My First EggTimer Assembly Fail

[SecondRow]

It was bound to happen — I’m a novice when it comes to soldering. But I’ve successfully built about 7 or 8 of Cris’s products, and they all work great. That streak ends tonight, because I bricked the shlt out of my Quark.

First, I got a bridge on the 14 pin processor. No need to worry. I‘ve fixed bridges before. But instead of fixing it, I managed to bridge a third lead. It then went downhill from there, because panic set in. Next thing I know, two of the leads are bent, parts of the trace have come off and I think I melted a pad off. On the plus side, I learned how to use solder wick. On the negative side, I learned too late.

Here’s an accurate recreation of my evening:


I need a drink.

 

[fyrwrxz]

Welcome to the Hammer Mechanics Union-Electrical Division! You've been chosen to recieve an all dues paid lifetime achievement medal with the barbed wire cluster. All Hail!

 

[prfesser]

Well...at least you didn't let the magic smoke out, like I did on the electric motor I "fixed."

 

[Sooner Boomer]

I'm pretty good at soldering, even surface mount. It was part of my job for many years. My problem now is that I'm having troubles getting the parts *to* the circuit board. I got all of an Apogee altimeter done except the surface mount cap. So far it's carpet=2, pcb=0.

 

[cerving]

Don't feel bad... I've bricked a few in my days. I fried two prototype ION's on the same day, I didn't have the "right" 1S battery with the JST-PH connector, so I used a 1S battery with a standard JST connector that I had laying around. Yup, I plugged a 2S into that connector and fried the IONs. As soon as I didn't get the startup beep, I knew...

 

[tsmith1315]

Well...at least you didn't let the magic smoke out, like I did on the electric motor I "fixed."

The Lucas brand smoke is a pretty universal replacement for any magic smoke but I think installation requires special training.




@SecondRow, good thing it was a Quark!

 

[SecondRow]

@SecondRow, good thing it was a Quark!

Yep! That’s why I’m not too broken up about it. If it was the Mini Tx I built last week, I’d probably be more annoyed at myself. But it’s all part of the learning process, which is why I go with EggTimers over pre-built products. I find the whole thing enjoyable……usually.

I’m going to put an order in for another Quark shortly. And I’ll go with a smaller tip. Those pads are so tiny and close together!

 

[cerving]

With the new TX/Mini boards with the pre-mounted GPS modules, it's a lot harder to mess one up. The Quark and the TRS have a lot of little 0805 parts... much easier to boink one.

 

[mtnmanak]

I am still batting about .640 on my Eggtimer builds. I have a Quantum and Classic sitting on my bench that just won't boot up. And I have a Quantum that appears to work fine, but won't recognize when an ignitor is attached. I have told myself countless times I need to spend some time on a Saturday afternoon troubleshooting them, but something else always comes up and I pass them later in the week and think "Man, I have to get those things working..."

 

[SecondRow]

I am still batting about .640 on my Eggtimer builds. I have a Quantum and Classic sitting on my bench that just won't boot up. And I have a Quantum that appears to work fine, but won't recognize when an ignitor is attached. I have told myself countless times I need to spend some time on a Saturday afternoon troubleshooting them, but something else always comes up and I pass them later in the week and think "Man, I have to get those things working..."

Building is always funner than fixing.

 

[cerving]

I am still batting about .640 on my Eggtimer builds. I have a Quantum and Classic sitting on my bench that just won't boot up. And I have a Quantum that appears to work fine, but won't recognize when an ignitor is attached. I have told myself countless times I need to spend some time on a Saturday afternoon troubleshooting them, but something else always comes up and I pass them later in the week and think "Man, I have to get those things working..."

Quantum continuity/deployment issues are almost always the optoisolators. Get out a 10x jeweler's loupe and look at the solder joints very carefully. The solder needs to be UNDERNEATH the "J-leads" on the opto's in order to bond them to the pads. It's important to have the right tip... 0.8mm, and the right temperature. Hold the tip to the side of the lead, wait a few seconds, then apply the solder to the other side of the lead.

