Reflow attempt 2 on a custom LED art PCB (with resist).

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Reflow attempt 2 on a custom LED art PCB (with resist).

Рет қаралды 50,963

Күн бұрын

Another attempt at doing a hotplate reflow with manually applied solder paste, but on a custom PCB with solder resist this time. JLC PCB (not a sponsor) delivered these PCBs in just 6 days. I think that's the fastest I've had a batch of PCBs delivered.
This is a version of the Gallium PCB that fits into a standard 6" by 4" (about 100 by 150mm) picture frame and powers 54 independent LEDs from a standard USB power supply.
I've made a few of these before, but this one is part of an experiment with hand application of solder paste diluted with flux. It worked, but the flux evaporated quickly and caused some of the solder to crack and ping before it had melted. Only one of the resistors failed to solder properly, and was easily fixed with a soldering iron and touch of flux.
Next test will be hand soldering in a few different ways.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
www.bigclive.co...
This also keeps the channel independent of KZfaq's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.

Пікірлер: 358

@GuyMarsdenMakesStuff 4 жыл бұрын

Clive, thanks for mentioning my LED artworks that use color changing LEDs. Followers can see them on my web site: www.arttec.net/art/Relevators.html or my KZfaq channel: kzfaq.info/love/sMMAXVbrw4f_1Y8J3tZK3g

@Berkeloid0 4 жыл бұрын

Note to self - if I ever need a PCB order done quickly I need to make sure it says "BIGCLIVEDOTCOM" on it in large letters

@bigclivedotcom 4 жыл бұрын

I did wonder if that had an effect...

@dosgos 4 жыл бұрын

hahaha

@DaedalusYoung 4 жыл бұрын

They're quick enough as it is. I've ordered on 19 May, and I had different colours solder mask, which take longer to produce, and I chose DHL shipping, which is cheaper, but slower, and the current tracking status says it will be delivered on the 28th. It'll take JLCPCB 24 hours to produce your boards. Pay extra for faster shipping and you can have your boards in just a few days. I doubt they care about what name is printed on the boards.

@richardbrobeck2384 4 жыл бұрын

@@bigclivedotcom I bet! Because you have started to become a legend among youtubers !

@DaedalusYoung 4 жыл бұрын

Update, DHL shipped my boards from China to the UK in one night, it actually updated the delivery date to today instead, so yeah, order several boards in different colours and get them delivered in 7 days seems pretty normal for JLCPCB.

@pjtruslow 4 жыл бұрын

Hey Clive. I hope you see this I used the hotplate reflow method yesterday on a massive 400 pin connector 40x10 array surface mount, 0.05" spacing. it is a Searray connector with solder charges on the pins, and I used solder paste with a cheap stencil from JLC and a credit card. I heated a plate of aluminum on the hot plate to 550F, placed the board on, waited until the solder began to melt and waited 30 seconds, then removed the board. It looks absolutely beautiful, and was a connector that is completely impossible to solder without a good reflow oven, or so I thought. no melted plastic on the connector, and every joint looks beautiful. It did take a few attempts to get a good solder paste application, and i specifically selected everything with a lead/tin alloy to make life easier. Thanks for showing the method.

@brucegoatly 4 жыл бұрын

Over time it will randomly spell out 'HELP - I AM A PRISONER IN A CIRCUIT BOARD FACTORY'.

@ruinedsoup9337 4 жыл бұрын

Bahahahaaa I am

@sparkyprojects 4 жыл бұрын

A tip when cutting LED's shorter, cut across both leads at an angle so the anode is slightly longer than the cathode ;)

@teresashinkansen9402 4 жыл бұрын

The leads also can become very sharp so watch out!

@sparkyprojects 4 жыл бұрын

True, but this is just to insert in the board and be able to identify polarity, something i've done several times without pricking myself

@bigclivedotcom 4 жыл бұрын

When I'm cropping the leads for using the LEDs in sockets I always leave the anode longer to make identification easier. But as two cuts.

@BRUXXUS 4 жыл бұрын

As a bit of a noob in circuitry and soldering, I often get the urge to just solder stuff. I find it so relaxing and satisfying. A project like this would be like pure meditation for me. :D If only we could find some warm white candle flicker LED's I bet this could look quite interesting with them.

@happywifehappylife9281 4 жыл бұрын

Yep, it is therapeutic. Hopefully Clive puts these on the shop as I haven't brought anything from him yet, but want to change that!

