A little tip from someone that does mainly SMD soldering; I would recommend PCB holder that are as flat as possible. UnionRepair, AliExpress and similar markets have great ones. If you can rest the hand on the table and the underarm / elbow on the armrest of the chair your hand will be way more stable than trying to solder something that is up in the air. Think about it like a tripod for the arm...the more points you have on a steady surface the easier it gets. These old style holders are very useful for old boards with large THT components sticking out on both sides, but they make it very hard to keep a steady hand for SMD soldering. If the PCB is less than an inch above the table it will way easier and your arm and hand won't get tired. And flux.
@@markcummings150 A flat surface can sometimes be annoying if there are high connectors or something similar underneath, but a little block to rest it on can do the job if the components don't reach too close to the border of the PCB. But when I do repairs where I gently want to pull up components or have to remove a shiled I prefer if the board sits in a heave enough holder so i don't move the whole board up.
I love smd soldering. I've been buying the practice boards for years. I'll also combine smd resistors ans leds on protoboards and link them from the bottom
I got a supply of 0805 resistors and capacitors. When designing boards I prefer this size. I have already soldered 0603, but these tiny little things disappear quickly if they are not soldered. A very sharp soldering tip is not recommended as it will hardly hold the solder. Either a flat chisel soldering tip or the soldering tip with the hollow cone. A soldering iron regulated to 300°C to 350°C is recommended. For ICs and sensitive components, do not fry for too long. If there is too much solder on it, let it cool down and solder other components. Then clean soldering iron take new flux and tin and correct. If it doesn't work, let it cool down and start again.
Yes, 0805 is my preferred size, although 0603 is "do-able" (but you need better eyes than what I have). A gullwing soldering tip is the "proper" way to do drag soldering but a flat chisel tip will work too (just not as well). Good warning about overheating components 👍
Another excellent video, I have one of those practice kits that I purchased some time ago and now think I will give it a try. I really like how you explain things in your videos and don't just assume that people already know what you are talking about, being just a hobbyist myself, I have found a lot of very useful information in your videos. Keep up the good work 👍
Thanks Jimmy! Yes, do have a go with those practice boards and don't expect good results immediately. Also, watch lots of RU-vid videos that show different techniques.
I use a pair of ceramic (or ceramic tipped) tweezers for such placing and adjusting. This reduces scratching and the components stick less, as long as I keep them clean. Clear and helpful video, as usual.
That's a great idea! I have some ceramic tipped ones, but they are quite a bit bigger than the ones I used in this video. I need some smaller ones, thanks for the suggestion!
Lay the board on your silicone pad and you can rest your arms on the desk. You won't need all the flux either. It keeps your hands from shaking. I gave away my blue board holder ages ago.
@@RalphBacon haha I wasn't insinuating that my friend. I was just saying how I solder. In fact I will soon be teaching an arduino related course and you are one of 3 people I take my inspiration from. My wife hears me watching RU-vid and when you have a new video she's in another room saying there's Ralph hahaha
@@RalphBacon perhaps. Once we get our laptops replaced I got a bunch of keyestudio boards and sensor things for her to play with. I didn't buy the module sensors I bout the different uno and mega hats. FYI. They have a 5v port on one model of mega and uno each where you can source 3 amps, they have an extra atmel ic so you can have a second hardware serial
Have not seen those SMD 7-seg displays before. An invention that might sell: Single digits with integrated shift registers, and the carry out the side, so you can make strings of them like Legos. Those addressable WS2811 RGB LEDs are really popular. Hmm ... that very IC may be a way to as well.
I don't actually have anything useful or pertinent to say, other than that I enjoy your content. But as I understand it, more comments = better ranking by the YT algorithm, leading to more recommendations and better exposure and growth of the channel. Since your channel deserves more exposure and growth, I decided this comment was well worth my time.
I’ve never seen those tiny 7-segment displays. Nice. I love those old small dot matrix style 7-segment displays (TIL311) but they are way too rare and expensive for my projects and I’ve never seen a modern equivalent that wasn’t huge.
I can appreciate the advantages of surface mount parts . But I have a large inventory of thru hole parts collected over 50 years, lm trying to resist changing.!!!!!
I'm slowly growing my smd collection. I've been doing those cheap ali express torture test boards for years. They're under a dollar for the small ones and around 3cad for 300 ic boards haha
Resist change if you want, Stephen (I see what you did there), but once you try SMD (don't go for silly small sizes of resistors or caps, 0805 is a good compromise) you will see how wonderfully they fit on a board, nice and compact with no leads to cut afterwards.
Excellent demonstration Ralph. Pretty much exactly the way I've been doing prototypes & small production runs for years. One good tip for you... I have a little ultrasonic cleaner made for jewelry. Tiny little thing about 6 cm across... For a final cleanup on boards that'll fit, I toss them in & fill it with IPA, then let it run for 5 or 10 minutes. Blow them dry with compressed air & the flux is gone.
