# Tid Bit's of Helpful Hints or Beneficial Habits in Your Builds Anybody?



## djmiyta

Just in case your like me and love tidbits of "Hey I wish I thought of that" or "that's a great idea" or not so great I think someone somewhere can benefit. I do all the time. For instance here I was told I should clean my nasty ass board with rubbing alcohol ( he didn't really say nasty but ). I've been building for years and never heard of that. Since then any troubleshooting is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much easier with a clean board just a great simple idea

I use sockets for everything modifiable on all (almost) my builds and since I swap out parts different lead thickness can make reusing the sockets difficult mainly when the sockets holes are too big (actually for me that's the only problem) and so what I do is melt some solder onto my hot iron and spread a thin layer of lovely melted solder on each leg /lead I'm putting in the socket if its too thick a few strokes of a needle file and your golden.
Some times the original part is the best and in swapping parts I liked the first one only now the socket holes from the previous swap are too big and the original part just swims in the holes sooooo.......


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## cdwillis

Sometime I will solder just one of the legs of a component then turn the board over to make sure it's positioned straight (or oriented how I want) on the other side, bend or twist it if needed, then I'll turn it back over, solder the remaining leg, then reflow the solder on the first leg to make sure the connection is good. It keeps things tidy. I mainly do this on electrolytic caps. I could see it being useful for something like the LED resistors on univibes other parts that end up in a standing configuration.


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## MarX Halvick

I often forget to align the notches on the switches... bothers me so much when they arent !

These notches :


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## Feral Feline

You can buy a $$$50 silicon rubber thingy pic’d above: https://www.diyrecordingequipment.com/products/hot-holder-soldering-aid


Or just take some scrap wood and drill a few holes or saw a few slots …








Quick cardboard jig for easy-peasy mock-up…




I do the same as above for pedals.


Here’s a DPDT switch-nut, below, put to use getting rid of an unwanted middle SIP-pin — needle-nose pliers and press down, _et voila_, middle pin popped out without damaging it nor the surrounding pins. SIP now ready to sub out caps.






After removing the pin as above, I save it. Then I can do stuff like this…





A drop of solder to attach the SIP-pin to an alligator clip, with the other end of the wire having a breadboard pin (the silver shard sticking out between my middle and index fingers) and you’ve got a way to send a signal or power etc to/from a PCB hands free as the
toothed-alligator clips on the PCB’s through-hole pad.

The pins are still a little fragile but easily replaced if damaged during wrangling.






[EDIT Oct 28 '22: Further to the alligator-clip-tip, two more...

1) It can help to take a blade to the inner jaw of the alligator maw and scratch it up a bit, which gives the solder a little something to stick to. Maybe a Dremel-like bit could get in there, but I just use the tip of my utility knife. Usual solder procedures, pre-tin everything and add more solder as needed during surgery.

2) Also, I've taken to clipping the tip of the "tooth" the teeniest bit, as this helps get the jaw on and off the PCB more easily as there's moah-better maw-room — I break less pins off the alligator clip this way and the jaw-pin still gets seated properly-enough to conduct. 

Easier on/off, less breakage, and the pin-nub still centres itself in the pad — what's not to like?


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## andare

There's a version of that silicone thing for pedals called the Pedal Port that "only" costs 30 Euros on Musikding. Expensive but silicone doesn't burn, it's flexible and it actually sticks to your work surface.

It seems useful, especially since I've never been satisfied with third hands, even the Quad Hands are weird. If I had a large metal base I could space the tentacles out enough for them to actually be useful.

I really like the alligator clip thingy!

I always use painter's tape to secure sockets and caps before soldering. 

I'm decent at populating PCBs. Off board wiring is where I mess up, especially the 3pdt wires. Any tips for that are appreciated.


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## szukalski

Sockets. For transistors, ICs, LEDs (for me at least). I buy ‘em cheap from china. 

Blutack for holding down components for soldering without having to bend the legs.