@BRUXXUS 4 жыл бұрын

@@happywifehappylife9281 Did you know he's posted the GERBER file for this (the updated version with SMD and thru-hole) on his website? I placed an order with JLCPCB a few days ago and should have my boards by the end of the week! 😁

@happywifehappylife9281 4 жыл бұрын

BRUXXUS aha, fancy! I will do the same!!

@billbucktube 4 жыл бұрын

Good job, Clive. I like that you let "Real Life" enter your videos. "I had to reverse one led..." I really enjoy having random lights around my shop area. I have several of the "Flame Bulbs" in and about my shelving. This looks good for the desk area.

@whitehoose 4 жыл бұрын

Try the gel flux, the thin stuff tends to either be colophony resin dissolved in isopropyl or whatever chemicals to hand, again dissolved in isopropyl which is perfik for irons but flashes off when warmed The gel stays gelly while the solder goes molten under it - you'll get a much better result. I'm going to say also - still too much solder, when you use a stencil, you literally wipe it on and scrape it off - its amazing how little actually sticks to the board.

@steverpcb 4 жыл бұрын

The issue that I get is paste running between chip legs during the initial warming and bridging them, solder wick to clean it up after :(

@jkobain 4 жыл бұрын

Clive talks and talks as he puts ⅘ of the LEDs in their places. And then suddenly pauses the video to put the rest in… Brilliant! ;D

@treelineresearch3387 4 жыл бұрын

I use low melt eutectic lead free solder from 247 solder, item number 247-LOWTEMP-15, it's a tin/bismuth/silver formula that melts at around 140C. Can easily be reflowed with a normal heatgun, and I've had success doing IR reflow on small boards using a 50W halogen spot lamp. As far as durability under normal temp ranges it seems to be as good as regular leaded, I've had a dead board in use as a keychain for around a year and the components are still holding fast despite getting enough wear to round off all the corners. If your fab house supports making stencils they're totally worth it if you're making more than a few copies of something, turns the paste application process from a tedious hand cramping nightmare to a couple swipes of an old hotel room keycard.

@ClearlyDigital 4 жыл бұрын

I would definitely be interested in one, and I’d love to try the through-hole resistor version if you make one.

@AzurusNova 4 жыл бұрын

I would love one of the through hole versions myself. I have 300 of the red blinking LED's, and I would love to see one of these panels with that installed.

@MattJBaugh 4 жыл бұрын

I'd happily buy a kit! Not done any manual surface mount soldering in years, and I like the idea of a light up ornament

@johnmorgan1629 4 жыл бұрын

I like the circuit board left the native color, with the slight ghosting of the tracks, along with the changing nature of the LEDs, their interaction with the board makes the whole thing more interesting.

@lxOFWGKTAxl 3 жыл бұрын

I just received those from JLCPCB today can't wait to put it together. The quality is amazing! To took about a week to get mine in the divided states

@ZeedijkMike 4 жыл бұрын

I have used JLC for a few projects and I have always been satisfied with the result. They always put their production numbers in a very discrete spot. Sometimes even under a component so it's hidden when populated.

@DaedalusYoung 4 жыл бұрын

I've paid extra to have the number removed, and on my latest order, I've specified the location myself, so you can choose where you want them to print it. I've seen them print it on the copper layer as well, so it's not as visible as when they print it on the silkscreen.

@steverpcb 4 жыл бұрын

If you panel the pcb with a boarder then they put the number on there :)

@MrJef06 4 жыл бұрын

This PCB holder/frame looks super convenient 👍

@Stoneman06660 4 жыл бұрын

I think the through hole resistor idea is mighty fine as it will give you another layer of texture on the front panel.

@dashcamandy2242 4 жыл бұрын

I 100% need to build a larger through-hole version of this.

@alanangelfire1217 4 жыл бұрын

Most PCB manufacturers (JLC included) will offer to sell you a paste screen for a few extra pounds, the idea being you align the screen over the PCB and "wipe" the paste down the screen to place a perfect amount of paste on the exposed pads. I've never seen your technique of applying the paste by syringe directly to the pads! Professionally I use solder paste from RS (other suppliers available) that comes supplied with a fitting for the pneumatic dispensers, as it is viscous enough to hold the components while still liquid enough to dispense by hand if needed; never had any issues with it, even when using a hot-air gun to reflow.

