I've been working on this, on and off, for about a month. What's really been holding me up is getting videos made and edited. It's actually kind of a tedious task so it has been delaying things.

I decided to just toss out what I have done now and hopefully get the rest of the project fleshed out, hopefully with the help of the modding community.

Also, I really want to have a get together in the Chicago Northwest Suburbs where I can bring a bunch of my tools and these boards for locals who are interested in learning about surface mount repair / building. I don't want to continue putting that off.

Here is a link to my web site showing the project: http://www.dkpinball.com/DKWP/?page_id=827

Why did I say it was "Free-ish?" Because the board and the parts aren't free. You have to order them from suppliers. But you can get them anywhere you like. The design is free. OSHPark is a board manufacturer for hobbyists. You need to order the boards in groups of 3. If you ordered 3 boards from OSHPark and all of the components from Mouser, the boards end up costing at little over $7 each.

If you go without the Molex connectors and just solder the connection wires to the board (which is probably what I'd do), the whole board ends up costing about $5 each.

Schematic-and-Parts.jpg

*** What is the GI Buddy?
The GI Buddy is an open source pinball related electronics kit. I developed it as a kit to give pinball tinkerers an inexpensive board to learn surface mount soldering techniques. I will document several different methods for working with surface mount components.

*** Why did I do this?
I’ve learned a lot from the Pinball community. I’ve also learned a lot from the many many many free online resources from which I built the skills required to build electronic products. This is my way of giving back.

The kits aren’t free, but I make exactly $0 from this project. You purchase the circuit board from OSHPark and the electronic parts from anywhere you like. I have included a link to Mouser Electronics to make it easy for you, but you can take the part numbers and order them from any electronics supplier you like.

Also, it may be that you want to get into more tinkering and advanced control of your crazy pinball mods. The PIG 2 will be the board for you and you can learn more about it by going to http://www.dkpinball.com/DKWP/?page_id=457 .

*** What does the GI Buddy do?
The GI Buddy is a board that allows you to switch a DC powered mod by connecting it to a traditional 6v AC GI bulb socket on your pinball machine.

*** How do I connect it?
Connect the “IN” pins on the board to a DC power source (Min 3v to Max 50v).
Connect the “OUT” pins to your mod with a current draw no more than 400 ma.
Connect the “GI” pins to your pinball machine’s GI Circuit.

When the GI turns on and off, your mod will turn on and off also.

*** Why would you do that?
A traditional GI circuit is 6v AC. If you connect a typical 12v DC mod directly to the GI circuit, it won’t have enough power for your mod.

Also, if you connect a 5v DC mod directly to the 6v AC circuit, it may not work at all. An LED connected directly to 6v AC will light, but it will not be at full brightness and may have a visible flicker.

*** What does it mean that it’s “Open Source”?
It means you can do anything you want with the design. You could build a million of them and sell them and you won’t owe me a thing. I would, however appreciate a little credit and hey, if you make a million bucks I wouldn’t be mad if you gave me a little something, you know, for the effort.

All kidding aside. It’s free to use, re-purpose, and distribute however you like.

Also, if you're interested in a Chicagoland get-together, please post to this thread.

I've spoken to the owner of the underground Retrocade in Dundee, Il. He'll give me a nice open space above the arcade with tables and chairs.

I figure I'd bring my tools and a bunch of boards. I'll demonstrate 3 or 4 ways to do surface mount soldering and give people a chance to get their hands on the tools to try it themselves. Depending on the crowd, everyone would get a GI buddy kit. They could build it there or take it home with them.

The only cost would be to get into the arcade. I figure we'd be supporting the arcade, getting together with like-minded pinheads, and when it breaks up you'd have something to bring home with you and access to the arcade for the rest of the night.

I'd say PM me, but every response will bump this thread and give it the best chance of being seen by many.

Thanks,

Mike

Ouch, crickets.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Even "meh" or "I don't get it."

Yea, I do know that I'm playing to the niche within the niche within the niche. Maybe I should change the title to something like, "Worried about surface mount soldering?" or something. The point is really to de-mystify surface mount components and answer the question of "how will the hobbyist be able to repair modern pinball boards?"

Kneissl, I'm sorry I don't have any pictures yet. The first application that comes to mind is the Flynn's sign on Tron pinball machines. It's always on. If you connect the power to the IN and OUT on this board and then connect the GI on this board to the machine's GI, the sign will turn on and off with the GI rather than always being on.

