PCB Blogs

Ninja reflow: Part 2: Reverse engineering the PCB - mains powered

Fred27 — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 18:03:23 GMT

So, after deciding that I would update a Ninja SP101 oven / air fryer to act as a reflow oven, the first step was to reverse engineer the PCB. I needed to know what pine I had to toggle to turn on the elements and what I had to read to get a temperat...(read more)

Ninja reflow: Part 1: Reprogramming an air fryer for reflow soldering

Fred27 — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 16:35:13 GMT

As was browsing EEVBlog a while ago... (I know. It's great here, but I sometimes like go look elsewhere too.) Anyway, I was browsing EEVBlog and came across an interesting post where someone had taken a Ninja SP101 domestic air fryer / pizza oven and...(read more)

KiCad 10: Saving RAM! Pruning Libraries

shabaz — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 18:29:21 GMT

Table of Contents Introduction How are Libraries Stored? Pruning Strategy Source Code Using the Code Summary Introduction KiCad 10, the PCB design software, has finally been released, and I've started getting up to speed with it. One thing I...(read more)

KiCad Quick Tutorial: Creating Component Footprints with the help of a Wizard

shabaz — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 01:20:43 GMT

Table of Contents Introduction Getting Started Create a Footprint Library and select 'Create Footprint' Footprint Generator Wizard Deleting Items Check Pads Numbering Direction Draw Silkscreen and Courtyard Outlines Keepout Rule Areas Footp...(read more)

KiCad Quick Tutorial: Creating Component Symbols

shabaz — Sat, 28 Jun 2025 20:55:46 GMT

Table of Contents Getting Started Create a Symbol Library and New Symbol Create Pins, Slow method and Fast method Rearrange Pins Check your Work Drawing a Box and Symbol Properties Consider Symbol Usability Check my Work Video Summary Ever ...(read more)

Raspberry Pi RP2350 based PCB design

embeddedguy — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 08:16:17 GMT

Sometimes back, I was designing a PCB based on RP2350 and now I received the finished PCB. So this post is about the experience that I would like to share about my PCB design. Firstly, the original plan of creating this PCB was to create RP2350 based...(read more)

Creating a Flexible PCB!

shabaz — Sat, 17 May 2025 15:56:02 GMT

Recently, I've decided to give flexible PCBs a go, using the prototype service available from typical PCB manufacturers. I had my reasons, in particular, it's a great time-saver, because I don't enjoy creating custom cables for off-board...(read more)

Flexible Electronics Soldering Challenges: Conductive Epoxy to The Rescue

abeltran — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 21:16:23 GMT

The recent years have witnessed a tremendous transformation in electronics, from rigid forms to flexible, soft, and stretchable forms. These technological advancements will allow future electronics to be light and adaptive to the human body. In the q...(read more)

KiCAD 8: RX23E-B kit - LCD schematic (and using a bus)

Jan Cumps — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 17:19:01 GMT

I'm building a PCB for Renesas' RX23E-B microcontroller. In this post: the LCD pins. I'm also using a KiCAD bus for the first time since V4. It changed a lot. The crossed-out resistors are "do not populate". These LCD signals use the same pin a...(read more)

KiCAD 8: RX23E-B kit - serial comms schematic

Jan Cumps — Sat, 02 Nov 2024 10:22:17 GMT

I'm building a PCB for Renesas' RX23E-B microcontroller. In this post: the UART / serial communications design I've taken over the design of the Renesas Solution Starter Kit for RX23E-B, without the FTDI serial-to-USB. I'm not sure...(read more)

KiCAD 8: RX23E-B kit - clock, debug and reset schematic

Jan Cumps — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 19:36:26 GMT

I'm building a PCB for Renesas' RX23E-B microcontroller. In this post, I experiment with breaking the microcontroller schematic symbol into functional units. And I created some custom symbols and footprints. Schematics I'm interested to hear what yo...(read more)

KiCAD 8: create symbol for Rohm complementary MOSFET pair US6M2

Jan Cumps — Sat, 14 Sep 2024 19:17:50 GMT

Rohm's US6M2 is an IC with 2 complementary MOSFETs on a single chip. With gate-source protection diodes. I'm using them in a design, but KiCAD doesn't have a symbol for this IC. It has a number of complementary MOSFET ...(read more)

Flux for soldering Zinc or Aluminum wires

SweRavn — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 16:16:34 GMT

Hi all, I have been struggling hard to find reasonable and comprehensible information on how to solder aluminum or zinc wire to a PCB. There are many texts online but all of the just say something in line with "make sure to use a flux that is su...(read more)

Repairing & Avoiding Electronic Faults with Thermal Paste

abeltran — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 04:50:51 GMT

Thermal grease, also known as thermal paste or thermal compound, is a substance used to improve the thermal conductivity between two surfaces, typically between a microprocessor and a heat sink. The purpose of thermal grease is to fill in the microsc...(read more)

Preventing PCB Misprints with Optimized Stencil Cleaning Process

abeltran — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 22:12:47 GMT

The consumer demand for compact, miniaturized, and smart electronic devices is making electronics manufacturers use the smallest available packaging footprints. As a result, Printed Circuit Board Assemblies (PCBAs) have become denser and more sophist...(read more)