@jjab99 4 жыл бұрын

Excellent work as always, well done Clive! Stay safe and have fun, Joe

@dragade101 4 жыл бұрын

try ramping up and cooling down slowly to avoid the splatter

@crazygeorgelincoln 4 жыл бұрын

I liked the bit where it seemed to have a harder edge between the colours. I switched the LEDs in a Poundland headtourch for colour changing ones ,made a nice gift I thought. Liking the progress on the reflow technique, the wave solder series will be a scream

@Nono-hk3is 4 жыл бұрын

I've had very good results using a yehua heat gun, of course you need to be mindful of blowing components off their pads. I've thought about using a hot plate to bring up the temperature of the circuit board to below melting temperature, but enough to let the heat gun finish the job more rapidly than otherwise. I also greatly value having a stencil, although that brings its own kind of setup problems and mess. I used to use a dremel tool to route a recess in hardboard to drop the circuit board in so the stencil lays flat, but now i just make due with other circuit boards and tape to prop the stencil up.

@peut 4 жыл бұрын

Same experience here.

@dosgos 4 жыл бұрын

Louis Rossmann technique!

@frankhovis 4 жыл бұрын

Was just about to post similar, personally I'd of reflowed those resistors using hot air, it'd be way quicker and doing them in stages would be a lot less risky and fiddly.

@steverpcb 4 жыл бұрын

Use the large nozzle and minimum airflow, pre heating the pcb on an ironing type iron held upside down in a vice of knowledge drys out the solder paste speeds it up :)

@frankhovis 4 жыл бұрын

@@steverpcb There are largish "PTC Aluminum Heating Element Heater Plate, 250 Degrees" from ebay and Amazon etc. They are nearly hot enough to actually reflow without extra heat and a lot easier to use than an iron.

@juncusbufonius 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks, it reminded me I've not had the Gillians Diamonds on this week. Click.

@mrsheesh3743 4 жыл бұрын

bigclivedotcom it's all a learning experience, isn't it? At least you aren't stuck with Cordwood construction for your LED panels :P (Old missile etc. method, stack components like cordwood, had to be a nightmare to initially set up those designs...) Glad the solder resist helped you, that's its' job :)

@seabreezecoffeeroasters7994 4 жыл бұрын

Hey Clive make the board dual through hole and SMD would make a lot of sense. Seems to be plenty of room to make it happen :)

@garycrockett4477 4 жыл бұрын

I'd love a copy of the Gerber file for a thru-hole circuit board for both the LEDs and the resistors. I'm not ready for SMD components yet.

@1kreature 4 жыл бұрын

The pinging solder is volatiles and water boiling off under half dries solder. Try instead to have the hotplate at room temp and turn it on to 80-90c. Then after it has slowly heated to 90c leave it for at least 30 seconds before turning it up to reflow temp. Let it reach reflow temp and soak for at least 10 seconds before turning off the hotplate. Depending on board you can then let it cool slowly or remove from plate once solder has firmed up. I do this all the time and there is no pinging solder.

@tomgeorge3726 4 жыл бұрын

Hi Clive, when you do the hot plate reflow, it looks like the base of the PCB gets much hotter than the rest of the PCB too quickly, by the time the top is reflow hot enough the flux is more than cooked and the solder "very slowly" bought to temperature. Can I advise, from reflow devices that I have serviced, you make it like an oven, put an insulated cover over to get the heat into the PCB quicker and more evenly. OR use a heat gun over the top as the hotplate heats up. Sorry but as it reflowed all I could see was a mass of dry joints.

@GadgetBoy 4 жыл бұрын

So, that drying out of the paste might be from heating the PCB too quickly and/or too hot. You have to bring it up to temperature rather slowly. I'm basing this off of the ovens we had at Fleetwood, they had five different temperature zones and it took a populated PCB 30 minutes to go through them.

@InssiAjaton 4 жыл бұрын

If I remember correctly, the recommended hole size is such that on every side around the component pi there is 0.06 inches (0.15 mm) space. That allows an optimal amount of solder to make contact. And at the same time it facilitates a good solder removal, if need be. That recommendation of course is given for plated holes For single sided board I suspect the optimum gap is smaller, but I have no memorized recommendation, as I have not designed such for several years.

@scottmarshall6766 4 жыл бұрын

Maybe paint the PCB with the tri-color paint like green/violet/magenta (one of my favorites, and it's available in spray cans(you do need to use a graphite basecoat)). I'd be hoping the LEDs would activate the different colors based on color and direction, it might have an interesting effect with zones changing color. Or it could do nothing, but it's worth a try if you don't mind investing in the paint. Glad you got the soldering working a bit better. Try hot air next time you have a chance. The paste works ok if you just touch it with a soldering pencil so that's always a fallback, as is place and solder conventionally. Thanks Clive. Nice project. I feel a PIC version coming on...