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## Barry

I too, use blutack for holding things in place, I ordered a bunch year's ago and still using the first bit of it, stuff last forever, not as pretty as it once was but still going strong


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## giovanni

I use a panavise for holding the board while soldering components. I tent to put all resistors in, solder the most accessible leads, then trim them, then repeat. Then I move on to caps. That way I can do most of the soldering in a few passes. I also use blutack (fun-tak if you’re in the US) for things like sockets and wires.


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## Feral Feline

I know there’s advantages to the silicon-moulded helpers, I’m just too cheap/broke to spend the money on ‘em. I need the money for parts and enclosures…

If you mix imperial and metric sizes you can get enough friction-fit to hold, for example, 1/4” jacks securely in the wood. The wood sometimes gets scorched but never burned and who cares, it’s scrap!

Don’t have my computer or I’d post a pic of me with a 2x4 drilled out a bunch for 1/4” plugs, “mass”-producing some patch cables for a friend.

I’ve used blue blutack for ages, looks grey now and I’m finally getting better at using less (just enough to hold components) without melting it into a gooey mess.

I’ve got loads of painters tape, so will try that, too, now. Thanks to the many who have suggested it.


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## giovanni

Speaking of painter tape, if you drill your own enclosures you must cover them with tape before doing so otherwise the metal scraps will chip the finish.


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## djmiyta

giovanni said:


> Speaking of painter tape, if you drill your own enclosures you must cover them with tape before doing so otherwise the metal scraps will chip the finish.


I drill my holes1st  then steel wool then paint. No chipping of finish ever I do use the painters tape on the box to layout where holes get drilled . I will say that for me drilling holes with cordless drill has led me to several boxes where my holes are off. Off center to the box ,off center to each other etc. 
All I know is the more time I take the better the end result Problem is ,is I don’t make the time ,much like my entire builds it’s not so much a “rush job but I go as fast as I can cause I can’t wait to try it out. I know there are others who do the complete opposite and their builds show that extra effort. I said this before I know but I’ve populated hundreds of boards and maybe 150 made it to boxes rest are in bags waiting……… but I build solely for myself ( except 2 for a friend) and as long as everything works as it should I’m not real picky. All the boxes with misaligned holes they all got boards in em


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## giovanni

I had the same problem with misaligned holes and I fixed by using a hole punch and drilling a small pilot hole before starting with the step bit. Holes always well aligned since then!


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## djmiyta

And thank you everyone who contributed to this thread with their tidbits of info. It’s exactly what I was hoping for. Fantastic ideas here I really hope to hear more!!!


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## djmiyta

giovanni said:


> I had the same problem with misaligned holes and I fixed by using a hole punch and drilling a small pilot hole before starting with the step bit. Holes always well aligned since then!


Awesome I have used tiny bits for pilot holes also it’s my measuring and laying out where I mess up I think and I’ve heard several people mention using step bits giving high praise to them. I guess I gotta trip to the hardware store in my near future


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## Feral Feline

Step bits have their place and I use them all the time, but for some things I prefer a regular bit — lots of "depends on...", 'cause every build is different for me. I haven't branched out into doing small runs, that's a whole other level I'm not even sure I want to reach (though I used to think I would).


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## giovanni

djmiyta said:


> Awesome I have used tiny bits for pilot holes also it’s my measuring and laying out where I mess up I think and I’ve heard several people mention using step bits giving high praise to them. I guess I gotta trip to the hardware store in my near future


Do you use the PPCB template for aligning the holes? And do you use a hole punch to mark the position? I find that both of those things improve my accuracy. It’s never 100% accurate and a couple times I had to slightly enlarge one of the holes in one direction using a metal file, but overall I haven’t messed up any enclosure with this method (I did without pilot holes in the past).


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## szukalski

Forgot these ones:

I use PCB cleaner to remove flux residue. Take it outside, spray it on whilst scrubbing with the brush attachment, lots of cleaner and let it run off. No need to use a toothbrush, no paper stuck on the PCB.

I use Wago connectors for the DC jack for off-board testing. The 3-conductor one makes for a simple troubleshooting ground point to connect a DMM or audioprobe.


