Nice work Felix and easy to follow. I'm going to add a switch directly to the pump and wire the active internally. You have a sweet and gentle way of sharing your knowledge. Thank you
I'm into making jewelry and was looking for something to pick up my little rhinestones and this is the video that google gave me. I like the idea. It's very similar to the Pick It Up Vacuum Tool by Beadsmith. Who knew jewelry designers and computer folks have similar needs. lol. For anyone interested, this is the video for the pick it up vacuum tool. Pick-It-Up Vacuum Tool
just finished doing this to an old air pump i had from when i used to etch at home, its great, no more dropping of components with tweezers when im halfway over the board and it falls onto a freshly pasted pad of some other componentsooooo much better. thanks for this great idea
Thanks you so much for sharing this. This is very simple but very useful for prototype assembly or small batch assembly. I am very happy that you have done the video without wasting time of the viewer. You have nicely compiled all useful information.
the hole in the syringe is a simple yet genious, much simpler than other DIY designs on the net ... kudos!! I was planing to use and old lung ventilation device and this hack so to name it is the final thing I needed ...
Found this via your Diy SMD stencils. I will have to try this. My only suggestion for upgrade would be to have the tool removable (same connection as aquarium air stones) so you can replace the tubing without having to undo the joint.
Well Felix, if I had your 20-year old eyes, this would be a wonderful solution to working with SMDs. Unfortunately, my eyes are crap. But hey - kudos for inventing the cheapest pick -n- place machine on the planet. Some highly inventive stuff in this tutorial.
a hint... put a little of solder on corners of the pcb... making this, is more easy to see the melt point of the all pcb.... (w8 all the corners melt the solder, when this happen, wait 10 seconds, and stop . Normally stays perfect.
So, that's really resourceful and all that, but gee whiz you need a pick & place machine. I've ordered enough from you to justify purchasing one, I'd think.
Awesome, you will need part on-the fly alignment, real feeders, fast placement, and usable software, then you can say you are in the "pick and place" domain. I always wanted to see an open source P&P, never once has it materialized yet, best wishes for I hope you make it.
My solder paste started shiny at 140 degree C. And the final result looked like hand soldered. Maybe because my stencil was thick ? its 0.25mm. But I got it done. Thank you very much for the video.
Thanks Felix. Be sure to order a 20GPH pump or larger. I got the cheap 10 GPH whisper pump and the only thing it was lifting was my frustration :) I went back and ordered a 60GPH pump . Waiting for it now.
Nice video. Any reason why you didn't just reverse the valve in the aquarium pump? I'm using the same or similar model aquarium pump and it seems to work just fine when the valve is reversed.
I actually enjoyed this....I run a SMT line and Deal with HSC and Flexjets on a daily....I kinda irked when I saw your piece of cardboard of parts....Reel parts gotta love em....so much waste in SMT especially when changing reels or they give you EXACT parts lmao...good stuff...well hey...this method you don't have to troubleshoot feeders or deal with PTFs heh
Also, reversing the bellows in the Whisper pump is a snap. Simply remove the rubber cap and lever arm from the white valve body. The valve body slides out. turn the valve body 90 degrees (be careful of the 2 small O-rings on the bottom) and it's reversed! Be sure to put the rubber cap back on -before- you slide it back together.
Yes it's much faster than placing with tweezers. Never tried 0402 but I don't think it should be much harder. You might need a finer needle yes. Just experiment with different needles and see which gives you best suction and lift. I would not use 0402 unless I really had to though...this method works best for 0603 and larger.
You can buy these tools complete with pump and set of wands for US$60 from China. Slightly more than your tool, but convenient if you're in a hurry. Interchangeable wands comes in handy when you are working with different sized parts.
yeah that's EXACTLY what I did too. took maybe 10 minutes. didn't hafta drill nothin'. reverse take the 4 screws out to open it up... pry off the little magnetic gizmo get out a trusty small screwdriver and pry the little white thingee (valve assembly) up from the bottom (carefully). rotate it 180 degrees horizontally and slide it back in. reassemble and you're done.