@kthwkr 4 жыл бұрын

I use a hot plate (actually a large pancake griddle) and heat the PCB up to a temp that is safe for the part for many minutes but is under reflow temperature. I then use a soldering hot air wand to heat each part separately. Since the solder is already nearly up to reflow temp the hot air pushes the temp up and reflow of the target part is nearly instantaneous. This avoids cooking the parts for very long at the reflow temperature.

@markxr1 4 жыл бұрын

Clive, if you get 2-layer pcbs made: * You can choose whether to have solder mask on the top side / bottom side as necessary, * You can place non-plated holes if you want. I don't know if they have a limit on non-plated holes, but they do make them - presumably they get drilled after plating.

@Peter_S_ 4 жыл бұрын

I did the hot plate reflow for a little but it was futile in comparison to even a foil lined toaster oven which I also did for a while. I finally settled on an Aoyue oven which was roughly $1000 at the time and the difference is enormous. I rarely use through hole parts now outside of connectors. I cannot suggest enough getting a Chinese oven like the ubiquitous T-962A and perhaps an upgraded controller for it such as the Reflow Master from Unexpected Maker.

@fredflintstone1 4 жыл бұрын

I have never had good success with a hotplate, they are okay for small units, or stripping a PCb down, but hot air for small batches of larger boards I think is better and more controllable to save burning the boards :-) Nice video though and glad to see you keep trying

@twocvbloke 4 жыл бұрын

I do like the slow RGB LEDs, the ones I put into a "GroLight" baby nightlight thing (which is wasted on using it for kids!!!) are nice just to stare at at night watching them fade around in their random fashion, quite relaxing... :)

@TradieTrev 4 жыл бұрын

Damn! You've over engineered this one Clive, but I give you credit for fixing your stuff up!

@nhytg376tgyuu765gjmg 4 жыл бұрын

Yes, agree this was over engineered. I've done these multiple colour changing LED clusters but I didn't use resistors. Instead a fixed voltage of 3 V works well and with a lot less components. These particular LEDs cannot be current controlled anyway since the current through them fluctuate all the time. If one actively current control them, they will not work as intended.

@bigclivedotcom 4 жыл бұрын

It's based on an earlier design that used mixed single colour LEDs with different forward voltages. Using one resistor per LED makes it more versatile.

@nhytg376tgyuu765gjmg 4 жыл бұрын

Sorry, but that answer didn't make any sense at all to me. But one thing is good with this design and it is that it disapate the heat evenly across the PCB.

@CaffeinatedTech 4 жыл бұрын

A diffuser sheet might look good too.

@Shaun.Stephens 4 жыл бұрын

Yep, I was going to post about this but pleased to see if I doubled-up. A diffuser sheet would IMO make it more pleasing as there'd be different colour patches rather than points of light.

@SytheZN 4 жыл бұрын

I've found better results with warming the solder paste to around 40c before attempting to squeeze it out a syringe... Normally pop it (capped) into a glass of hot water for a few minutes. I also get much better results with a very short (

@bgdwiepp 4 жыл бұрын

I second this. Warming the paste helps greatly, as does the shorter needle.

@stefanessig6459 4 жыл бұрын

I personally had good results with tinning pads with leaded solder (it's still legal here prototype manufacturing). Then I used genuine Chip Quick SMD291 tack flux and put the (also pretinned) QFN48 microcontroller in place. After that I used a reflow oven with a rather hot temperature profile to reflow solder the chip. For me, this worked perfectly 7 out of the 8 times I tried, the one that failed could be fixed by a bit of hand soldering. I am not sure if this would have worked for 1206 resistors, but for chips without leads I can recommend this method, it also worked for BMP280 sensors which have only very tiny solder pads on the bottom and I did not manage to solder them with paste/mask.

@korishan 4 жыл бұрын

Perhaps putting some kind of diffusers over the leds so the camera isn't swamped out by the bright spots of the leds and we can see the color change a lot easier. Small pingpong balls or similar work pretty good as diffusers. Also, I would of liked to see the progression of the colors go from same to full random with a time lapse 😉

@frankowalker4662 4 жыл бұрын

Exelent result. Looks realy calming.

@twotone3070 4 жыл бұрын

JLPCB orders office opens post: "Stop everything, we have an order from Big Clive."

@Keeping_IT_Simple 4 жыл бұрын

One more vote for a Through-Hole version in kit form please! Have you considered getting a stencil made for the Surface Mount Version to help you in applying the solder paste ?