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## djmiyta

giovanni said:


> Do you use the PPCB template for aligning the holes? And do you use a hole punch to mark the position? I find that both of those things improve my accuracy. It’s never 100% accurate and a couple times I had to slightly enlarge one of the holes in one direction using a metal file, but overall I haven’t messed up any enclosure with this method (I did without pilot holes in the past).


I’ve not heard of the PPCB I’m assuming it’s a template for many different stomp box hole drilling? Where would one go looking if one so desired to purchase said template? And hole punch is on my hardware store run! Thanks


Feral Feline said:


> Step bits have their place and I use them all the time, but for some things I prefer a regular bit — lots of "depends on...", 'cause every build is different for me. I haven't branched out into doing small runs, that's a whole other level I'm not even sure I want to reach (though I used to think I would).


By small runs you mean building several of the same boxes yes? If so yeah that’s something I’ve never even considered doing maybe 25 years ago if someone had mentioned it to me. I definitely missed the boat seeing I built my first pedal a year or two before the internet was born maybe I coulda been Mr PEDALPCB no.1? Anyways hindsight is always 20/20 they say and I enjoy the hell outta my pedals. Even my ugly babies.


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## Barry

djmiyta said:


> I’ve not heard of the PPCB I’m assuming it’s a template for many different stomp box hole drilling? Where would one go looking if one so desired to purchase said template? And hole punch is on my hardware store run! Thanks
> 
> By small runs you mean building several of the same boxes yes? If so yeah that’s something I’ve never even considered doing maybe 25 years ago if someone had mentioned it to me. I definitely missed the boat seeing I built my first pedal a year or two before the internet was born maybe I coulda been Mr PEDALPCB no.1? Anyways hindsight is always 20/20 they say and I enjoy the hell outta my pedals. Even my ugly babies.











						125B Enclosure Drill Template - PedalPCB.com
					

Drill Marking Template




					www.pedalpcb.com


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## djmiyta

Barry said:


> 125B Enclosure Drill Template - PedalPCB.com
> 
> 
> Drill Marking Template
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.pedalpcb.com


Thank you I’ll check it out


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## djmiyta

Just in case your like me and love tidbits of "Hey I wish I thought of that" or "that's a great idea" or not so great I think someone somewhere can benefit. I do all the time. For instance here I was told I should clean my nasty ass board with rubbing alcohol ( he didn't really say nasty but ). I've been building for years and never heard of that. Since then any troubleshooting is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much easier with a clean board just a great simple idea

I use sockets for everything modifiable on all (almost) my builds and since I swap out parts different lead thickness can make reusing the sockets difficult mainly when the sockets holes are too big (actually for me that's the only problem) and so what I do is melt some solder onto my hot iron and spread a thin layer of lovely melted solder on each leg /lead I'm putting in the socket if its too thick a few strokes of a needle file and your golden.
Some times the original part is the best and in swapping parts I liked the first one only now the socket holes from the previous swap are too big and the original part just swims in the holes sooooo.......


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## Barry

djmiyta said:


> Thank you I’ll check it out


I don't drill without it!


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## Feral Feline

Do the two-step: Centre-punch and pilot holes are mandatory, then the step bit can do its thing — certainly improved my hand-held drilling when I still did that.

I've got the PPCB drill-templates now, great for the 1590N1 (125B), but for the 1590A/B/BB I still just measure out where I want everything 'cause I rarely follow build plans and have extra switches or knobs.... Looking forward to trying out my drill-press with the templates!



djmiyta said:


> By small runs you mean building several of the same boxes yes? If so yeah that’s something I’ve never even considered doing maybe 25 years ago if someone had mentioned it to me. I definitely missed the boat seeing I built my first pedal a year or two before the internet was born maybe I coulda been Mr PEDALPCB no.1? Anyways hindsight is always 20/20 they say and I enjoy the hell outta my pedals. Even my ugly babies.


Yeah, I had read that many people will build two of the same pedal and keep one while selling the second — hypothetically to help fund their hobby.

