Gertboard - The Element14 strikes back

Hello All!

Count me in on the Gert Board. I've purchased one this morning and I've downloaded the comicbook that has the solder lessons. I'm going to give it a go. Sorry to sound so basic - but I find all of the info, projects, lessons, questions and products a blast.

Best,

Peg

Good luck Peg. Hope you have great fun.

OK im Sold-ered. I always believed I am a terrible wielder of the soldering iron. But I have never really given myself a fair test. A few emergency repairs with big blobs of solder is all I have achieved until now. I have done many Arduino projects but always managed to find a way to connect stuff with non perm. connectors,adapters, couplers whatever just to avoid the dreaded iron.

I would like a Gertboard and even though Steve Read kindly offered his services I have decided to bite the bullet and go Hands Soloder.

I have a good iron and a couple of Maplin bot kits I bought about a year ago (EOL 99p each), I shall tackle those first as a trial. They have a couple of motors a pic socket and a few transistors and resistors etc. If either of them works after my efforts I will order a Gertboard and go for it.

So wish me luck. I type this with 10 unburnt hand digits at this time and these hands were born when WW2 rationing was still on. So I am quite fond of them.

Who knows maybe I'll surprise myself and be a solder Da Vinci. haha. Night all.

Although I have a number of those spring-loaded pump-action suckers, I've never liked that one-shot mode of operation, and have long wished for some kind of continuous suction device.  I guess I could try jury-rigging a vacuum pump with some kind of chamber and filter to prevent solder reaching the pump ...

John Alexander wrote:

 

But you are right the braid is better than the cheap piston suckers ....grr

I'd actually disagree with that. At least once you move on from single sided boards that don't have through hole plating. Even the really cheap piston suckers work much better than braid on plated holes.

Nothing much beats a proper vacuum one though, but even so with SMT parts being the norm mine doesn't get a lot of use.

Morgaine Dinova wrote:

 

Although I have a number of those spring-loaded pump-action suckers, I've never liked that one-shot mode of operation, and have long wished for some kind of continuous suction device. 

Go buy one. You won't regret it. Although the bill for a decent one can be a bit eye watering

John Alexander wrote:

 

BTW drew CPC sell some pistol griped desolder tools which although not as good as the several 100£ units are only £50 ish. They truely kick the *** of Solder braid.

Someone on here asked about one of those cheap duratool ones that both farnell and CPC sell a few months back.  Seems that he hadn't had it very long and the heating element had failed. No spares available and farnell at least had ceased to stock the one he had.

There's something to be said for getting slightly better branded tools, or ideally the same ones the industry uses. I can still get all the spares for my old weller iron 25+ years on.

Morgaine

Funnily enough there are various models, with various performance.

One of the best ones was a Denon Instruments (I had a 5000, but the models have moved on) like this http://uk.farnell.com/denon-instruments/sc7000z/desoldering-gun-esd-uk-plug/dp/956880

The advantage was that the motor was in the handle, which imparted vibration onto the component lead, thereby loosening it and removing solder around it.

The longer and thinner hot end was easier to get into tight areas, unlike most stations I've seen.

We have a number of PACE and other types of station at work, and the heat from the accumulated solder in the tube is noticable after 30-40 holes.

They also don't have the same suction, but if kept clean and filters replaced, will work.

I do note there are similar types/copies of the Denon available on ebay, but whether you can get parts in several years may be an issue, so buy a few tips, an element and the filters while you can.

Mark

Mark Beckett wrote:

 

I do note there are similar types/copies of the Denon available on ebay, but whether you can get parts in several years may be an issue, so buy a few tips, an element and the filters while you can.

lol... so the farnell price of that sc7000z is 447 GBP, same one on ebay is 715 ! 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DENON-INSTRUMENTS-SC7000Z-DESOLDERING-GUN-STATIC-DISSIP-/350750236538

the painful part though is that a spare tip for it from farnell is 50 quid

So you're absolutely right, get spares while you can, but also factor the cost of spares plus any consumables into your decision

Somewhat OT, but I've mostly scored ebay off the list as a place to look for anything. In recent years it's changed a lot, a much higher percentage of sellers are businesses, lots of stuff is buy-it-now only and usually is more expensive for a 'bargain'.

Now, there's the thing. You do find lots of companies selling specialist things on eBay for ridiculous prices. If you were in the market for that solder sucker you'd know what the Farnell & RS price was, so why would you ever buy it at an inflated price? Only an expert (or aspiring expert) would buy this and they would know the normal supply chain.

I'm seeing so much of this now, I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't some bizarre money-laundering technique.

Jon

You're both right

I noted that sometimes the price is soooo much more than larger retailers.

Funnily enough its cheaper here and Australia (based on current exchange rates), which is not normal.

You also need to watch the E14 site, as often the same item has two prices, and the difference can be quite a bit.

Tips are not cheap, but some of the PACE stuff is equally eyewatering, and as long as you keep the temperature right they last a long time.

Don't be tempted to use drills to clean out the tips, they invariably go sideways ....

The older Denon model used a glass tube very similar to the smd kit, and you didn't need to buy expensive filters, just a good cleanout.

I just need to find some data on the pcb for a SC5000. One resistor got cooked and went open circuit.

Otherwise I might need to invest in new one ... hence the looking lately.

Mark

edit ...found this site but the price with VAT is not much different. http://www.toolshelf.co.uk/Products.asp?MC=4&SC=13

Mark

Thanks for your advice folks.  Regrettably, I can't justify that kind of money for something I would use so rarely.  It's more cost effective to snip off the device legs, remove the remaining pieces one at a time, and buy a new device!

depends on the reason why you need to remove something I suppose.. I've desoldered a fair number of devices where it's definitely not cheaper to buy a new one, and in all sorts of cases you end up not wanting to damage either part. Doesn't always work though

To be fair, I do think the plunger type tools are very good for what they are and can be surprisingly effective when you learn the knack of how.

depends on the reason why you need to remove something I suppose.. I've desoldered a fair number of devices where it's definitely not cheaper to buy a new one, and in all sorts of cases you end up not wanting to damage either part. Doesn't always work though

To be fair, I do think the plunger type tools are very good for what they are and can be surprisingly effective when you learn the knack of how.