ACL Strobe success at 90% so far....

[ԆцряєсϮ]

I did all mine the same as Ed.
with the reflow hot air gun.
Both sides with the hot air gun then the led and tranny by hand.
Couldn't imagine dooing the whole lot by hand

 

[lithgowlights]

I hand soldered all 180 of mine, with 0 failures, although I did lose one resistor, but was able to attach a normal size one in a rather odd upgrade, but it works lol

 

[fasteddy]

Eddy do you use the heat gun on the other side too???

Yes both sides, just make sure you dont heat the board up too much so the solder reflows again on the other side and dont touch the then until they cool down a bit.
I do the the side with more components first then the side with the few components, then attach the transistor first then the LED using a soldering iron

 

[Brettus]

Eddy do you use the heat gun on the other side too???

Yes both sides, just make sure you dont heat the board up too much so the solder reflows again on the other side and dont touch the then until they cool down a bit.
I do the the side with more components first then the side with the few components, then attach the transistor first then the LED using a soldering iron

sweet makes the job so much easier then

 

[fathead45]

i found it easy to put the resistors on a plastic baggy with a just a small amount of air in it. i will pick all the ones that are on the right side, after i use all those up i will tap the bag and it flips them over. i will keep doing that til i use all them up and then start another one.

 

[CaptKirk]

That is a great tip.


In the process of attempting to build up another panel worth so I am in process on acquiring parts.


I found the NUDS may be cheaper to order SAMPLES from Go Semi directly (I got 10 free + bought additional 40 samples at something like $.58 cents each and reasonable shipping (lots cheaper than Mouser + shipping).

I also found Tayda Electronics has transistors for $.01 each and I found the $.01 0805 size SMD resistors they offer seem to work fine with careful placement on the 1206 resistor footprint even with using a griddle reflow + some rework for resistors that missed. I did not seem to have any heat issues with using the 1/8 watt instead of 1/4 watt!! I also found changing the 2 ohm to a 6.8 ohm to change the current for the LED to around 120mA for some 1/2w 8mm LEDS I had around. I'm thinking I can get some less expensive 1/2W 120mA straw hat wide angle LEDs rather than the 1W from the coop that I cannot seem to source easily and still get a similar result. Thank goodness fathead45 still has covers also so my stupidity for not getting more kits from the coop will owrk out all right AND avoid the extra Aus --> US --> US shipping from the coop!!

 

[CaptKirk]

Although I do not recommend you try it, I did find that the PIC puts off a NICE plume of magic smoke when you get power backwards for a few seconds (operator error). Good news is that the NUD seems to hold up to reverse power OK as replacing the smoked PIC resulted in an operational ACLS again.


I am still holding at one board that I cannot debug where the PIC gets an error of "Invalid OSCCAL" from the Pickit software when erasing or writing and doing a blank check fails at address 0 (the PIC seems to return all 0's if you read it).


I know this has to be a short someplace, but I cannot find where! Has anyone found a common short spot on the board that triggers this condition?? I'm thinking it is a board/trace short rather than a solder short based on the rework I've done so far.


THX. Kirk

 

[CaptKirk]

GE Silicon II is neutral cure and should be easy to source at your hardware store (I found it at Walmart here in the US). You do not need to try to find another exotic silicon to waterproof these. Be sure it is the Silicon II and not the Silicon 1 which is reported to be acidic cure (vinegar smell when curing) which is bad for electronics. Clear works best as it will transmit light if you get any in past the LED when filling the cover behind the LED to water proof that end. 12MM (1/2") heat shrink works wonders on the other end with a squirt of silicon to seal up that end (thanks Brian aka budude for the great document on your procedure!!)