So I thought I might do 5 or so at a time, but I'd rather build something new each time for myself or a friend. Also no small runs because my pedals' cosmetics are lacking, so far my pedals don't look professional enough to sell (not a criteria for everyone, I know).

```````````````````````````````

Here's a simple and obvious tip for people who use magnifier-lamps or any type of magnifier.
I just cleaned Magnifier with a spritz of my glasses cleaner and lense-cloth. How did so much rosin get spattered on the lense? Was long overdue, easy to do. Why didn't I do it sooner?



  >>>>>>>>>


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## szukalski

Ah yes, the two-step. Hand drilling without pilot holes is like solder without flux.


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## andare

I use the center punch + pilot hole method. So fare I've only added tiny holes to enclosures and guitars. I haven't drilled a pedal enclosure from scratch yet. Do I just hold it in my hand or is there a better method? I've looked into vises but I would need a removable one since I don't have a permanent bench.


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## MichaelW

cdwillis said:


> Sometime I will solder just one of the legs of a component then turn the board over to make sure it's positioned straight (or oriented how I want) on the other side, bend or twist it if needed, then I'll turn it back over, solder the remaining leg, then reflow the solder on the first leg to make sure the connection is good. It keeps things tidy. I mainly do this on electrolytic caps. I could see it being useful for something like the LED resistors on univibes other parts that end up in a standing configuration.


This!.....and I thought it was just my OCD at play here.....turns out I'm not alone! I almost always only solder one leg, flip the PCB over, re-flow the solder while properly seating to straightening up the component.


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## szukalski

andare said:


> I use the center punch + pilot hole method. So fare I've only added tiny holes to enclosures and guitars. I haven't drilled a pedal enclosure from scratch yet. Do I just hold it in my hand or is there a better method? I've looked into vises but I would need a removable one since I don't have a permanent bench.


I use a deep box as it catches the mess.

I was using my hands to hold it, then I started using the box from my Hakko and the cardboard packaging is great for holding the enclosure in place.

Better would be a drill press, but I haven't got that sort of space.


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## Bricksnbeatles

what size pilot holes are you all doing before the step bit? I typically just center punch and then do the step bit without a pilot hole as I've found the pilot holes to not really improve my accuracy (usually centered within .15mm or so) at all. I'm always down to get my drilling more accurate

edit: I'm using a drill press, for context


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## szukalski

I think it's a 2.5mm bit. The smallest on my step bit is 4mm and this helps the guidance when drilling by hand.


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## fig

djmiyta said:


> Thank you I’ll check it out


Here's my 60 second-video tutorial using that same template.


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## djmiyta

fig said:


> Here's my 60 second-video tutorial using that same template.


THAT
WAS
AWESOME 
THATS it killer


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## djmiyta

Now.  All nostalgia aside goose pimples subsiding I wanna slap myself for not catching this sooner myself, cause I'm here so often window shopping 'n eavsdropping but better late than never
thanks for the tip really digging this one


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## djmiyta

ONE MORE THING If your really Fig from Futurama I just wanna say your an awesome actor emmy worthy easy What's Fry like outside his role? I bet he's cool. and lastly .... you and Leela ever...ya know get together ahhh ya probably don't kiss and tell but did ya?


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## andare

Bricksnbeatles said:


> what size pilot holes are you all doing before the step bit? I typically just center punch and then do the step bit without a pilot hole as I've found the pilot holes to not really improve my accuracy (usually centered within .15mm or so) at all. I'm always down to get my drilling more accurate
> 
> edit: I'm using a drill press, for context


1.5mm


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## Bio77

I use a 1/8'' 90 degree spot drill or a center drill.  It sits right in the punch hole.  The center drills on Amazon work for awhile but not the spot drills (don't bother).  You have to get them from sources other than Amazon.


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## jwyles90

andare said:


> I use the center punch + pilot hole method. So fare I've only added tiny holes to enclosures and guitars. I haven't drilled a pedal enclosure from scratch yet. Do I just hold it in my hand or is there a better method? I've looked into vises but I would need a removable one since I don't have a permanent bench.


