I use a 5V battery pack and a kiwieze (or however it is spelled) usb tester to test my pcbs. Thanks to you guys, I never would have started working with SMD let alone USBC!
You are welcome! USB-C is not more difficult than other USB specs when it comes to USB2.0, the pins of the connectors are just smaller :) And SMD opens worlds of possibilities!
I think you need a smaller tip and finer solder. the tip is not heating the pad very well, you can see this as the solder is jumping to the tip and not the pad. i like a 1mm or less tip for hand soldering SMD parts.
My goal is to show that with a minimal soldering setup, you can still create a working board. Even with a big tip and thicker solder, you can get good results.
I usually use the soldering iron at 350 degrees C. In case of a large ground plane, I raise it to 400C. When I solder for my own personal use, I use leaded solder...
@@DustinWatts thanks for answering, i guess i got crappy solder as when i go above 320 all the flux inside basically turns black and the solder starts dragging off the pads
@@alexstone691 FSW32 cored solder is a good general purpose type to have. If you can get it, Multicore/Loctite solder always gives consistent results, otherwise Cynel still sell 60/40 or 63/37 solder
For a first build, Dustin I think is following a tried and tested method. Build in stages and check they are working before moving on. Seems daft on small pcb's, but when you move up to expensive chips, you don't want to kill a £50 chip because you've got the tracking to a £0.5 regulator wrong. I can tell you when you have a set of chips that cost £650 each, hitting the power button for the first time is butt clenching to say the least.
@@TheEmbeddedHobbyist That's why you should build in some level of safety factor because even with the OEM boards they die because of stuff like not having heatsinks, not having any backflow protection, lack of isolation or not having any fuses. You don't have to worry about losing chips that way.
@@Deneteus The problem with fuses of the two legged type is that they are a lot slower than the three legged type. The BJT or FET will blow way faster than a fuse. It’s just good practice to build the first pcb in stages as this may be the first time you are proving your design, that is if you don’t do a prototype first.
@@TheEmbeddedHobbyist I didn't specify a specific type of fuse. My point was that if you build in protection you are less likely to kill everything immediately or down the line later. I learned the hard way that if you plan your power you can give yourself some leeway. You can put jumpers in at each section to test. You then bridge each section in stages. That way you can make sure you didn't miss anything.
Love how at that scale the molten solder on the iron can act as a mirror - works nice on the tantalum cap :)
I use a 5V battery pack and a kiwieze (or however it is spelled) usb tester to test my pcbs.
Thanks to you guys, I never would have started working with SMD let alone USBC!
You are welcome! USB-C is not more difficult than other USB specs when it comes to USB2.0, the pins of the connectors are just smaller :) And SMD opens worlds of possibilities!
I think you need a smaller tip and finer solder. the tip is not heating the pad very well, you can see this as the solder is jumping to the tip and not the pad. i like a 1mm or less tip for hand soldering SMD parts.
My goal is to show that with a minimal soldering setup, you can still create a working board. Even with a big tip and thicker solder, you can get good results.
@@DustinWatts Your doing a grand job.
What temperature are you using on your iron? Also is the solder leaded or not?
I usually use the soldering iron at 350 degrees C. In case of a large ground plane, I raise it to 400C. When I solder for my own personal use, I use leaded solder...
@@DustinWatts thanks for answering, i guess i got crappy solder as when i go above 320 all the flux inside basically turns black and the solder starts dragging off the pads
@@alexstone691 Yeah good solder definitely helps.
@@alexstone691 FSW32 cored solder is a good general purpose type to have. If you can get it, Multicore/Loctite solder always gives consistent results, otherwise Cynel still sell 60/40 or 63/37 solder
You should build a reflow oven and just do all the stuff at the same time. :)
I have a relfow oven :) This is just more fun!
For a first build, Dustin I think is following a tried and tested method. Build in stages and check they are working before moving on. Seems daft on small pcb's, but when you move up to expensive chips, you don't want to kill a £50 chip because you've got the tracking to a £0.5 regulator wrong.
I can tell you when you have a set of chips that cost £650 each, hitting the power button for the first time is butt clenching to say the least.
@@TheEmbeddedHobbyist That's why you should build in some level of safety factor because even with the OEM boards they die because of stuff like not having heatsinks, not having any backflow protection, lack of isolation or not having any fuses. You don't have to worry about losing chips that way.
@@Deneteus The problem with fuses of the two legged type is that they are a lot slower than the three legged type. The BJT or FET will blow way faster than a fuse.
It’s just good practice to build the first pcb in stages as this may be the first time you are proving your design, that is if you don’t do a prototype first.
@@TheEmbeddedHobbyist I didn't specify a specific type of fuse. My point was that if you build in protection you are less likely to kill everything immediately or down the line later. I learned the hard way that if you plan your power you can give yourself some leeway. You can put jumpers in at each section to test. You then bridge each section in stages. That way you can make sure you didn't miss anything.