Extruder Controller Board part2

Well, I finished the board. Boy, I suck at soldering. I got it done.

Soldering is very Zen. It requires patiences, focus, determination... Those are skills that are developed.

Well I guess I am developing them. This time, not once did I want to destroy the PCB. Usually, I envision myself just beating the stuffing out of the poor PCB. Before that...

I am going to give it the once over and take some pics. I have concerns about those capacitors.

Well, during the final check I found several components that were not soldered. While heating it up again I moved the capacitors. I finally got the capacitors soldered. But now, all the plastic parts have this ergonomically spongy shape.

The capacitors are solid. I can lift the board with each of them.

Here are some pictures of the final product. Looks better every time I look a it.





Yeah, its all done.

This is a well thought out PCB. I want to thank the people who made this board.

Next I will build the motherboard.

Extruder Controller Board part1

First Download Instructions
Extruder Controller Board v2.2

Ok, Open Package

Ok, All surface mounted parts on. Now I need to heat it. I slept on it.

That popping sound was very unfamiliar and resulted in the popping of tiny components.(AAAHHHHHHH)Those big capacitors just slid off. They are hot to the touch. (AAAAAHHHHH)

So I have reset most of the components I have 3 left. One is an IC. At what temp is this stuff suppose to melt and does that melting result in hardening.

This is not easy. There is no way to start over. The parts would need to be labeled and secured. I need to recheck everything. Check every joint. I don't see any other way to solder these pieces.

I am concerned about reheating the board.

Ok, I got it working. I used a meatloaf pan (high sides) and my heat paint stripping air gun. Its a hot low air hair dryer. I also used a meat thermometer. It took seconds. The blobs melted and cleanup is easy. Let the whole thing cool where it is.

I hope I did not cook it with the heat plate.

I actually like that better than soldering. Once I got the idea of how to handle the heat. Using the heat gun and meatloaf pan made it much easier to control the heat.

Now it is time to use the soldering iron to finish the board.
Whew!

I have a concern about R2. It is missing and I need to look it up.


I don't know what this is. On my board there is a space for something, but there is not a description of this anywhere.

This is a picture of mine


Ok, According to Zach and Adam, that space is to remain empty. Good. This evening I will continue with the build. This is great.

Reprap Check list

Major concepts involved in the build.

1) Get the software up, done. This is 2 pieces of software.
Art of Illusion. 3d animation suite.
Reprap Conversion AOI file to Reprap data.

I've even played with the AOI and built some simple things. Nice. The conversion software is quick. So on to the electronics.

Makerbot is where I got my parts. They have kits. These kits start off easy and get much more interesting. Its a good thing I started with the Opto-stop board. I needed to, let's say, become re-acquainted with soldering again.

Make sure the kit has all the parts and assemble in order!!! The kit instructions are on a link written on the front of each bag.

I have not actually soldered with the new solder paste yet. I have the Extruder controller that uses surface mounted parts. Lets see how this works. (Solder paste works.)

What I have done so far.
5/6 Opto End Stop
3 Stepper Motor Driver 1.2
1 DC Motor Driver 1.1
1 PWM Driver 1.1
1 Arduino Breakout shield 1.4
1 Temp Sensor 2.0
1 Extruder Controller 6/24/09

I have not powered any of these boards up.