@mrsheesh3743 4 жыл бұрын

It's honestly not that hard to learn to do this for yourself, find a PC board software package that you can live with, learn to draw up the schematic, translate that file into a starting PC board file, move the components to proper positions and put traces down to connect it all, and you can even do your own PC board at home with Toner Transfer or the UV resist methods. For one of us to make a kit involves putting a bunch of our money in to buy PC boards that others may not buy, plus the time. So most of us would far rather teach someone how to do it, than do it for them!

@mumblbeebee6546 4 жыл бұрын

Indeed, that would be my next request - saw Joe Barnard do it the other day and had not even considered before that this would be a 'homer' option. It would be interesting to trade-off of extra design work / extra cost for the stencil vs. time saved during assembly, and - perhaps? - more happiness? :)

@mboberlin 4 жыл бұрын

I would use the hot plate only for preheating at 100-150 deg, C. Then using hot air at 300-350C works very fine and fast with solder paste and the parts reflow perfectly.

@M43L57R0M 4 жыл бұрын

JLC PCB is actually quite good for low volume prototype boards. we use them for proof of concept prototypes or where quality isnt a major concern

@Regelos 4 жыл бұрын

An idea for a future lighting/pcb project is I hobby (warhammer 40k for me) and a nice painting light that's bright. I've tried a couple less expensive ones, and you get what you pay for sometimes so they weren't great, I'd love to see your take on one.

@solarguy6043 4 жыл бұрын

A nice effect on your random changers. Hey, how about a nice little "how to" on building a decent flashlight to carry around. Certainly, there are lots of cheap options to buy. But I don't want 3 or 4 or 7 modes. Who need that strobe/flashy thing anyway? And really......Morse Code??? Perhaps based on an 18650 cell and decently bright but decently long life. Make it relatively easy to replace the LED or the driver circuit instead of just throwing it away periodically when something fails. Or maybe start with a commercial product and modify it? I'm confident you have ideas for this. And what is your EDC (Every Day Carry) flash light??

@K-o-R 4 жыл бұрын

I would quite happily buy a finished product from you.

@Mr.Unacceptable 4 жыл бұрын

I found placing solder paste works out better using a plastic toothpick. It's the way it sticks to the plastic. I can control the amount and separation a lot better than a syringe. I also found hot air does a nicer job aligning the SMD's.

@SkeletonSyskey 4 жыл бұрын

Reminds me of something from a 70's Sci-Fi Show

@bgdwiepp 4 жыл бұрын

rather than diluting the solder paste with flux, instead warm it up so the flux that is already in it is more liquidous, this makes a massive difference.

@benbaselet2026 4 жыл бұрын

I've seen a few of these solder paste and reflow DIY experiments and it still seems to be just slower and more difficult than manually soldering 1 pad, tacking in the components and then soldering the rest normally. I never tried any reflow work myself and I really don't see the point for the stuff I have seen so far. Maybe if you do alot of it there are benefits when you get the process going but .. it still looks so very awkward to me.

@ABaumstumpf 4 жыл бұрын

Small SMD-Parts or BGA come to mind. Worked on a tiny board (24x20mm)together with a friend with minimal track-width and track-distances the whole board was covered. Quite a few 0201 components - pain to solder by hand, some parts with leads mostly under the chip. And we needed at least 5 of those suckers. So we just whipped together a bigger board with 10 of them in it, a stencil from the board-manufacturer and the rest was simple: Fix the stencil, spread the past, drop in the components, reflow, done. Takes no were near as long as soldering >500 mostly tiny parts by hand. but for 1-off projects? Only if you have to - like BGA.

@benbaselet2026 4 жыл бұрын

@@ABaumstumpf True, the more we go to BGA and super dense stuff, of course working techniques must change too. That's actually starting to be a bit of a pain in the near future when some chips will only be available in awkward packages for DIY home gamers. Regular SMD is usually brilliant and easy to work with but some kind of a microscope and steady hands seems to be more and more a requirement at least.

@Arek_R. 4 жыл бұрын

I ordered some PCBs from JLCPCB that were sent on May 12 via EuroPacket and are still being delivered, planned for this tuesday, was supposed to be delivered 17-20th. Apparently EuroPacket = DHL and it was stuck for days in Germany and it was literally saying "On hold" On purpose I didn't chose DHL, they are always making problems or adding illegally some extra charges. Currently JLCPCB has, DHL standard, DHL priority, DHL priority DDL, DHL turtle(called EuroPacket) and if you don't want DHL your only option is some Postlink that can take up to 25 days. You literally have only two companies to chose, pretty sure they cut some deal with DHL.

