the board - big caps, connectors, etc.
Last issue I encountered and this is only recent, some transistors are developing a weird white dusty circle around the pad and at first I thought it was corrosion, it easily comes off with alcohol but the next day it comes back again so not sure what that is.
I clean my board work almost immediately which is why I take so long to make one board so dont think it is corrosion.
Anyway, I will redo these with water solluble flux and see what happens.
I am otherwise super happy with RA solder wire, leaves auper shiny joints my board looks really nice for being my first one - I am taking my sweet time though -
Quoted from DumbAss:Most things I have read say that de-ionized or distilled water is required. Regular water contains minerals dissolved as ions. It is the ions that conduct the electrons (current). At least that is what I learned in chemistry class decades ago. The ions exist in solution (require the solvent). If the solvent is not present the ions should crystallize into salts. That's my high school level understanding of the theory (physics and chemistry).
I use a surfactant and plain water to clean the board. I use a scrub brush to help dissolve the flux left on the board and then give it a good rinse. If you have a compressor you could blow the remaining water off the board but I just put the board in front of an HVAC register and run the furnace. That helps to dry out the board quicker and provides air flow. In summer I leave it outside for the water to evaporate naturally. This is part of the reason why it takes a few days to build out these boards. They are done in phases. They are washed and dried between phases.I don't think the is anything special. I just use the solder. My station temperature is set to 650F. The water soluble flux in the solder core allows the solder to flow and be cleaned up with water.
I'm no expert nor any definitive authority on any of this. I am sure there are people with much more experience and knowledge than me that can correct anything that has been incorrectly stated.
You got me at surfactant, what or which one would you recommend?
I got my new solder wire, water solluble…
I regret not getting this sooner!!!
So much better it is not even funny
Quoted from Tophervette:Well fellow Pinsiders, I attempted for my first soldering an easy WPC89 Coin Door board from DumbAss. 7 small Diodes and 5 connectors. 70 total solder connections and it took me 2 hours. My hat is off to y'all who do the big boards, including Victor! The concentration, the leaning over, the whiffs of burnt flesh and flux. Some may look at my pictures and say "hey, you aren't done." But for my WPC89 Flip II game, it does not use the other parts printed on the board. My manual says that I don't use J4 and J5 or D7. But I was having such fun, that I added J5 and D7 anyway. LOL.
Most of you know already what I am telling... Double check that the part is in the right location, which is easy with these boards. It is printed there and which direction the Diodes go and where the key is on the connector. Waiting for iron to heat up. Being impatient and thinking the Weller soldering iron was not working, I cranked it up to 5. Even then, touching the pointy tip to the pin and the pad, there was a significant wait. Like count to 30. Then finally the water-soluble Kester solder would melt to the pin and pad. Push the solder in to make a nice puddle. Not too much, but a nice tent structure. Why are my fingers burning? Back them up to the foam pad on the iron. Onto the next one. What an experience! I made something with my own hands. It might even work. Testing tomorrow. Good Night. 11:20Pm.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Keep it up!
3 weeks later
1 week later
I have a few processors, recently bought like 6 off a website in Australia-I believe it was cant remember.
I believe The usual pinball parts resellers sells them too but a little google fu might provide a better price.
Quoted from ChrisHibler:Pin_Fandango L1?
Where does L1 go on the board?
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info
right underneath, towards the left of the 5v regulator.
Quoted from DumbAss:Got a few things pending but want to finish up some boards before spending some time posting. I have also been busy helping/fixing a local collector's Funhouse. Went to his place twice and met up an additional third time.
I wanted to provide the information below on a more immediate time frame.Don't forget the fuses as well!
One small but subtle thing that may give you some grief. You need to remove the key pins of the headers. I have a reference document that provides a tip but it is, of course, buried in wads and wads of text.
[quoted image]This is part of the revised digital logic regulator circuit. As you know the OEM board uses the LM323K linear regulator that can be replaced with the EZSBC switching regulator. I did not want to be dependent on EZSBC so I changed the regulator circuit to use LM2678 (fixed or adjustable) and that requires the use of an inductor. Generates / dissipates a LOT less heat than a linear regulator. It also possible to use alternate regulators with a daughter board. I have used the LM350 (really bad idea), LM2576 (works just fine) and MC34167 (works great but is expensive).
yes fuses, where is a good source for that brand? I bought my fuses when I order pinball parts from these online shops and have not been able to find the same fuses on other places such as digikey for example. That said, I have not been looking for a while.
Thanks for pointing out the connectors, I 100% forgot about this or would have done it before installing them. The outside edge connectors were easy to deal with and just clipped the legs, the ones on the inside, were a bit more work but still very easy with the Hakko desolder gun, I then pulled the pins off with a small plier (they came out clean and quite easy to my surprise), the hakko sucker saved me a few times already! Great tool to have for this job, I recommend 200%
1 week later
Quoted from flynnibus:digikey is nice and easy for fuses... affordable too without buying other stuff you don't need. The key is understanding the basic terms so you can operate the filters effectively.