Thanks Felix, for the useful video. If you have to populate several boards with surface mount parts, using your pick and place device would be convenient as well as cost-efficient..Is it suitable for 0402 parts or do you have to change the needle to a smaller size?
I bought a Smd suction tool it come with different suction cups,the tool was around a dollar,doesn't work that well for me,if I was you I would buy it for the suction cups and the removeable bent needle the come with it,I like your idea. With the pump but I think those. Parts that came with my smd suction tool could improve your setup.I got it on eBay
I've always wondered how much extra money I could make on the side if I started a small PCB Assembly hobby for sales, since I have access to a really great Europlacer iineo machine at work as well as a couple of older quad QSP 2's.
I have done it. There is a rubber diaphragm cap on a white nylon valve assembly that can be slipped off the valve assembly. Then the valve assembly pulls out of the slot. Watch it as it comes out and rotate it 180 degrees so that the valves interchange positions on the input and output holes against which they seat.
Any reputable brand paste works well, look at digikey/mouser. Store it properly and it can last a long time. If it hardens make it loose again with some IPA but that evaporates quickly so keep the lid on. DO NOT use cheapy chinese solder paste.
Thats great, the only thing I'd modify is the finger hole, it is too high up for you to be able to move the tip accurately. Cover the original with tape and make another hole close to the tip.
right on there. it gets very tedious to place anything much under 0603 manually so try to design with that in mind unless you really don't have a choice as an absolute last resort.
Brilliant! Great hack, design, and video as well. Keep up the good work! What size needle did you use for your 0603 components? Assuming you ground off the sharp end. I guess it pays to know somebody in the healthcare biz. :-)
You are using the paste completely wrong! You should let the soldering paste warm up to room temperature by itself over a time period of about 3 to 4 hours. You should not use the paste while It's cold and you should not speed up the warm up process. As soon as the paste has reached room temperature you should mix it for about one minute.
@@FelixRusu Just Two years (out of four) of apprenticeship (I learned that in a course at Work, wich was about soldering paste, automated stencil solder paste printing and pick and place pcb assembly) and a lots of designing PCBs as my hobby.
Oh and the reason why you shouldn't use the solder paste while its cold is because of the flux which is mixed with tiny tin balls (-> solder paste), which is too viscous for a good print at fridge temperature. You should let it warm up slowly, so any moisture wich could have gotten into the paste evaporates and doesn't get mixed into the solder paste, since the last thing that you want in your solder paste is water (since tiny water drops can "explode" while you heat up the solder paste). You had a good speed, but for perfect results you would hold the card or whatever you're using at a 60° angle relative to the surface (so a little steeper). The reason for this and also for the soldering paste temperature is that the soldering paste should be "rolling" and should not be dragged. But no worries, most of this is just for perfection and for automated industrial use :)
@@hgplaying5629 I am in the business of making boards for about a decade. When I posted this video I still made boards like it's shown in the video because ... I didn't have any real equipment, I was placing parts by hand and baking them in my ex toaster oven. Shortly after I bought the real machines that place and reflow boards. Paste will become less viscous far faster after repeated spreading, than you not warming it up slow enough. I could go on why every point you made is nice in theory but irrelevant or even dangerous in practice, but it's rather not start a debate in ... YT comments lol. And water doesn't explode, it boils to steam. Could be a problem if droplets are "huge", ie more like visible with a microscope, and not absorbed moisture that evaporates in a gradual convection heating, and maybe if it's under some ridiculous pitch BGA part (0.2-0.35mm?), although at that quantity of paste the amount of water would be so small it's probably irrelevant. One more tiny thing - if you leave paste exposed to atmosphere so the supposed invisible water can evaporate, over long hours, that will also start to dry the flux, although apparently the paste will become more viscous, and that in addition to potentially oxidizing it - which would end you up in more trouble than water "exploding". There are all kinds of studies on this and this is not the place to debate theory vs practice. If I'd see things explode and paste not perform or solder joints fail in any way, I'd surely look into changing my practice - which I'd like to again point it is now somewhat different than in the video :-)
Hey Felix, Just found you today and I want to replicate your vacuum system. Can you give me some facts, tube diameter external will do, syringe size, 5cc, 10cc etc and the needle size. if you can, it would be of great help. I’m awaiting activation of my forum account. Mike Vogel.
