Well, really need to finish something around here so I will take up where we left off with the fuel load indicator, in parts 1, 2 and 3. And I can't go on without a PC board so I decided to make one this evening. First I need a piece of Vector Board to lay the board on. The problem lies in the fact that that I don't have any way to get reliable dimensional info and then the 18 pins on the board that connects to the display saying that that means that the two boards have to line up. That is the display board and the new control board that I will have to build. Please keep in mind that both the old Power Supply and Controller boards are headed to the scrap pile for gold reclamation. I cut the part out with a hack saw first lubed with a little WD-40, as the blue board was FR-4 ie fiberglass. To get the final shape I will use my Dremel with an abrasive disk.
The steps I took were not pretty and I will get some boo's (I know this).
- Cut back the shroud on the connector without destroying the connector.
(you can see the hatchet job on the right) - Insert the 18 pins through the Vector board.
- Draw the outline of the Display board with the pins in.
- Draw the outline of one of the other boards on top of the outline in step 3
- Cut Vector board about 1/4" larger all the way around.
- Sand to fit.
- It fits but it sucks.
Oh well, I will have to get a 2D scan and then cut them on a CNC Laser or a CNC Router.
Since I Wire Wrap I will mount the components on the bottom of the board with the legs pointing up. This board will hold the TI CAN IO expander
and a second card will be mounted on the top of the first with stand-offs, with the legs pointed down. This board will hold the Arduino, and support chips.
This should be a self-contained slave with the RS485/RJ45 jacks. I don't know I will have to make a PCB as the Mega 256 is a surface mount part.
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| Steps 2 - 4 | Step 6 | Step 7 |