The 'standard' fuses we see in pinball are 3AG glass cartridge fuses.. then decide if fast or slow blow and the amp rating needed. Voltage is less important, but the 250V is the most common.
Example - this is a standard 1/2 Amp fuse description:
500 mA 250V AC DC Fuse Cartridge, Glass Holder 3AB, 3AG, 1/4" x 1-1/4"
Eaton is the manufacturer for the Bussman brand.
Example:
[quoted image]
Hope that helps
Excellent, so the EATON are actually Bussman then?
great, so besides the specs, would an Eaton fuse looks exactly like the Bussman?
Only ask because I dislike using fuses that do not look like the ones originally used - if that makes sense - It is my OCD I guess, not sure, I have fuses that match the specs needed but they do not look the same and that bothers me, the filament inside is different the the Bussmas equivalent even though the specs match exactly of course.
I order stuff from digikey often and I have to order other things now so I will use the opportunity to get fuses, but only if these look identical to the Bussman...
Just wanted to clarify and thanks again!
1 month later
Quoted from flynnibus:Eaton owns bussman and bussman is their brand for those fuse lines.
Sometimes fuses look different just as the manufacturering technologies change.
Is there any particular reason why bussman fuses are used in pinball? Is it just a purists thing?
1 week later
Quoted from Hangernade:Is water soluble flux also used or just what is in the wire itself?
no need to add flux almost ever on a new board really, but if you do, then yes you should not be mixing 2 different types of flux.
1 month later
Quoted from dmacy:And for shipping, I’ve gone the way of Shippo. They’d have been cheaper for UPS and USPS for me. Not that it answers your issue, but related.
Good to see familiar names around here more and more.
Well done Victor, bringing the community together and of course making awesome boards!
Quoted from ibis:Basically swapped out the driver board. The game was working before, just resetting. I am understanding the replacement board should work in all WPC games.
Is the ribbon cable in between connected correctly?
Quoted from jellikit:Victor has done it again providing Project Pinball with his custom purple boards for our charity auction at Pinball Expo. A wonderful supporter of the charity, a great guy, and an asset to the pinball community. Thanks again!
[quoted image][quoted image]
Love the purple coloured boards. I wished Mine were purple. Lol
I really do!
1 month later
Hey Victor, have not stopped by here in a long while. Just got a grail game to me and it is an old Data East Lethal Weapon 3.
Wondering if there are any plans on your side to remake these boards. My game would totally benefit of having some fresh board in there as the ones I have have been, well... seen better days.
I think I asked before about whitestar boards, and I think you had no plans for those, I assume it is the same for DE boards but figured I would give it a shot.
Quoted from DumbAss:You mean this ... https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/dumbass-test-and-reproduction-pcbs/page/9#post-6156405
The board works but I recently discovered a small caveat with it. You need a single ROM configuration. I haven't looked at it yet as there is an easy workaround (write a single ROM from a double image).Whitestar is definitely lower on the priority list - if at all. The BSMT2000 as well as possibly the amplifiers in the sound section area going to be the blocking issues.
This is great news.
I am not sure what you mean by single rom but I presume the original had 2?
I think I would prefer it to be just like the oem, just so if I need to swap to another game I dont have to get a custom rom.
Either way I am so happy to see the progress on this and I can help you with any testing you might need!
My LW3 is here!
Quoted from ChrisHibler:I'm in the other cap on single/dual ROMs for DE MPUs Pin_Fandango. I understand what you are saying. I always convert dual ROM configurations to single ROM configurations. One ROM chip is more economical, and intuitively, would fail 1/2 as often as 1 of 2 chips would fail.
After discussing this with Jim Palson, we think that the OEM configuration for non-DMD games was two ROMs and single ROM for DMD games. I can't be 100% sure of this. Gott_Lieb
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisHiblerPinball - My YT Channel
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info
Thanks Chris,
Ok I see what you are saying, makes a lot of sense.
This is my first DE and do not know much about the platform yet but I am learning.
If I get this right, is my game a 2 rom or 1?
Quoted from DumbAss:Lethal Weapon 3 is shipped as a single ROM (27512).
Agree with this. This is what I do. It's also why I didn't discover the issue until I tried a double ROM. I have plenty of 27512s lying around.
The Data East manuals contain configuration for all games prior to the game of the manual. This means that if you look at a later game's manual you can see information for all preceding games.
[quoted image]
ROM 5C is a 27256 and mapped at $8000-$FFFF. ROM 5B is a 27128 and mapped at $4000-$7FFF. You can combine them in a 27512 ignoring $0000-$3FFF and concatenating the two images together at $4000-$FFFF.