Experiment with the thickness that works best. It all depends how strong the pump is too. The suction needs to be strong enough to pick parts easily, but not extreme so you can drop the parts when you release your finger from the hole you make in the syring cylinder. There are now kits for this purpose on ebay too.
Should have put the demo at the beginning, then show how you made it in the 2nd half. The way you have it now, I start falling asleep, so I have to scrub the timeline, wait for buffering, repeat, until I find the interesting part. Then I have to go back to the beginning. So frustrating.
Nice work Felix and easy to follow. I'm going to add a switch directly to the pump and wire the active internally. You have a sweet and gentle way of sharing your knowledge. Thank you
I'm into making jewelry and was looking for something to pick up my little rhinestones and this is the video that google gave me. I like the idea. It's very similar to the Pick It Up Vacuum Tool by Beadsmith. Who knew jewelry designers and computer folks have similar needs. lol. For anyone interested, this is the video for the pick it up vacuum tool. Pick-It-Up Vacuum Tool
just finished doing this to an old air pump i had from when i used to etch at home, its great, no more dropping of components with tweezers when im halfway over the board and it falls onto a freshly pasted pad of some other componentsooooo much better.
thanks for this great idea
Thanks you so much for sharing this. This is very simple but very useful for prototype assembly or small batch assembly.
I am very happy that you have done the video without wasting time of the viewer. You have nicely compiled all useful information.
the hole in the syringe is a simple yet genious, much simpler than other DIY designs on the net ... kudos!!
I was planing to use and old lung ventilation device and this hack so to name it is the final thing I needed ...
Found this via your Diy SMD stencils. I will have to try this. My only suggestion for upgrade would be to have the tool removable (same connection as aquarium air stones) so you can replace the tubing without having to undo the joint.
Well Felix, if I had your 20-year old eyes, this would be a wonderful solution to working with SMDs. Unfortunately, my eyes are crap. But hey - kudos for inventing the cheapest pick -n- place machine on the planet. Some highly inventive stuff in this tutorial.
Very well done video with a number of very good demonstrations. Thanks for taking the time to present your ideas. I learned a lot.
THANKS!!!!
Looks like a good system. I love watching the moment of reflow. Like a kind of magic. Parts just wiggle into place.
Amazing result for amazing job for cheap solution !!!!! Congratulations!
a hint... put a little of solder on corners of the pcb... making this, is more easy to see the melt point of the all pcb.... (w8 all the corners melt the solder, when this happen, wait 10 seconds, and stop . Normally stays perfect.
Oh my god this is going to save me so much time and frustration. Thank you.
So, that's really resourceful and all that, but gee whiz you need a pick & place machine. I've ordered enough from you to justify purchasing one, I'd think.
Pretty sweet! Also, there are momentary power foot switches out there too, (switches only and ones with outlets).
Man you are really creative
Great job Keep it working 👌😀
From Iran
Dear Felix, great video, we are also working on a opensource pick and place machine.
Awesome, you will need part on-the fly alignment, real feeders, fast placement, and usable software, then you can say you are in the "pick and place" domain. I always wanted to see an open source P&P, never once has it materialized yet, best wishes for I hope you make it.
My solder paste started shiny at 140 degree C. And the final result looked like hand soldered. Maybe because my stencil was thick ? its 0.25mm. But I got it done. Thank you very much for the video.
+xmenxwk It's because he is using lead-free solder paste, which has a higher melting point.
Thanks Felix. Be sure to order a 20GPH pump or larger. I got the cheap 10 GPH whisper pump and the only thing it was lifting was my frustration :) I went back and ordered a 60GPH pump . Waiting for it now.
Nice video. Any reason why you didn't just reverse the valve in the aquarium pump? I'm using the same or similar model aquarium pump and it seems to work just fine when the valve is reversed.
Genius!! Even the Stencil tutorial.
Have you tried re flow on two sides of a board?
