Through Hole vs. Surface Mount
in [Design]
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From: Joerg on 28 Mar 2010 19:52 Martin Riddle wrote: > "Chris" <christopher.maness(a)gmail.com> wrote in message > news:fbd910e4-f10e-42d8-a193-bb9c7a1cd19f(a)c2g2000pre.googlegroups.com... >> I have just completed a designing a board that has 5 16 pin ICs. I >> was planing on etching and drilling myself, but after my last project >> took for ever to drill far fewer holes, I was considering going >> surface mount. I am only planing to make three at first. Should I >> stick to through hole for the ease of hand soldering, or should I >> switch to decaf and wait a month and try my hand at surface mount. >> A glass of Guinness works much better :-) >> Comments Welcome, >> Chris Maness > > I second the SMT try. It's not as difficult as it seems. Get a good > magnifier , headband type. > A good pair of tweezers, fine tips for your iron, and fine 0.015" solder > helps too. > I like 0.015" Kester No-Clean best. No mess. > There are some good parts out there that only come in SMT. > Yep, like tons of great RF transistors or fast opamps. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: David L. Jones on 28 Mar 2010 20:14 Chris wrote: > I have just completed a designing a board that has 5 16 pin ICs. I > was planing on etching and drilling myself, but after my last project > took for ever to drill far fewer holes, I was considering going > surface mount. I am only planing to make three at first. Should I > stick to through hole for the ease of hand soldering, or should I > switch to decaf and wait a month and try my hand at surface mount. > > Comments Welcome, > Chris Maness Go with surface mount. Standard SO packages and 1206/0805 passives are trivial to solder by hand, even by the inexperienced. Dave. -- ================================================ Check out my Electronics Engineering Video Blog & Podcast: http://www.eevblog.com
From: krw on 28 Mar 2010 20:29 On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 16:16:18 -0700 (PDT), Chris <christopher.maness(a)gmail.com> wrote: >I have just completed a designing a board that has 5 16 pin ICs. I >was planing on etching and drilling myself, but after my last project >took for ever to drill far fewer holes, I was considering going >surface mount. I am only planing to make three at first. Should I >stick to through hole for the ease of hand soldering, or should I >switch to decaf and wait a month and try my hand at surface mount. Surface mount is pretty easy down to 0603, anyway. Some IC packages are a PITA, but most can be done with some practice (some even do BGA, but I wouldn't bother even trying). Forget RoHS and use real 63/37 lead/tin solder.
From: Tim Williams on 28 Mar 2010 20:43 "Martin Riddle" <martin_rid(a)verizon.net> wrote in message news:hooplg$9m6$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > I second the SMT try. It's not as difficult as it seems. Get a good > magnifier , headband type. > A good pair of tweezers, fine tips for your iron, and fine 0.015" solder > helps too. > > There are some good parts out there that only come in SMT. I've got a school project which, like most of my stuff, is through hole, but I cheaped out on gate drivers and went with complementary MOSFETs instead. They only come in SO-8, of course: http://myweb.msoe.edu/williamstm/Images/EE409_PWM1.jpg Way easier than laminating two sides that don't line up, then drilling cockeyed holes. Tim -- Deep Friar: a very philosophical monk. Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms
From: mpm on 28 Mar 2010 20:51
On Mar 28, 6:16 pm, Chris <christopher.man...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > I have just completed a designing a board that has 5 16 pin ICs. I > was planing on etching and drilling myself, but after my last project > took for ever to drill far fewer holes, I was considering going > surface mount. I am only planing to make three at first. Should I > stick to through hole for the ease of hand soldering, or should I > switch to decaf and wait a month and try my hand at surface mount. > > Comments Welcome, > Chris Maness It boils down to what your time (and caffine buzz) are worth to you. :) If it were me and I just wanted to knock these out, I would order thru- hole boards (PCBExpress, ExpressPCS, PCB123, etc...). And just solder them up. -mpm |