Ok, so I am confused about your first message when I asked about the board you said there to be a caveat around the 1 rom, so does that mean that your board is only currently supporting 2 roms?
I am not following sorry as to what the issue is
Quoted from DumbAss:Sorry. If you're confused then I didn't explain myself clearly. That's a failing on my part. I have sometimes been known for brevity. Apologies.
The Data East CPU board works. All games are (should be) supported.
Those who are replacing an old board with TWO ROMs (5C and 5B) will need to replace them with a SINGLE ROM (5C). The games above (in yellow/gold) originally shipped with two ROMs. The games in green (and other unlisted later games) all originally shipped with one ROM. This is until I revise the board and figure out why the two ROM configuration does not work. This won't be any time soon because there is a simple workaround (get a single ROM).
awesome, I am not interested in any of the 2 rom games anyway, so this means the board will work in my LW3 or any other game marked in green.
I get it now, Thank you Victor.
Nowwwww. the 1 million question.... lol can I get my board in purple... or I can settle for green
I dont dislike the red, it is often the non-collectors or sometimes the untrustworthy buyer that might point out the different colour board a fuzz about it.
I show everybody interested in pinball my boards, I love to show them off and of course talk about the person behind it all and how u made the wpc89 an awesome board. People still ask “why red” after all that awesomeness, also my collector friends.
Maybe I can hold off in getting the DE board until you have v2 ready, but just because I want the latest and hotest and maybe, maybe in green.
wondering how much longer I will need to wait and/or if can wait…
Thanks Victor for your awesome products!
Quoted from j_m_:are you populating the components on bare boards from victor?
here's the first of (hopefully) all of victor's board designs to make the building experience a bit more friendly.
plan is to provide links to my dropbox of .rar files for the boards (the first one being the wpc fliptronics board)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/f5ypwrbjxugyym8/fliptronics%20board.rar?dl=0
[quoted image]
each .zip file contains a number of .png files, one of each component [by value], which are subdivided into folders by component type (capacitor, diode, resistor, transistor, etc...)
and each individual .png file shows the highlighted location(s) of the component in question
I've done this for the original williams mpu board here (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/twobits-wpc-mpu-complete-assembly#post-3589424) as well as a number of reproduction boards on KLoV, and all were well received
awesome
Quoted from j_m_:I've updated the dropbox link in the post above (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/dumbass-test-and-reproduction-pcbs/page/20#post-7161252) with a new .zip file containing all of the image (by component) files
and here's the [modern art] version image of the fliiptronics II board
[quoted image]
Add a couple power ups and a few monsters and it’s Bubble Bubble…
6B3B4ACA-03A0-441E-88E1-62B8F46792F6 (resized).jpegAwesome! Thanks for sharing that.
Any chances we will be able to purchase other colour boards?
I am holding off for the unicorn not green not red, revision 2 of the Data East board.
I pray every night for it so my soon to be restored Lethal Weapon 3 can have awesomeness inside.
I am begging. Lol
sorry for hijacking this awesome thread with this, but I figured since the majority of us are possibly building boards...
my fr-301 desoldering tool needs a new filter pipe and I can't find a replacement on DigiKey or Mouser, other than the filter pads....
Any tips?
ha! weird. Not sure why I did not find that when searching for parts, even after typing the part number.
I ended up ordering a full rebuild kit, except for the heating element from another store in NJ, will have to go pick it up, just 40 min drive for me to the border.
Nowhere to be found in Canada!
Thanks for the help Victor.
Once I finish rebuilding other parts of my LW3, I will be ordering a DE board. Cheers!
Quoted from j_m_:sneak peak of a work-in-progress
[quoted image]
ps
is it just me, or do these make great wallpaper images?
pps
hat's off to victor for added the keyed box connectors. too many times are things questionable when reconnecting the ribbon cables
Looks awesome
Quoted from dmacy:Some DumbAss pron to celebrate the 1000!
[quoted image]
Looking good!!!
Quoted from SilverUnicorn:I don’t know if I should install this or just wonder at its awesomeness. Not just replacements. Upgrades. So well thought out for the user.
Thanks again Victor!
Chris[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
awesome.
DumbAss what is your preferred tool for cutting the leads off the back of the board after soldering. I see you make them flush with the board, might try that. I just cut the lead myself leaving a little peak shape dome. But might like to try your way next, not sure if I have big enough pliers to make a clean cut though. I am using the Hakko one, little red handle.
Quoted from Robotworkshop:You are supposed to leave some of the lead exposed with a nice fillet of solder on the back. If it is truly cut flush to the back of the board that is not a good thing. I've seen issues caused by trimming the leads too close. Williams did a lot of that on their System 6 board sets.
