3 ms·
Have you already made the circuit on a breadboard? If so, learning KiCAD and building the board from scratch would take around a week of afternoons. I really r
by StavrosK 6y ago
Have you already made the circuit on a breadboard? If so, learning KiCAD and building the board from scratch would take around a week of afternoons.
I really recommend it, designing PCBs is very enjoyable (at least to me).
- konschubert 6y agoThank you for mentioning KiCAD, these are the kind of keywords that will help me get started :D PS: And yes, while I really suck at soldering, working with physical products feels like a nice counter weight to the software world.
- StavrosK 6y agoKiCAD is amazing, and it's all you'll need (apart from the prototype on the breadboard). The trick to soldering is really to get a good iron, I underestimated it at the start but you really need something that keeps heat. Get a TS100 and set it to 320, soldering is going to be a breeze afterwards. Remember, solder should flow easily and stick to the pads/wires, if it doesn't, it means you need to heat the thing up a bit more.
- konschubert 6y agoI my iron shoes 400 degrees in the display but somehow the pads/wires don’t heat enough to melt the solder. It’s really weird. Maybe I messed up the tip somehow? But I just got it a few days ago!
- StavrosK 6y agoWhich iron is it? Maybe it's miscalibrated? Does the solder melt if you touch it to the tip?
- konschubert 6y agoIt melts. But only at high temperatures above 300. Even though the soldier is supposed to melt at 219. The iron is a LONOVE 925 m.
- konschubert 6y agoMaybe I need to try tinning the tip again.
- StavrosK 6y agoYeah, sounds like it. Make sure the tip is tinned when touching the pads so heat transfer can occur more effectively.
- konschubert 6y agoI’ll need to watch some videos. I tried running but the solder always drips off the tip and doesn’t stick ️
- StavrosK 6y agoHmm, sounds like you need more heat, hot solder likes to run up metal surfaces and stick well.
- konschubert 6y agoHow would I work with SMD components on a breadboard?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- non-entity 6y agoBreakout boards, I assume.
- StavrosK 6y agoEither breakout boards or you use the through-hole versions.
- rohansingh 6y agoIf you're confident in your design, you can send it off for assembly at a manufacturer that does PCBA. They'll handle the SMD soldering for you.
- MayeulC 6y agoIf you are comfortable prototyping on a breadboard it shouldn't take long to produce the layout in KiCAD or a similar EDA tool. Then you can order your PCB at a local shop, manufacture it yourself (with toner transfer, a CNC at a hackerspace, etc) provided the traces aren't too thin and there are not too many layers (1 is easy, 2 is standard and cheap, more layers are expensive), or order it from china at a relatively low price (jlpcb or seedstudio will average something like $1/apiece).