You can't connect the sign directly to the GI because GI is 6.3v and the Flynn's sign is 12v.

Yea, I'm planning on making videos for youtube. I think I'm still close enough to where I started to remember all of my questions like, "What temperature should you set the hot air at?" and things like that.

toyotaboy - I've been meaning to contact you, we need to get together, we live so close to each other and I'm interested in the IPC.

On the videos, I'm going to see if Mike from Gamerlogic (https://www.youtube.com/user/unleadedlogic) will come over and do some video. He's got all of the tools and probably can get done in 20 minutes what will take me weeks.

djb_rh: I bought this last year. http://sra-solder.com/product.php/6267/0/968

It's a Chinese soldering station. It's a fair price to start with. I've done enough work with it to give it an "OK" rating. I've built a lot of boards with the soldering iron. The little vacuum air filter/smoke eater is nice with the iron. I'll be demonstrating that in the videos which I'll be doing this weekend. It's a good entry "I'm not sure how much surface mount stuff I'll see" price.

You'll also need solder paste. Here is a link to some I've used. Again, I'll cover it in more detail in the videos: http://www.zeph.com/zephpaste.htm

Swinks: Send an e-mail to the guys at OshPark and see if they do international business. If not I can check with my Aussie friends to see if there is someone local.

This is the link for the board parts: https://www.mouser.com/ProjectManager/ProjectDetail.aspx?AccessID=edfdee9533

You can print that parts list and find them at a local electronics supplier. There's nothing exotic in there.

Tell me more about what you'd like to do with that board. Are you talking about doing RGB leds in inserts? If so, this is only part of the equation. If you want to play with an addressable RGB LED this is what you want to get: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11820

I recorded video this weekend. It was exhausting! A friend did the recording and will be doing the editing. I'm hoping I'll have them up in the next week or two.

I covered the schematic and a lot of surface mount soldering and tools. I hope to answer a lot of questions.

Again, I'm not an expert, just a hobbyist. I've been able to learn a lot and most of my noob questions are still fresh in my mind.

We have the first video up. It's explaining what it is, why you'd use it, and how the circuit works.

Pinball Electronics Gurus, please be kind if I've mis-stated something. These videos are meant to be friendly, unscripted, and informative. Like having a buddy in my shop. I think the important stuff is all correct.

I brought the GI Buddy over to my friend's house to connect his Flynn's sign to GI. We learned a few things.

First, I had a heart attack because it wasn't working. I found that I had soldered the 4 pin relay on backwards. All I had access to was a set of needle nosed pliers, a spool of solder, and a weller soldering iron. I was able to de-solder the relay without damaging it, turn it around, and re-solder to the board. The technique I used will be on the next set of videos as soon as we get them all edited.

Once it was working, we found that it worked great in a Tron LE to turn the Flynn's sign on and off with GI.

Then we tried connecting it to the LED board in the Flynn's Arcade insert and it worked great. So this board might also work with other insert lights. I haven't tried it on an older light matrixes. It was really only designed with "straight forward" GI in mind, so if it works in other places then that's a bonus. (Straight forward means non-dimming - I have no idea how that will work).

Lastly, on my way home I learned that I was an idiot for not pulling out the iPhone to give a video demonstration of the board in the game and doing the field repair with the soldering iron.

OK, I have 3 more videos posted. Thanks again to Mike from Gamer Logic for doing the video and editing.

I'll post each video with the products used in separate messaged. They will all be up on http://www.dkpinball.com/DKWP/?page_id=827 also.

Building the GI Buddy with a soldering iron using solder wire

Products Used
Solder ($15 8oz) - Radio Shack .032 Rosin Core Solder
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062715
Cheap Tweezers ($5.95)
http://www.harborfreight.com/4-piece-tweezers-set-32381.html

Helping Hands ($5)
http://www.harborfreight.com/helping-hands-60501.html

Much Nicer Precision Tweezers
Angled (ESD-17) ($6) tip http://sra-solder.com/product.php?xProd=7095
Straight (ESD-16) Tip ($6) http://sra-solder.com/product.php?xProd=7092

AOYUE 968A+ 4 in 1 Digital Hot Air Rework Station ($159.00)
http://sra-solder.com/product.php/6267/0/968

Kester Flux Pen (83-1000-0186) ($4.78)
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Kester/83-1000-0186/?qs=%2fha2pyFadujNDNicK9zwyAiOG0VjDTChmOgxFHDrPrD5NpAiP%2fQM2A%3d%3d

Solder Braid
Chemtronics (5-25L) 25 Feet - $9.56
http://gokimco.com/chemtronics-5-25l-chem-wik-rosin-desolder-braid-small-pads.html
Radio Shack (64-2090) 5 Feet - $4.45
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062744
Zephyrtronics Braid (WICK-0152) 5 Feet - $4.00
http://www.zeph.com/solderwickdesolderbraidwick.htm

Building the GI Buddy with solder paste and a soldering iron, then hot air.