I'm pretty new to drilling enclosures on my own, but I bought a portable Black & Decker work bench that folds up when I'm not using it, then a couple C clamps to hold the enclosure in-place on top of it. It worked really well for me, and is easy to clean up and store when I'm not using it.


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## Feral Feline

☝️ "Get good at the difficulty level you're at before going to the next level."



"Right, I'm a beginner, so for my first pedal I'm gonna build a combo with:

Electrovibe Mini
Low Tide Mini
VIIB Vibrato
Chaos Machine
Duo Phase
Double Pendulum Stereo Harmonic Tremolo

Which one should I put first in the chain? How do I wire the input jack to each effect? Do they all need power or can I just use separate foot-switches for each LED? Cause I need to save space for some dirt on my board, too, so I don't want to go bigger than a single 125B for those... what's the next size down from a 125B?"







[EDIT: I should've made this clear when I first posted the above: it was a poke of fun at myself and some of the ludicrous ideas I had when I first started building pedals; I may have started a while ago, but still very much consider myself a newb with a hella lot to learn.]


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## cdwillis

fig said:


> Here's my 60 second-video tutorial using that same template.



I wish my automagic punch would fit in the holes on the drill jig, but I have to mark them with a fine tip marker, punch, pilot hole, then step bit. It's still faster than trying to use the carpenters square to mark straight lines then measure, mark, and screw up my drilling like I was at first lol


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## fig

cdwillis said:


> I wish my automagic punch would fit in the holes on the drill jig, but I have to mark them with a fine tip marker, punch, pilot hole, then step bit. It's still faster than trying to use the carpenters square to mark straight lines then measure, mark, and screw up my drilling like I was at first lol


That one in the video has never misfired. It's like voodoo or something. I'll look for the link...they'd make great stocking stuffers.


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## MichaelW

I bought the PedalPCB drill template set.

I had been eyeing it for a a few weeks one the fence about "investing" in what might be a "passing obsession" with pedal building......then, I looked at the 8 tackle boxes of components, two new soldering irons, and thought "Gee....little late for that Mike, just order it....." 

Then @fig's  video pushed me over the edge and I I clicked "add to cart" 

I have only used it once so far and it works like a champ. So great not messing with paper templates and tape.
I also found a "secret" mode for the template. If you flip it over to the silver side it actually fits on a 1590B enclosure!
Super helpful when converting the 125B into the 1590B boxes.

I haven't figured out a way to use the top end jack drilling template on a 1590 yet, so that's all still manual for me. 

M-


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## MichaelW

I'll also add that being a total noob at this game a couple of things that have helped me tremendously.

Investing in a good Digital Soldering Station. I looked at a bunch, and the two top ones that I saw reviewed highly were the Hakko FX888D
and the Weller W1010NA. But the Hakko just aesthetically looked to me like it came from a Blues Clues toy set....... Both were $105.

I couldn't decide which one so I opted to "test the waters" so to speak with a cheaper unit and bought a Yihua 939D+. 





It's half the price of the Weller and Hakko at $49 and it was Amazon Prime, I figured if it was crap I could return it. Well, turns out to be a super solid piece of kit and I LOVE it. It's a huge upgrade for me from the Weller WLC100 I had been using. Super stable, and I realized that I'd been soldering at way too high a temp previously. My tips last a lot longer now. It's got a replaceable iron and the silicone cable is very flexible and doesn't get all kinked up.

Along the lines of irons, I also ran out of the 25 year old spool of 60/40 Radio Shack Rosin Core solder that I had been using for my guitar related mods. So I had gotten some cheap 60/40 from Amazon that came in these nifty little pen dispensers. When I used those up I started doing some research on better solders and decided to buy a 1lb spool of Kester #44. Wow, another huge upgrade. It's not cheap, but this solder just works so much easier and flows so much better and leaves a lot less flux residue than the cheap no name stuff. I've been re-filling the pen dispensers that came with the cheap Amazon solder I had gotten previously. I didn't know what I didn't know before, but after using the Kester, I don't think I could go back to the cheap stuff. 