Great video. Where did you get the syringe tip? For the syringe itself, I guess it can be bought at a drugstore?
Just found you by random, subscribed.
Dear Felix
thank you, great help for me, my job is to design energy saving lighting including prototypes.
Nice, thanks for the info! You desk is so clean, mine looks like a war zone :)
Bravo , vad ca merge bine ! Felicitari ! Tot inainte !
I actually enjoyed this....I run a SMT line and Deal with HSC and Flexjets on a daily....I kinda irked when I saw your piece of cardboard of parts....Reel parts gotta love em....so much waste in SMT especially when changing reels or they give you EXACT parts lmao...good stuff...well hey...this method you don't have to troubleshoot feeders or deal with PTFs heh
Also, reversing the bellows in the Whisper pump is a snap. Simply remove the rubber cap and lever arm from the white valve body. The valve body slides out. turn the valve body 90 degrees (be careful of the 2 small O-rings on the bottom) and it's reversed! Be sure to put the rubber cap back on -before- you slide it back together.
Yes it's much faster than placing with tweezers. Never tried 0402 but I don't think it should be much harder. You might need a finer needle yes. Just experiment with different needles and see which gives you best suction and lift. I would not use 0402 unless I really had to though...this method works best for 0603 and larger.
Very nice, thank you for taking the time to do the video.
You can buy these tools complete with pump and set of wands for US$60 from China. Slightly more than your tool, but convenient if you're in a hurry. Interchangeable wands comes in handy when you are working with different sized parts.
yeah that's EXACTLY what I did too. took maybe 10 minutes. didn't hafta drill nothin'. reverse take the 4 screws out to open it up... pry off the little magnetic gizmo get out a trusty small screwdriver and pry the little white thingee (valve assembly) up from the bottom (carefully). rotate it 180 degrees horizontally and slide it back in. reassemble and you're done.
Thanks Felix, for the useful video. If you have to populate several boards with surface mount parts, using your pick and place device would be convenient as well as cost-efficient..Is it suitable for 0402 parts or do you have to change the needle to a smaller size?
Nice idea will try it out i have such a pump
You're a star. Honestly.
I bought a Smd suction tool it come with different suction cups,the tool was around a dollar,doesn't work that well for me,if I was you I would buy it for the suction cups and the removeable bent needle the come with it,I like your idea. With the pump but I think those. Parts that came with my smd suction tool could improve your setup.I got it on eBay
great idea, it’s just what i need for smd assembly. thanks.
I unckecked the wrong box and that disabled the LIKE/DISLIKE functionality, it should now work. Thanks for letting me know!
I've always wondered how much extra money I could make on the side if I started a small PCB Assembly hobby for sales, since I have access to a really great Europlacer iineo machine at work as well as a couple of older quad QSP 2's.
How?? Do u have them
Can you describe how to access and reverse the valve?
It seams that the chamber it is in is plastic welded or glued.
Photos would help.
I have done it. There is a rubber diaphragm cap on a white nylon valve assembly that can be slipped off the valve assembly.
Then the valve assembly pulls out of the slot. Watch it as it comes out and rotate it 180 degrees so that the valves interchange positions on the input and output holes against which they seat.
What kind of solder paste do you use ? Mine seems a lot thicker and does not apply as easily.
Any reputable brand paste works well, look at digikey/mouser. Store it properly and it can last a long time. If it hardens make it loose again with some IPA but that evaporates quickly so keep the lid on. DO NOT use cheapy chinese solder paste.
Not really sure, it's 0.9mm thick, so my guess that's a 20G needle. I cut it to proper length with a file.
Dude keep making these!
Awesome, but for $40 i bought the BEADSMITH PICK IT UP and i was good to go.
Thats great, the only thing I'd modify is the finger hole, it is too high up for you to be able to move the tip accurately. Cover the original with tape and make another hole close to the tip.
This is really inspiring. Many thanks for sharing,
right on there. it gets very tedious to place anything much under 0603 manually so try to design with that in mind unless you really don't have a choice as an absolute last resort.
Brilliant! Great hack, design, and video as well. Keep up the good work!