@kyrengorkian 4 жыл бұрын

Next experiment - ask JLPCB for a stencil to match the pcb. With pcb and stencil in register wipe solder paste across the stencil. This will deposit just the right amount of paste on the pads.

@KanalFrump 4 жыл бұрын

With all those individual PWM circuits going off the common power rails, I wonder if there's anything going on like the synchronizing effect that happens when you place mechanical metronomes on a flexing board.

@BinderTronics 4 жыл бұрын

The pinging effect is the because of heat shock. Try heating the board with the plate to just before the solder melts and then give it some hot air to melt it. Those pads look too small for those resistors. About a 25% longer pad on each side (so it stick out under the resistors) should make the straiten out nicely (my rule of thumb). If you can be bothered to make a custom footprint. It will make the resistors also much more iron friendly as you can place it on both the pad and pin. Really like those LEDs might consider getting myself some just need to figure out a use case.

@SimpleElectronics 4 жыл бұрын

I wonder if you filled it up with candle flicker LEDs if they would average out to a relatively even light

@bigclivedotcom 4 жыл бұрын

I made one of those recently in another video. It was quite fierce.

@SimpleElectronics 4 жыл бұрын

@@bigclivedotcom is there any chance I could convince you to put a scope on the power lines? Just wondering what the noise would be like!

@rayceeya8659 4 жыл бұрын

You could very easily create that sweeping wave effect if you soldered a different value capacitor in parallel with each row. The higher the value the longer that delay before that row turns on.

@CrazyRespawn 4 жыл бұрын

This video should have been one of your long ranting story time videos while you worked. But it's still awesome.

@zebo-the-fat 4 жыл бұрын

Is the slow reflowing of the corners due to the board not being perfectly flat? Maybe some way to press it down to the hot plate would help.

@Fayshun 4 жыл бұрын

100% do a through hole one, I'm learning how to solder!

@treborrrrr 4 жыл бұрын

Practice on SMD and you'll be able to solder anything. Also, don't be afraid of surface mount, people keep making it sound difficult when it really isn't any more difficult than through hole (and don't fall for the thing about needing a teeny tiny tip on your iron, you don't). Frankly I quite often find it easier, especially when fixing mistakes.

@grn1 4 жыл бұрын

@@treborrrrr What makes SMT (Surface Mount Technology) harder than IMT (Insertion Mount Technology) is the size. I have big hands and I'm not the most steady (that may improve with practice) so unless I need something to be really small I'd rather work with IMT. As you said a tiny tip isn't necessarily required, back in high school I usually flattened mine to a blade like edge but a standard tip works fine.

@theskett 4 жыл бұрын

@@johncoops6897 Thanks, good point. The non-magnetic / ceramic help, too, but the flux gets 'em sticky quick (which drives me a little nuts :-)

@KartikSinghlive 4 жыл бұрын

I can smell this video. :)

@gregorythomas333 4 жыл бұрын

I really like this project...looks nice :)

@marwinthedja5450 4 жыл бұрын

If I'm not mistaken JLCPCB offers metal stencils (for solder application) for a reasonable price. I think Clough42 used one on in his lathe conversion series.

@frollard 4 жыл бұрын

Any time in the last 50 years: Geez...in 2020 computers will be wild and flying cars and time machines... 2020: "Here's a light I made with a teeny tiny computer inside each rgb diode", streamed in high definition on the internets.

@1over137 4 жыл бұрын

I never found an issue with mess. I also found ways to use the undiluted solder paste. You don't need to be that precise with it, it will flow to the pads even if you plaster it over both.

@1over137 4 жыл бұрын

imgur.com/e54ebij this is my work.

@zaraak323i 4 жыл бұрын

I'd suggest using the biggest SMD resistors available because they're easier to hand solder and you're not really limited on space.

@estruble 4 жыл бұрын

Oh yes, I love the smell of flux in the morning...

@richardbrobeck2384 4 жыл бұрын

yes the older the flux the better the smell

@stevenbirch 4 жыл бұрын

Clive, you camera exposure settings tend to make the LEDs all look white (although the background colour is seen to vary). I imagine it must look much better in real life.

@bigclivedotcom 4 жыл бұрын

It does. Camera's are always tricky for properly displaying light sources. Fine if they're diffused and bounced though.