That sounds very interesting. Scott. I assume (dangerous) that it would also get rid of all the flux UNDER components or connectors too that my brush cannot reach?
If the pcb is not double sided, I lay it flat on an iron heater. Set it to its max temperature and put little dots of flux with solder fluid in it. Then I place all the components and then put the plug in the wall. It gives some smoke, but it works very well. I prefer it i.s.o. using an oven, my misses don't like that. I bought the fluid (flux + solder) somewhere online, it is in a syringe and you do not need to clean anything afterwards. I did this on trial and error, and the very first trial was immediately okay! I was very lucky that my heating iron has just exactly the right maximum temperature. Note: I am not one of the youngest either, we'll get handy in fiddling stuff. Getting the job done.
I stopped reading at "if... not double sided" - just kidding. All my PCBs are double sided (one of the huge advantages over strip board, I've found) but I reckon you could still do it your way, for one of the sides, anyway! Do it on the most populated (or difficult) side.
Great vid. In place of the PCB fixture I'm using the Julian Ilett method i.e. a large blob of white tac on the bench and stick the PCB to it. Works for me but I guess everyone uses the way they find easiest.
Very much enjoy all of your videos. IU appreciate your calm approach to explaining what you intend to do. And, thank you for the suggestion about the ANDSTON magnifiers
I’ve got magnifiers like those, and really like them. On mine, the ear pieces can be removed, and you can attach an elastic strap (included). That lets me wear them over my prescription glasses.
Great video. I also discovered a SMD soldering is more easy than expected. So i recommend not be afraid to use SMD. However i am currently struggeling with SMD IPX antenna connectors. They not only need to be electronically correct. Also the connection needs to be mechanical robust so the antenna cable can be disconnected without pulling the IPX connector from the pcb. And removing the connector from an antenna cable when it is not on the pcb is also quite difficult.
I hate ipex4 connectors with a passion. They are used more and more commonly on RC receivers nowadays and are incredibly easy to damage and incredibly hard to repair - too small, too delicate
Yes, they are not designed for frequent (re-)connection. To remove, use a very small, flat-bladed screwdriver (plastic spudger if possible) and gently lever it off to stop ripping off the actual PEX connector.
instead of expensive IPA just use breakcleaner... much cheaper, stick the pcb on some clay on the desk, makes much less shaky hands. bigger stuff like chips can be well held in place by one fingernail, much simpler than tweezers.
Breakcleaner. Now I have to try that. IPA got really expensive with when the Branch Covidians claimed it as their holy water. 100x1mm pitch pins QFP is difficult . I often end up using bluetack (poster putty) to get that first corner in.
IPA costs £20 (these days about $25) for FIVE litres from Amazon. I find that VERY good value because we don't use a lot cleaning PCBs. I have only just finished my first ONE litre bottle bought a couple of years ago. See here: amzn.to/3VyO751
My first attempt at soldering SMD was a bit messy, but with a bit of practice it's now not too difficult, and quite satisfying once done. I sue a small tip on the iron and 0.4mm solder. And plenty of rosin of course :-)
😄 Put this video on in the background while I tried a test run of my new 946-1010 hot plate on a little project board I have. Soooo much easier than hand soldering! Been hand soldering SMD for a while but thought I would give one of these little babies a try. While you were struggling and wittering on 😉 I was sticking solder paste on the board (without a solder paste mask) and placing the SMD components. Then two minutes on the hot plate and bam! Fully working and very neat PCB with no flux residue (take that Louis!) An idea for your next video? 👍😁
Hot plate is fine for a single-sided board (or one side of double-sided one, I suppose). I suppose I could follow up with a video showing solder paste and hot air gun, which does have _some_ advantages over a soldering iron in certain use cases.
@@RalphBacon Yes, I have a hot air station as well. It's fine for most things but you have to be very careful with 0603 and smaller components - the airflow has to be very low to avoid blowing the things off the board!
I think using through-hole header pins would have taken less board space, would have longer life expectancy, and, had they been installed first, would have provided a means for clamping single PCBs while soldering the SMD parts.
There's no room on the tiny PCB for ANY through hole (TH) components, I'm afraid. That's the problem with TH components generally, they take up too much room, by using space on BOTH sides of the board. I wanted to use TH LED displays but not a chance. Agreed, the header pins would be stronger, but the tracks for the offset header pins are quite large, allowing a decent amount of solder to holds things securely.
hi,Ralph. I recently had a crack at panelization but I used mouse bites instead of v-cuts. It was a wee bit of a minor learning curve but worked out well. PCBway made the panels and was very happy with the result. The time taken to suss out how the mouse bites worked was well worth it. separating the individual boards is very easy by hand. No tools required.