Last thing I'll mention is the type of tip and quality of the tip. I had been using conical tip for soldering PCBs and it turns out that as that might seem super intuitive, it wasn't really the best type of tip for me. They tend to heat unevenly and one side always seems to be hotter than than the other so I spent a lot of time rotating the tip and probably overheating the board and components. I've since moved to a "screwdriver tip" style and it works a lot better, I usually stand it on it's side against the lead and pad, heating both components and come in from the side with the solder and it flows a lot better onto the pad. The Yihua iron uses standard 900-MT size tips and I've had good luck with the Kzerlly brand from Amazon. (Weird name).


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## djmiyta

Just in case your like me and love tidbits of "Hey I wish I thought of that" or "that's a great idea" or not so great I think someone somewhere can benefit. I do all the time. For instance here I was told I should clean my nasty ass board with rubbing alcohol ( he didn't really say nasty but ). I've been building for years and never heard of that. Since then any troubleshooting is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much easier with a clean board just a great simple idea

I use sockets for everything modifiable on all (almost) my builds and since I swap out parts different lead thickness can make reusing the sockets difficult mainly when the sockets holes are too big (actually for me that's the only problem) and so what I do is melt some solder onto my hot iron and spread a thin layer of lovely melted solder on each leg /lead I'm putting in the socket if its too thick a few strokes of a needle file and your golden.
Some times the original part is the best and in swapping parts I liked the first one only now the socket holes from the previous swap are too big and the original part just swims in the holes sooooo.......


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## giovanni

I got a cheap Stahl soldering station about 12 years ago and never looked back. I’m still using the tip it came with! I may have got lucky with this one because I never felt the need to get a different one. One thing I do miss is better lighting and maybe magnifying glasses or lens.


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## fig

MichaelW said:


> But the Hakko just aesthetically looked to me like it came from a Blues Clues toy set....... Both were $105.


Thanks for sharing! That's a nice station. A 20ms recovery clock, and please let us know how the calibration function works.

Someone did a graphic of an 888-D with a Fisher-Price name/logo.  Though it looks like it walked off a cartoon set it was a solid station for me.

I know some very experienced builders ( like @Barry ) who swear by Weller. I had an old Weller iron in my toolbox for 30 years but never used it because the only time I had tried to solder I destroyed the two items I was hoping to attach, and managed to burn my hand. Don't worry, the iron was fine. I have learned a bit since then. I've convinced myself of that anyway. 

If you get a chance, try a chisel tip (like the small one in the Yihua #1200 tip kit) for comparison with the screw tip. Experimentation is key to discovery.


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## Barry

I use a conical tip almost exclusively, I put the side of the tip against the lead and the tip on the pad, bring the solder in from the other side of the lead and boom you're done


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## giovanni

Barry said:


> I use a conical tip almost exclusively, I put the side of the tip against the lead and the tip on the pad, bring the solder in from the other side of the lead and boom you're done


Samesies.


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## pcb rookie

MichaelW said:


> and I realized that I'd been soldering at way too high a temp previously.


What temp have you settle for?


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## MichaelW

Barry said:


> I use a conical tip almost exclusively, I put the side of the tip against the lead and the tip on the pad, bring the solder in from the other side of the lead and boom you're done


Maybe it’s because I was using cheap Amazon tips haha, I’ve found the quality to be all over the map.


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## MichaelW

pcb rookie said:


> What temp have you settle for?


The formula on the Kester data sheet suggests 650 for the #44 solder but Im running mine at 700 degrees, I don’t like the way some of my joints look at 650. I tend to reflow every joint anyway just to be double sure.


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## MichaelW

fig said:


> If you get a chance, try a chisel tip (like the small one in the Yihua #1200 tip kit) for comparison with the screw tip. Experimentation is key to discovery.


Do you mean like these?

These are what I'm actually using, I may be calling them "screw driver tips" incorrectly. 

This particular brand "Kzerlly" seems to be better quality than some of the other "strangely named" soldering tip brands....(Like ShineNow, MetCal, SolderFun....)


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## fig