@MrMegaPussyPlayer 4 жыл бұрын

15:47 This is where I prefer the WS2812B and an Arduino ... gives you all sorts of options in effects.

@fastamx069box8 4 жыл бұрын

Hello, I am a Manufacturering Engineer plus for 50 years. That type of PCB has a tendency to bow. This is why it unevenly soldered. Next time use Q-tips to clean the solder paste off the board and instead use a heat gun. Conduction Soldering is not the best in an uncontrolled environment. Ask me anything about assembly and I will be glad to provide you with any assistance you may need. Kindest regards, Fastamx.

@snakosaurus 4 жыл бұрын

Blue and yellow produce green in subtractive colors, i.e. paints. Light emitting is additive though, so blue plus yellow will look more or less white.

@steverpcb 4 жыл бұрын

If you don't want plated through holes then set the holes to Not Plated :) Having rounded corners may make the pcb more expensive as you may be charged for twice the diameter of the routing cutter on top of your pcb size.

@technosasquatchfilms 4 жыл бұрын

my first board order was a project like this. 50x50mm with 9 led spots, I Think my traces need to be thicker on the next version. Wanted to make little color changing cube contraptions.

@jayzo 4 жыл бұрын

I know you're trying to do it yourself, but for those who don't have the hot plate or don't want to do it, JLCPCB has an assembly service.

@therealjammit 4 жыл бұрын

A minor mod would be to add surface mount pads and through holes at the same time. Just pick the type of resistor you want and leave the unused type unpopulated.

@bigclivedotcom 4 жыл бұрын

That's the next PCB. I've already doodled the layout.

@Northern5tar 4 жыл бұрын

A diffuser sheet with a very slight reddish pigment would turn green towards yellow. The blue would be slightly towards purple but overall you'd get a broader spectrum. I think.

@nhytg376tgyuu765gjmg 4 жыл бұрын

Not really, non phosphor LEDs have a too narrow colour band.

@PsiQ 4 жыл бұрын

.hmmm. might need some sort of clamping in the corners / sides and one in the middle perhaps to get better contact. IR Light from above for added Speed/better distribution ? (i have quartz ir heater tubes in the bathroom)

@PIXscotland 4 жыл бұрын

Might be better to keep that hot plate down to about 150c and airflow them individually. That was my method using an old clothes iron. Didn't take long at all. Curious how you diluted the solder though...

@bigclivedotcom 4 жыл бұрын

I got solder paste and added flux until it got to a dispensable consistency.

@rimmersbryggeri 4 жыл бұрын

I thought the same about heating also what about smd LED's and maybe a flexible board so i could be wrapped around one of thsoe cardboard tubes posters are delivered in. Could make quite a cool modern take on a lava lamp.

@gregorythomas333 4 жыл бұрын

@@rimmersbryggeri/videos Very nifty idea...might have to try that myself :)

@rimmersbryggeri 4 жыл бұрын

@@gregorythomas333 Please show the results. I don't have the resources to make my ideas myself. Thats not a reason to keep them to myself if they can spread joy though.

@CBdesigns70 4 жыл бұрын

I have just built a pcb holding rack from some spare 2020v groove and 3d printed parts. I just need to source the foam and a catch to hold the lid in place..

@JuanJose-tn8yd 4 жыл бұрын

With a diffuser would make a nice plasma effect.

@grantcampbell6026 4 жыл бұрын

"cosmic in its glory" ... makes me wonder why you're not using a roach clip to hold the remnants of your pre-cut solder lengths to get all possible mileage out of them ... keep up the good work!

@theskett 4 жыл бұрын

The solder tails get pulled in by surface tension (?), no need for a roach clip. Although "cosmic in its glory" reads in Sagan's voice, and takes me to hermiene.net/essays-trans/mr_x.html :-)

@1973retrorabbit 4 жыл бұрын

Have you tried using the paste then placing the resistors, then using your tweezers, hold each resistor and use the fine point of your hot air gun on your solder station? That's the closest thing I can think of without emptying your bank account for the Danotherm machine I used to use working on motherboards (4 layer) and amplifier components for a certain high end audio company from Scotland (all of their gear was actually hand built, including the inductors, hence the price).

@patricksweetman3285 4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, Clive. You've sold me on a kit.