500g tub of Kester Easy Profile 256 ($47.85)
http://gokimco.com/kester-70-0102-0510-easy-profile-256-no-clean-solder-paste-500-gram-jar.html

35 Gram Ready Syringe of Kester East Profile 256 ($14.93)
http://www.amazon.com/Kester-EP256-Solder-Syringe-Dispenser/dp/B006UTCYM2

This is the first brand I used and it worked well too ($15.49)
http://www.zeph.com/zephpaste.htm

Other Solder Paste Alternatives ($15)
http://sra-solder.com/product.php/6095/0/no_clean_solder_paste_63_37_85_325_10cc

Syringes (no solder, just the syringe)
http://sra-solder.com/section.php/7/1/syringes_accessories

10CC Barrel
http://sra-solder.com/product.php/6049/7/syringe_barrel_10_cc
10cc Stopper
http://sra-solder.com/product.php/6070/7/black_stoppers_10_cc
10cc Plunger
http://sra-solder.com/product.php/6067/7/hand_plungers_10_cc
10cc Large End Cap (For storing)
http://sra-solder.com/product.php/6180/7/red_end_cap_for_10cc_syringe
Small End Cap (For storing)
http://sra-solder.com/product.php/6172/7/white_tip_cap_for_all_syringes
#22 Stainless Dispensing Tip
http://sra-solder.com/product.php/6043/9/stainless_steel_blue_dispensing_tips_22_x_1_2
#22 Plastic Tapered Tip
http://sra-solder.com/product.php/6035/118/free_flow_tapered_tips_22

Reasonably priced magnifying lamp ($36.99)
http://www.harborfreight.com/fluorescent-magnifying-lamp-60643.html

No Sponge Tip Cleaners ($9)
http://sra-solder.com/product.php/6860/0/soldering_iron_tip_cleaner_with_brass_coils
http://www.frys.com/product/1563526?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

AOYUE 853A QUARTZ PREHEATING STATION ($99)
http://sra-solder.com/product.php/6367/0/aoyue_853a_quartz_preheating_station

Building the GI Buddy with an inexpensive hot plate and solder paste.

Note, some guys get a thick plate of aluminum to put on the hot plate to further distribute the heat. Just search Hot Plate soldering and you'll find all kinds of advanced hacks with temperature controllers.

Hot Plate ($19.95)
http://www.farmandfleet.com/products/740279-aroma-hot-plate.html#.Ut1bzhDnb0M

Last video for now. Using the hot air station to replace a surface mount chip.

Hopefully I didn't miss anything. If you have any suggestions or find any good deals on tools please post them here.

Eddie,

That was a very good video!

You can get those little 10x loupes for a couple of bucks:
http://www.all-spec.com/products/26034.html?gclid=COu6seSIkLwCFStnOgodwlMAlA

I was at a wiring and connector show, (yea I know, exciting right?) and Molex was giving them away. I grabbed a couple and I've been using those.

The more videos and resources we get in front of Pinheads, I think the more "surface mount" will be demystified.

I'm wondering. I've seen a couple of people say they've placed orders. I don't get to see if anything gets ordered at all so I'm curious to know if it's more than a couple of guys.

Also of those who ordered, has anyone received their parts?

Cool, weekend project!

Yea, for small run and prototypes OSHPark is tough to beat. Especially for high quality boards. The purple solder mask is groovy too.

Wow Sweet! I'd love to see some pictures of your pick and place!

I paid $99 for my little stencil for the PIG 2.

I think I'm going to try these guys out really soon.

http://www.oshstencils.com/

I considered a mounting hole, but the hole alone would have made the board bigger. I wanted it small and hide able. I figured if you want to mount it to the cabinet or playfield, you could use foam double sided tape.

Just curious, has anyone built one yet?

So, solder paste + iron?