A nice visual guide to soldering is here:
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guide-excellent-soldering/common-problems
And another from NASA with some good pictures:
https://workmanship.nasa.gov/lib/insp/2%20books/links/sections/601%20General%20Requirements.html
thank you for this, I can proudly say I follow NASA guidelines now. I do it exactly as in all the shown examples
now that we are talking soldering, allow me to do a quick flex while I show you my just rebuilt Data East Playfield Board. Hopefully soon next, I will be working on @dumbas DE CPU/Driver board to replace the OEM that has seen better days.
68780366096__9CE3D0FC-0278-4374-A00F-65916764BB0F (resized).jpeg68780367711__F9A20192-1858-4D86-A40C-FC0AB46B0FD1 (resized).jpegQuoted from Quench:I'm in agreeance with Robotworkshop
I don't see any benefit cutting totally flush, rather it makes it more difficult to desolder later on. I desolder with the gun tip against the component lead rather than against the board pad (to avoid damaging the pad).
The pads on these boards are so thick that ou can probanly desolder a component 3-5times before it gets damaged. In fact, I have desoldered more than 3 times before on this boards without any consequence to the board. After the 4 attempt I think I tiny little chip of red mask came off. Nothing.
So in 30 years how many of these components are you expecting to replace?
These boards will outlive us all.
These are not the bally williams boards or worse, Stern board with micro thin pads.
I think that we are over thinking it.
This board in particular will see no benefit of the techniques recomended by Nasa. I mean, we are talking rockets here and consistency.
Do not think there is a right or wrong here, but more of “what you prefer”.
I can see the benefit of soldering neatly from the top ans then trimming the bottom. Time saver galore!
Ultimately consistency is key. Good technique is key.
I personally tack from the top, so i can flip the board with a full row of resistors or else, flip it over and finish off all once.
Quoted from slochar:The big takeaway from the nasa techniques for me is the clip the leads before you solder, to avoid mechanical stress in the solder by clipping after soldering.
Yeah, I don't do that either. Clip with a little lead sticking out of the top of the mound.
Well, it is the Nasa and they need that consistency when you have a 1B project orbiting around earth. Lol
I dont think it really matter much for our applications.
I clip at the end of the process. It’s fine.
Quoted from barakandl:I don't really have any hard data but I think Williams caused a bit of their own reliability issues in the system 3 to 6 era by cutting the leads almost flush to the back of the board. Makes it hard to resoldered them.
It only really shows up on the header pins, but I've have had transistor get cracked solder from flapping around. The little volcano solder shape of solder formed by surface tension should help with mechanically securing the part.[quoted image]
Relative.
If the older solder is removed first is not an issue I think.
Reflowing is just lazy nowadays, imho. Maybe back in the day they lacked proper desoldering tools.
Quoted from snakesnsparklers:Looks like an old school Star Wars/Missile Command hybrid arcade game
Ha! i said something similar a few weeks back.
1 month later
Quoted from ChrisHibler:Well done Victor! Sometimes those bridges are tough to catch.
If the board assemblers in this thread would like to see a guy who is simply amazing at soldering components that are way way smaller than what we deal with, check out this YT channel for NorthBridge Fix
https://youtube.com/@NorthridgeFix
—
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
Http://chrishiblerpinball.com/contact
http://www.PinWiki.com/ - The new place for pinball repair info
I have done a bunch of qfp! I move doing them. I do them by hand because I dont have a good hot air setup. So soldering these under micro by hand taught me a lot about soldering by hand! Lol
Now I can do them quickly.
The package I did was smt32 which I believe has 100 connectors, spaced about 0.5mm each other.
Lol definitely challenging.
I have tried without microscope and do not feel as confident, once the flux melts you cant see!
Fun stuff
Quoted from DumbAss:I do these by hand with my standard iron tip. No magnifier nor microscope.
I find the most time consuming part is actually aligning all the pins to the pads (straight and evenly spaced). When the ASICs arrived, the pins were bent all over the place. I'm always worried I'll break a pin off the body and render the IC worthless.
It's 120 pins of pure soldering pleasure. NOT!
oh that sucks. I got lucky with the packages I do for the pin2dmd boards, they are tiny so they are come pretty straight out of the box. Once the bend it is really hard to not over correct. In this case though, when it does happen, the microscope come in really handy as you can see the leg perfectly and it really give you an idea of where you are at... I have tried without, I fell like I am soldering in the dark. My sight is good too, but something so tiny makes it harder.
Anyway, I feel your pain. It is not my preferred soldering activity but it was a challenge and taught me a lot. If I had to a bunch of these I would invest in a nice hot air station with some sort of contraption to hold the IC in place. I have seen these before but never used one. Good for desoldering these suckers too.
4 months later
11 months later
You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider pin_fandango.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.
Reply
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