Thanks for sharing! As it happens I don't like mouse bites as they can leave a jagged edge but if it works for you then it works! V-cuts are much cleaner IMHO.
If you get the hang of it, soldering SMD is faster and easier than through-hole. And more satisfying. The key is to flood the board with flux. However, there are parts that should still be through-hole, like connectors, since it will provide a lot more mechanical connection to the board, especially if these connectors are going to be used a lot.
Mostly agree with that, except that SMD connectors can also have through-hole anchors (think of a micro USB socket, connectors are SMD but mechanical strength is from the [usually] through hole anchor on the casing).
For SMD soldering I find it better to have the board flat on the bench. SMD soldering is easy, all that flux and drag soldering just makes a mess. Use a smaller tip on the iron and finer solder. It’s easier to flow a little bit of solder to one track then place the chip on the pads, align it to the pads and then just place the iron tip on the pin above the pad you put the solder on. The chip will sit down flat when the solder melts. Then just solder the pins one at a time and the board will be a lot cleaner and take less effort with the ipa. Drag soldering needs the extra flux as when you put the solder onto the iron tip it burns off the flux that was in the solder in the first place. A good solder comes with the right amount of flux to do the job correctly, but applying to the tip first defeats the object of it being there in the first place. Good soldering practice is you should heat the joint first and then apply the solder to the joint, not to the iron tip.
I tried it your way when I was starting SMD soldering (I may have done a video at the time, can't remember) but the drag method is much, much easier _for me_ but YMMV, as they say.
@@RalphBacon if you scale the board up to 20 ic's your be swimming in flux or cleaning the board after every chip. MMWV I still have a 1/2 empty tube of flux i bought 10 or more years ago. I'll have to do a soldering video so you can come over and heckle me :-) I do look forward to Friday's as there will be a new video to watch, and interacting is a pleasure on both sides.
It's certainly the way to get boards these days, no more make your own. Done a couple of orders lately and with the panelize, it was a bit tricky to see what they actually needed re-boarders etc. but once you get the hang of it AND with careful delivery choice, one can get a lot of boards delivered for around the $10 mark. As it turned out with the latest, a control board for an esc for the model boat brushless starter, I ended up with 10. Even if one doen't need that many, I still could never make even 1 for that let alone anywhere NEAR as good.
Totally agree. That all said, if I were making boards commercially (even a short prototyping run) I would get the PCB factory to make and build them for me. They are doing it all day, each board is perfect (usually) and they can source all the components too! But for us hobbyists, the panelised (or single) boards are pretty good value for money.
Soldering. I'm okay with soldering but Sod's Law often comes into it: You want to bridge two pads, - they ping open. You want to prevents bridging, - the solder becomes glue and everything is shorted! I think the advice on plenty of flux was key! Thanks Ralph 👍
Bridging pads is better with a tiny piece of wire (which you can cut after soldering). Unintentionally bridged pads can be cleaned with desoldering braid in about 1 second. Although this is getting more expensive these days. But practice does make perfect. Yes, yes, I have a long way to go 😲
@@RalphBacon No nothing wrong at your end all with me. I am focused on you and what you are doing or saying. Like a gorilla walking across the stage I do not notice the text flashed on the screen. So I went back to the video start to see what the instructions were then I scanned the video working back from the end to see next instructions. I am not criticising you at all. But since you asked All videos put text at the bottom of the screen and when you pause to read the youtube player graphics made reading onscreen text hard. Im a slow reader and need to pause to read. Bigger font longer time on screen and different onscreen location would help me but you have a much larger audience to please.I never miss any of your videos and I usually enjoy them, I always "Like" them and make a comment (as requested) as often as I can think of something positive to say. That came out wrong. I never dislike and never make a bad comment. I'd like to ask you a question, does the algorithm respond to comments differently? This comment is an essay where as I normally just say something short and simple like "Brilliant idea" (you have had quite a few!). All the best Greg
It's really nice to have such positive support 👍from you Greg. I'll try and keep the text on screen for longer (not just for you, but I know non-English speaking viewers need more time too). The text really belongs at the bottom of the screen though, it's a style I adopted (and have adapted) from my video #2 !
I find the text is OK when I watch on the iPad as I usually do. However if I watch RU-vid on the TV via my Freesat box, the text does not properly appear as it is hidden on the bottom of the screen. The FREESAT app does not seem to display the whole screen. So if you could move it slightly up then that would help.
I'm afraid it's in a fixed position by my video editing software, Colin. I watch RU-vid via TV (sometimes) so I will check out whether the "standard" app (using Amazon FireTV) works with my videos or not.
Adding scoring to PCB designs (Gerber files etc.) before sending them to a manufacturing service, is often asked on forums etc. If you have a video that shows how you do it in KiCad and other tools, please link to that video whenever you mention or show PCB scoring. And if you haven't already done an instructional video on that, you should do it 🙂It might become popular! And thanks for the video!