 

[mtnmanak]

Quantum continuity/deployment issues are almost always the optoisolators. Get out a 10x jeweler's loupe and look at the solder joints very carefully. The solder needs to be UNDERNEATH the "J-leads" on the opto's in order to bond them to the pads. It's important to have the right tip... 0.8mm, and the right temperature. Hold the tip to the side of the lead, wait a few seconds, then apply the solder to the other side of the lead.

Awesome, thanks for the guidance on that Cris. I am going to make some time this weekend and take the optoisolator off on that Quantum, clean up the pads and re-install.

 

[mtnmanak]

I probably can trace my deficiencies in building the boards back to when I interpreted this line from the manual "If your Quark doesn’t work after assembly and testing, take a deep breath, get out a beverage to clear you mind, and start troubleshooting…" as "Before you start working on your Quark, drink an adult beverage or two..."

 

[OverTheTop]

My intern ripped some pads of a PCA recently during rework. It was inconsequential as we had other PCAs to repeat the exercise on, but it was very instructive to her. I got her to replace all the missing pads/tracks with 30awg wire and mod the board to get it functional again. Good practice.

For an altimeter it might not be good enough to fly but again it could be a worthwhile foray. Tacking wires down with Loctite 401 or other CA works wonders after mods like this. Don't forget to flux wash, carefully, first.

 

[DaHabes]

Practice, practice, practice. I borked my first two Mini's before I got one to work. I've built several Quarks and Quantums, but then was able to bork a Quark. Think through each step, go slow. Get the right soldering tip. That was the key to initial success.

 

[Tractionengines]

For an altimeter it might not be good enough to fly but again it could be a worthwhile foray. Tacking wires down with Loctite 401 or other CA works wonders after mods like this. Don't forget to flux wash, carefully, first.

A few years ago I did a driver board design for an inverter. Each leg of the inverter had 2 IGBT's in series for high voltage. So (8) IGBT Driver Modules with isolated +15V / -5V gate power.... I "messed" up making the device in the board layout software, and had a signal polarity backwards....(3 people looked at it, and we all missed the mix-up You should of seen all the cut (ground off) traces, and "hacked in" wires....

It still worked for testing.

 

[SecondRow]

Received my new Quark today. I’ll probably work on it this weekend.

 

[SecondRow]

My intern ripped some pads of a PCA recently during rework. It was inconsequential as we had other PCAs to repeat the exercise on, but it was very instructive to her. I got her to replace all the missing pads/tracks with 30awg wire and mod the board to get it functional again. Good practice.

For an altimeter it might not be good enough to fly but again it could be a worthwhile foray. Tacking wires down with Loctite 401 or other CA works wonders after mods like this. Don't forget to flux wash, carefully, first.

My first major soldering product (after some practice boards) was the EggFinder Tx. I pulled a pad off after most of it was done. After getting some instruction, I ended up using a wire to jump the connection from where the pad was to where it was supposed to go. It worked and I still use that Tx to this day.

But this board was beyond my capability to fix.

 

[SecondRow]

Received my new Quark today. I’ll probably work on it this weekend.

Weekend shmeekend. I couldn’t wait. I ran over to my local maker space last night, with the bitter taste of failure still in my mouth, and put it together. I used a smaller tip and had no problems with the processor. I did get a bridge on one of the drivers (the parts are so tiny, the pads are so close!), but with my recently developed soldering wick skills I was able to fix it without causing further damage.

It powered right up!

I’ll test deployment another day.

 

[mtnmanak]

Quantum continuity/deployment issues are almost always the optoisolators. Get out a 10x jeweler's loupe and look at the solder joints very carefully. The solder needs to be UNDERNEATH the "J-leads" on the opto's in order to bond them to the pads. It's important to have the right tip... 0.8mm, and the right temperature. Hold the tip to the side of the lead, wait a few seconds, then apply the solder to the other side of the lead.

Thanks for this Cris - was finally able to sit down over the weekend and troubleshoot my Eggtimer boards that were not working. I can report a decent success rate! I fixed the Quantum with the continuity issue and the Classic that wasn't booting up. Leaves me with one Quantum that won't boot. Can't figure out what is wrong for the life of me. Resoldered almost every component looking for an issue. C'est la vie, probably will just chalk this one up to "learning curve" and drive on.