Yep, that's the ones! They are probably called many things. I just got one of those but the tip is angled.
I use the conical as well. I've got a spade tip for removing ICs but thankfully haven't had to use it yet. I'd rather do it on purpose at least once before _having _to.


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## Feral Feline

MichaelW said:


> … But the Hakko just aesthetically looked to me like it came from a Blues Clues toy set....... Both were $105.



You don’t have to get the Fischer Prize version…


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## andare

The Hakko is too expensive for me. I also hate the interface. They couldn't use a simple knob?

I've been eyeing the Yihua 939 for a while. Seems great with the auto cool down and auto shut off functions. I take many breaks when building pedals to prepare and populate small batches of components. My analog soldering station sits there burning the tip. Plus it takes several minutes to come to temperature. The 939 takes 30 seconds.

I've seen some Stamos stations as well. No affiliation with the actor apparently. 

Do you gurus recommend 75W or is 60W enough?
My current station is a 48W cheapie and it struggles to keep hot.


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## Feral Feline

I had out-grown my simple solder-pencil and wanted to upgrade to a solder-station. I looked at Weller, Hakko and a few other lesser-known name brands. Couldn't afford what I really wanted, so started looking at some Chinese brands. I'd narrowed down my research to a few reputed companies/brands, Yihua was in the running for me, glad to hear MichaelW's had a good experience with it, but then by chance I had to interview a company that made solder-stations, DMMs and other related doohickies etc for an industry business mag...

I bought a cheap knock-off from that company, got a "good" deal  but the iron didn't match-fit the station and, and ... to cut the story short it was garbage and they were a nightmare to deal with trying to get it sorted. It was never sorted and I was so fed up I gave it to my friend who builds/repairs amps, I knew he could McGyver it to work, but I wanted nothing more to do with it. 

I found an Italian dealer that had the *silver* Hakko on sale, but wouldn't ship to HK (Hakko has dealer territories, I guess, and I could've bought more local but didn't want the Blue-Yellow), so a friend in the EU ordered it and forwarded it to me.

I've ditched MFX pedals with push-buttons instead of knobs, I don't get on well with them. Nonetheless...
The latest Hakkos have a better user interface (but don't share the 888D's tips — another tip series); the new ones were coming out about the same time I was buying mine but still not available in a lot of markets... I decided to forgo the better user interface and take advantage of all the dealers dumping the 888D — so far, I haven't minded having no knobs, it works well and the tip selection is great.


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## cdwillis

That Hakko FX-888D soldering station is what I use. The only mild complaint I have is the interface, but I don't really adjust the temperature enough for it to be an issue. The tip it came with is holding up perfectly and it heats up fast. It seemed like a lot of money compared to the simple Weller pen I was using, but it really is worth it if you're planning on continuing to build pedals. The Fisher Price color scheme has grown on me lol.


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## grabo99

I like using these connectors for power and I don't think I can ever go back. I like to use the "innie" power jacks and in my beginner days I'd constantly have to desolder to take the PCB out of the enclosure.  I want to buy hundreds of these.


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## MichaelW

grabo99 said:


> I like using these connectors for power and I don't think I can ever go back. I like to use the "innie" power jacks and in my beginner days I'd constantly have to desolder to take the PCB out of the enclosure.  I want to buy hundreds of these.


Oh man TOO FUNNY I literally JUST ordered these from Amazon about 30 minutes ago! Hahah....


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## djmiyta

grabo99 said:


> I like using these connectors for power and I don't think I can ever go back. I like to use the "innie" power jacks and in my beginner days I'd constantly have to desolder to take the PCB out of the enclosure.  I want to buy hundreds of these.


Almost what I’m using these days except  they’re just male to female bullet type connections for exact same reasons not so much a problem these days but still it’s really nice not having anything to desolate to take a board out so regardless I do it on every build. I get irked pulling out an old build and seeing it not done nowadays.


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## swelchy

Probably nothing new to most but new to me... I've struggled finding the trick to get ic's to pop right in without fiddling... found this on thingiverse and printed it.... next level..lol.. I run the ic down the jig and they pop right into the sockets now.


