[sdiy] Need help with a SMD kit (OT?)

[Tim Ressel]

So you're welcoming our robot masters?  ;-)

I am with you on all that .. I also have CDS (Chronic Dropsy Syndrome) 
and mourn all the SMTs that have gone into the black hole under the 
bench. And I have old eyes. PTH is easier to lay out as well as 
assemble. And yes, SMT was designed so robots would have something to 
do. I often lament the irony: when my peepers were young the parts were 
huge, now that I'm decrepit the parts are tiny. Why could it not be the 
other way around?

But SMT is here and it means smaller circuits, and if you want to take 
advantage of the smallness then you need to get a system that works for 
you. I would not dream of hand soldering SMTs without a Metcal station. 
My mag lamp has excellent glass, unlike my first foreign knock-off mag 
lamp which had every form of optical distortion known to man, and I 
eschew anything smaller than 0805. And then you need tiny solder, tiny 
solder wick, tiny tweezers, tiny containers for the tiny parts, tiny 
everything!

And then there is the relentless March of Progress i.e. new parts are 
not available in PTH. So if you're totally over the moon with, say, the 
new OPA1678, you're out of luck. I use PTH in my kits for obvious 
reasons, but the mainline products get the SMT treatment.

So I get you, I really do. But when you have to, you figure out a way.

--timbo


On 7/18/2017 4:58 PM, David G Dixon wrote:
> Well, the key is WHY it is frustrating.  First of all, I have dropsy 
> -- I drop every component at least once, it seems, on my lap or on the 
> floor.  Drop a TH part, no big deal.  Drop an SMD part, and it winks 
> out of existence in this part of the universe and ends up in Captain 
> Janeway's minestrone.  Second of all, I don't see all that well close 
> up anymore.  Third, I have never ever made what looked like a decent 
> looking solder joint on an SMD part.  My TH joints look like perfect 
> little shiny volcanoes.  Fourth, I have a system for TH work which 
> makes it go extremely quickly.
> The bottom line is that I can spend more time trying to install a 
> single SMD resistor on a board than it takes me to stuff the whole 
> board with TH resistors.  And when I'm done, the TH resistors will 
> look perfect and the SMD resistor will be at an ugly 30-degree angle 
> to its pads with solder all over it.
> SMD was developed for robots.  I don't feel a need to hone a skill to 
> compete with a robot, thanks.
>
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     *From:* Tom Wiltshire [mailto:tom at electricdruid.net]
>     *Sent:* Tuesday, July 18, 2017 4:18 PM
>     *To:* David G Dixon
>     *Cc:* 'Elain Klopke'; '*SYNTH DIY'
>     *Subject:* Re: [sdiy] Need help with a SMD kit (OT?)
>
>     It's only frustrating until you get some good at it. then it can
>     be quite rewarding to do something that you initially thought was
>     impossible. That's pretty much the definition of learning any new
>     skill, isn't it?
>
>     Tom
>
>     ==================
>            Electric Druid
>     Synth & Stompbox DIY
>     ==================
>
>
>     On 18 Jul 2017, at 22:23, David G Dixon <dixon at mail.ubc.ca
>     <mailto:dixon at mail.ubc.ca>> wrote:
>
>>     This post sums up why I simply will not do SMD by hand.  Not...
>>     worth... the... frustration.
>>
>>         ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>         *From:* Synth-diy [mailto:synth-diy-bounces at synth-diy.org
>>         <mailto:diy-bounces at synth-diy.org>] *On Behalf Of *Elain Klopke
>>         *Sent:* Tuesday, July 18, 2017 12:16 AM
>>         *To:* *SYNTH DIY
>>         *Subject:* [sdiy] Need help with a SMD kit (OT?)
>>
>>         Hey list,
>>
>>         I bought the Elements diy kit from Synthcube and managed to
>>         get all the surface mount components attached using solder
>>         paste, a tiny syringe, and a hot plate. Everything melted
>>         nicely and I only burnt the solder mask a bit because I
>>         wasn't quick enough getting it off the hot plate, but the
>>         copper traces appear to be still attached to the board so I'm
>>         not too worried.
>>
>>         And then the problems started. I let the board cool down and
>>         then started going about eliminating solder bridges on a
>>         couple of the ICs. I cleaned up one side of the
>>         microcontroller and then made the other three worse. I got
>>         one chip that was a little crooked seated properly and then
>>         another popped free and I couldn't get it resoldered.
>>
>>         I've stepped away from the kit so I don't do more damage or
>>         throw it against the wall in frustration.
>>
>>         Is there anyone experienced in surface mount soldering
>>         (preferably in the US) that would be willing to fix this mess
>>         for me. I'm way out of my depth and am willing to pay postage
>>         both ways and a fee for your time.
>>
>>         Thanks in advance.
>>
>>     _______________________________________________
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>>     Synth-diy at synth-diy.org <mailto:Synth-diy at synth-diy.org>
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>
>
>
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-- 
--Tim Ressel
Circuit Abbey
timr at circuitabbey.com

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