No experience with smd. Not really needed for the stuff I build myself. Yes please on the library. Can you in fact show us how to create our own libraries in the proper (and efficient) way. Thanks!
Hi Ralph, there are so many fluxes around with varying characteristics. SDG Electronics did a very comprehensive review, but the one I finally opted for had good cleaning action but was a pain to get rid of. Thus, I'm curious about which brand you use and where you bought it. It looks much easier to clean the boards afterward and nicely does the job. Cheers.
The flux I use is MG Chemicals No Clean Flux in a syringe for accurate (!) placement. amzn.to/3VtVAlZ I don't care what is says about "no clean", it is a terrible, sticky thing to leave on a circuit, goes dark brown when soldered and that same guy I mentioned said that it (not my one) can even eat away the PCB tracks eventually (and showed an example). So I always clean it off with IPA, best that I can.
Cats are doing extremely well, thank you. Millie spends most of her time in my workshop advising on Python coding techniques, which is a shame as I'm usually writing C++. She likes cream best, as a treat. Lili (who you have not yet met in my videos) is too timid about my workshop and rarely ventures in here (although she is sitting outside the door right now) and is my almost-resident PCB design expert. She loves Likilicks as a treat but turns her nose up at all other treats. Yes, Millie and Lili. Never get their names mixed up, honest. 🤥
@@RalphBacon LOL and great to hear and so glad they found a great place to live. I mean Python coding and PCB design, they have it good. Hopefully they aren't like Bill Gates in his early days, so dedicated to tech he found no time to take a shower. LOL.
Er... yes... but did you not get the pun? IPA stands for both Indian Pale Ale (beer) and Isopropyl Alcohol. Don't get them confused when cleaning that PCB! Now you've got me wondering whether beer would actually dissolve flux or not.
Soldamop wick doesn't need flux, as I'm pretty sure it has it on it and works really well, as-is. Cheap Chinese wick certainly does need it. Desoldering wick has become very expensive lately... then again, so has everything else 😢
Previously when I made a panelised board I did not separate them and the tracks were very close to the edge and the PCB house complained at me (but did it anyway, I think). In this case you are correct and I need not have done that (but they separate very easily).
For me, like using a sledgehammer to knock in a very small nail. They heat up things around them too, which is why I have several nozzles for mine (when I use it) to direct the heat. They are good for those pesky resistors and caps, because they then "self-align" on the pads. Can also be used for 32-pin chips (Low profile, quad flat packed aka LQFP32) and once again the chip will self align onto the pads but the drag soldering method is preferred by me (safer to surrounding components).
does these 7-segment displays have internal resistors. I was thinking because I didn't see any resistors there for display or do you have one common pin? That maybe ok for some debugging but I really recommend to get cheap debugger if you need to trouble shoot problem. Note: It still seems you need Microchip studio for debugging with AVR Dragon. You can basically import arduino project to studio and it will map all used libraries. Not sure if newer debuggers are directly supported in Arduino 2.0
No built-in resistors. I use ONE external resistor in the common cathode (or anode). Not ideal (as I mentioned in my video) but it works well enough for this little project.
Having managed to destroy my first two displays (note to self: if you think mounting them is difficult, just try dismounting), however I have now almost completed the board, but need to source the ‘Surface Mount Offset Headers’, so far I have found them only with Digi-Key but unfortunately they are out of stock. Would you by any chance know of an alternative supplier?
I bought some from AliExpress bit.ly/3UuLgbM Best to buy the 40-pin version and snap them off as you need them but you have the choice to buy all variants here. Alternatively, RS Components (UK) has some available on 13th December: bit.ly/3B5Z1H5 at a higher price but OK for a one-off, I guess. I bought my first lot at RS Components just so I could "get on" then the ones from AliExpress arrived just as I needed them a couple of weeks later.
Depends. 400ºC for header pins, 280ºC for IC connections or lower if it can do it. Those tiny SMD resistors don't need very much. The trick is to get in there and out again as quickly as possible. Too low a temperature means you dally longer as you wait for the solder to flow.
Sorry, Ralph (great idea by the way) but if you do give any of these boards away your lucky viewers will not be able to clamp the board as you did. You should have gone with the single board and shown how to overcome the problems of soldering that board. i.e., using double-sided tape or blu tack, etc.
Blu-tack works until you get it hot then it melts everywhere (and smells) but good enough just to hold the board in place. I'll probably give away a strip to give my viewers a fighting chance at soldering them!
Oh John, I've just seen this after spending this morning sending them all out. Please send me an email with your address again and I'll get it done quickly.
Sorry, but not a teaching video for me on how to solder SMD parts???😉😉 I find drinking a lot of IPA, before soldering and cleaning with IPA helps a lot🙂
