[sdiy] To SMT orNot to SMT.. that is my question

[Roman Sowa]

Just mu 2 cents, as basically most of it was already covered.

SMT is not that hard, but if you asked me, I would never offer any 
product as a kit with SMT parts. They are small, difficult to pack and 
identify, easy to loose. And the builder needs good soldering skills. I 
have seen SMT boards soldered by people calling themselves "professional 
serviceman" and it was terrible.
Another thing - if the builder makes mistake, it's a pain to desolder 
even 2-ended part without proper tools, not to mention SOIC soldered in 
reverse or at wrong place.

Sometimes even THT is problematic when small. I received few comments 
from my customers that they have hard time soldering empty pads in 2mm 
raster or even at 100mil raster, because the parts on the board are not 
5mm away.

I'd say, sell it in assembled form, and for those enjoying solder fumes, 
offer it also in kt form with disclaimer that you take absolutely no 
responsibility for anything.
Assembling any SMD board is more or less the same hassle/time/money as 
collecting and bagging all the parts.

Roman


W dniu 2013-12-20 03:35, Michael Bachman pisze:
> OK, I just spent the last year working on a analog sound card.
>
> It was at the point of needing a revision.. so I did it.. in SMT.
>
> Now I am wondering if this was a mistake..(and big waste of my Holiday
> vacation)
> Can your average DIYer build and SMT board?
>
> The smallest part is a SOT23, resistors and caps are 1206, the ICs are
> all SOIC.. no fine pitch.
>
> I don't see any DIY kits out there in SMT.. they are all still TH.
>
> The size is nice, a 35% reduction  and SMT parts are more
> prevalent..stuffing houses love SMT...but I am about to rip up the
> whole layout and go back to TH.
>
> Opinions?
>
> Mike
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