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## giovanni

swelchy said:


> Probably nothing new to most but new to me... I've struggled finding the trick to get ic's to pop right in without fiddling... found this on thingiverse and printed it.... next level..lol.. I run the ic down the jig and they pop right into the sockets now.View attachment 24923


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## swelchy

giovanni said:


> View attachment 24943


lol.. well if you like it that much I'll print you one and mail it to you for nothing.. PM me if you want.


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## peccary

giovanni said:


> Speaking of painter tape, if you drill your own enclosures you must cover them with tape before doing so otherwise the metal scraps will chip the finish.



In my experience tape has made drilling more difficult. I tended to get aluminum chips that would stick under the tape and scratch the paint and just kind of generally gum things up. 

I have a soft paintbrush that I use to wipe the enclosure after drilling each hole which works for me.


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## djmiyta

Just in case your like me and love tidbits of "Hey I wish I thought of that" or "that's a great idea" or not so great I think someone somewhere can benefit. I do all the time. For instance here I was told I should clean my nasty ass board with rubbing alcohol ( he didn't really say nasty but ). I've been building for years and never heard of that. Since then any troubleshooting is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much easier with a clean board just a great simple idea

I use sockets for everything modifiable on all (almost) my builds and since I swap out parts different lead thickness can make reusing the sockets difficult mainly when the sockets holes are too big (actually for me that's the only problem) and so what I do is melt some solder onto my hot iron and spread a thin layer of lovely melted solder on each leg /lead I'm putting in the socket if its too thick a few strokes of a needle file and your golden.
Some times the original part is the best and in swapping parts I liked the first one only now the socket holes from the previous swap are too big and the original part just swims in the holes sooooo.......


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## Barry

peccary said:


> In my experience tape has made drilling more difficult. I tended to get aluminum chips that would stick under the tape and scratch the paint and just kind of generally gum things up.
> 
> I have a soft paintbrush that I use to wipe the enclosure after drilling each hole which works for me.


I use a shop towel the blue ones that are lint free, stuff doesn't hang on them either


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## djmiyta

peccary said:


> In my experience tape has made drilling more difficult. I tended to get aluminum chips that would stick under the tape and scratch the paint and just kind of generally gum things up.
> 
> I have a soft paintbrush that I use to wipe the enclosure after drilling each hole which works for me.


Was wondering if there's a reason why you all don't drill your holes first ? Oh wait pre-painted tayda boxes.......but they also come pre-drilled......? So to all who don't use Tayda. It just seems smarter to drill then paint but I Know very little compared to the vastness of the cosmos.


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## Feral Feline

Depends on the project. Sometimes it makes sense to drill then paint, other times vice versa.

There are pros and cons to either way.


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## peccary

djmiyta said:


> Was wondering if there's a reason why you all don't drill your holes first ? Oh wait pre-painted tayda boxes.......but they also come pre-drilled......? So to all who don't use Tayda. It just seems smarter to drill then paint but I Know very little compared to the vastness of the cosmos.


I buy the powder coated enclosures from Tayda and then install a no-film decal. The decal is more difficult to install on an enclosure that's already drilled out. I enjoy doing everything on my own as well, even the decals and drilling. At least then I'll only have myself to blame!


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## giovanni

I’ve always bought non drilled enclosures so far. I want to give the UV printing service a try at some point.


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## djmiyta

"I buy the powder coated enclosures from Tayda and then install a no-film decal. The decal is more difficult to install on an enclosure that's already drilled out. I enjoy doing everything on my own as well, even the decals and drilling. At least then I'll only have myself to blame!"

That helps explain might disastrous 1st and only attempt at a water-slide decal. Now I will try once again but with a painted un drilled aluminum box which I forge myself once smelted


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