@generaldisarray 4 жыл бұрын

I once, stupidly, bought an alarm clock kit that had a 44 pin surface mount processor in it. Getting the tiniest amount of solder paste onto the pads was a nightmare, so in the end I never managed to get that dam chip mounted... "Just mount the 44 pin microprocessor on to the PCB" the instructions said, "JUST mount the 44 pin microprocessor on to the PCB"....Oh "JUST" is it, "JUST".... Well why don't you JUST try it, instruction writer, yeah try it in a home gamer situation....Cause when you reach over and put your hand into a pile of goo that was once perfectly good solder paste, you'll know what to do!..... Forget it, man, you weren't there man, you don't know the things I've seen....

@getyerspn 4 жыл бұрын

I use KINGBO RMA-218 flux ..it stays liquid well after the solder has melted...comes in 10CC syringes ...it makes surface mount reflowing a lot easier...

@howlingwolven 4 жыл бұрын

What you should try next time is get a stencil for the paste. It's a thin stainless steel thing you line up, then you just squeeze the paste onto then squeegee it through onto the pads.

@jkobain 4 жыл бұрын

I may be horribly wrong about what I'm going to say, but I think you'd better draw narrower (0° along the component, not turned 90°) solder pads *and* add just a little solder paste to help them align your SMD components for you with the surface tension of solder. Again, I may be horribly wrong, but it's what comes to my mind when I see narrow resistors gliding left and right on wide pads…

@thsinger 4 жыл бұрын

I'm still waiting for my first order from PCBWay look like it arrived i n Germany very fast but then get lost somewhere here, that is waht happen when HERMES is the subcarrier in Germany. But next time I will also use JLPCB I found there EDA Software very easy.

@LoPhatKao 4 жыл бұрын

when you paint or clearcoat the LED side, adding a tiny drizzle of glitter on the wet paint might give a cool scatter effect

@bigclivedotcom 4 жыл бұрын

I've used metallic sparkle paint in the past and it looks great.

@gowdsake7103 4 жыл бұрын

What you need is a Fuji CP7 Clive only a few grand second hand but that board placed in about 3 secs

@dablakh0l193 4 жыл бұрын

A little better way for reflowing solder on a hot plate is to put a 1 inch layer of sand on top of the hot plate then place the pcb on top of the sand once the sand temperature equalizes. That way the parts reflow equally. Another way is to set the hot plate about 60°C less than the solder temperature and use your hot air set to the correct temperature for reflow and with the air volume turned way down. Then just move the air around over the components and they reflow beautifully. Since you got your pcbs from JLCPCB.COM, choose to get the $7 stencil. It will make it much easier to spread the solder paste. I take a poundland cheapo clipboard and a couple of old unused pcbs to make a registry guide around the sides of the new board, then locate the stencil over the holes and tape the stencil along one edge like a hinge. That way I have very simple repeatable way to squeegee the paste over the boards.

@Chris-du7hi 4 жыл бұрын

I've had more success using the plastic tapered cone nozzles on the syringe to apply the paste, rather than the stainless tube type. It seems like you can use a smaller nozzle without having to push as hard, or resort to thinning the paste. Plus if it does require too much effort you can cut the nozzle back slightly and enlarge the hole.

@bob_._. 4 жыл бұрын

Having blue and yellow lights won't give you green light. With pigments, cyan, magenta and yellow are the primaries and mixing cyan and yellow makes green (Printers have long referred to cyan as blue and magenta as red to save syllables). But with light, blue, red and green are the primaries and mixing red and green makes yellow. Yellow light and blue light are complementaries and mixing them will give white light.

@Geetee60 4 жыл бұрын

That would look nice with a white Perspex pane in front to mute and meld the light spots.

@cremationpete 4 жыл бұрын

Red yellow and blue? How would that produce green at any point? Blue and yellow combined produce white...don’t they?

@KingOfKYA 4 жыл бұрын

You need to build yourself a vacuum pickup tool makes this so mutch faster, and get a paste stensle there dirt cheap. The vacuum pickup tool also lets you get the resistor tight ageist the board also helps get a good reflow. Your pads also look too big they seam to be the manual/hand solder type, that is and no stensle is why your not getting them to move into position as fast(your putting too much solder paste on them) . You could have soldering thous leds reflow as well its not idlel but it works:)

@ManWithBeard1990 4 жыл бұрын

I always assumed having a yellow and a blue (equally bright) LED would give a more or less white light, albeit with a particularly poor color rendition. I don't think you'd be able to get green out of it. In fact, I reckon it is the second worst way to get white light from an LED. The absolute worst way, of course, is to light an LED on fire. While that does provide warm white light and a lovely continuous colour spectrum, even without a power supply, it does shorten the life expectancy of the component rather dramatically, to the point where I can't recommend it despite these advantages.