What size needle did you use for your 0603 components? Assuming you ground off the sharp end. I guess it pays to know somebody in the healthcare biz. :-)
Nice work!
When I got the pump I didn't realize the valve could be reversed. I will reverse it next time ;)
Brilliant. Keep it up.
Nice idea sir thanks.
esti din Statele Unite?
Really good video, thanks for that.
Love the video, awesome info :D
Thank you for video.
como se llama la pasta con la que pega los componentes
thanks for sharing mate
oooops, I meant 180 Degrees.
that is super cooool
You are using the paste completely wrong! You should let the soldering paste warm up to room temperature by itself over a time period of about 3 to 4 hours. You should not use the paste while It's cold and you should not speed up the warm up process. As soon as the paste has reached room temperature you should mix it for about one minute.
OK. And you speak this wisdom after how many years of experience designing assembling and debugging boards?
@@FelixRusu Just Two years (out of four) of apprenticeship (I learned that in a course at Work, wich was about soldering paste, automated stencil solder paste printing and pick and place pcb assembly) and a lots of designing PCBs as my hobby.
Oh and the reason why you shouldn't use the solder paste while its cold is because of the flux which is mixed with tiny tin balls (-> solder paste), which is too viscous for a good print at fridge temperature. You should let it warm up slowly, so any moisture wich could have gotten into the paste evaporates and doesn't get mixed into the solder paste, since the last thing that you want in your solder paste is water (since tiny water drops can "explode" while you heat up the solder paste). You had a good speed, but for perfect results you would hold the card or whatever you're using at a 60° angle relative to the surface (so a little steeper). The reason for this and also for the soldering paste temperature is that the soldering paste should be "rolling" and should not be dragged.
But no worries, most of this is just for perfection and for automated industrial use :)
@@hgplaying5629 I am in the business of making boards for about a decade. When I posted this video I still made boards like it's shown in the video because ... I didn't have any real equipment, I was placing parts by hand and baking them in my ex toaster oven. Shortly after I bought the real machines that place and reflow boards. Paste will become less viscous far faster after repeated spreading, than you not warming it up slow enough. I could go on why every point you made is nice in theory but irrelevant or even dangerous in practice, but it's rather not start a debate in ... YT comments lol. And water doesn't explode, it boils to steam. Could be a problem if droplets are "huge", ie more like visible with a microscope, and not absorbed moisture that evaporates in a gradual convection heating, and maybe if it's under some ridiculous pitch BGA part (0.2-0.35mm?), although at that quantity of paste the amount of water would be so small it's probably irrelevant. One more tiny thing - if you leave paste exposed to atmosphere so the supposed invisible water can evaporate, over long hours, that will also start to dry the flux, although apparently the paste will become more viscous, and that in addition to potentially oxidizing it - which would end you up in more trouble than water "exploding". There are all kinds of studies on this and this is not the place to debate theory vs practice. If I'd see things explode and paste not perform or solder joints fail in any way, I'd surely look into changing my practice - which I'd like to again point it is now somewhat different than in the video :-)
Very nice
Amazing.
muito bom parabens .good .
QUIERO TODAS ESTAS EXPLICACIONES TRADUCIDAS EN ESPANOl Si es pocibl
Hey Felix, Just found you today and I want to replicate your vacuum system. Can you give me some facts, tube diameter external will do, syringe size, 5cc, 10cc etc and the needle size. if you can, it would be of great help. I’m awaiting activation of my forum account. Mike Vogel.
Experiment with the thickness that works best. It all depends how strong the pump is too. The suction needs to be strong enough to pick parts easily, but not extreme so you can drop the parts when you release your finger from the hole you make in the syring cylinder. There are now kits for this purpose on ebay too.
cool
Verry skill
great :D
nice hack
Should have put the demo at the beginning, then show how you made it in the 2nd half. The way you have it now, I start falling asleep, so I have to scrub the timeline, wait for buffering, repeat, until I find the interesting part. Then I have to go back to the beginning. So frustrating.
Sorry about the frustration, it's pretty easy to skip forward to the interesting parts though
FWIW I'm learning to make better videos :)
mucho bla, bla, bla ...