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Gertboard - The Element14 strikes back

e14 Contributor

Oh dear. It seems that If I "Fluke PiStalker" want to obtain a Deathstar beating Gertboard from the Element14 Empire. I have to pay £30 quid and then go all "Hands Solo" from "Solder Wars" fame. (if the farce is with my at the time) Thats a big shame really cos I would have paid £40 willinging for one assemmbled by "R2D2" or some other Solder super Driod.

 

It looks then as if I will have to go remain Fluke PiStalker and wait for a Droid to build me one.

 

Come on Gert please chase the powers that be to get some assembled versions on the go for poor old guys like me whose idea or circuit assemmbly was screwing and fixing a couple of bits a BakerLite together 60 years ago. image

 

Seriously Gert a fantastic job great to see them in the wild but we cant all solder however easy it is, Take Pity Darth Gert and sort it for us.

 

That tale was NOT bought to you by any members of any film companies on the planet Earth. image

 

Just to keep the balls and games rolling ahead is my target.

 

Ray

Parents

  • 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

  • in reply to e14 Contributor

    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. image

     

    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. image

     

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

  • in reply to e14 Contributor

    Awesome!  If you make a mistake, this thread should be useful: Re: De-solder Braid.  I prefer braid to desoldering pump but never realized before reading the post that adding flux would make it even easier.

Reply Children
  • in reply to fustini

    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.

  • in reply to Problemchild

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

  • in reply to Problemchild

    John

    I once purchased a 'Phillips' solder sucker.

    Shorter than others, really good tip, that doesn't fall out, and works better than any other sucker I've found since.

     

    Another at work agrees and we both wish we could find a source to get some more.

     

     

    Mark

  • in reply to mcb1

    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 ...

  • in reply to Problemchild

    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.

  • in reply to morgaine

    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 image

  • in reply to Problemchild

    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.

  • in reply to morgaine

    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

  • in reply to mcb1

    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 image

     

    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'.

  • in reply to e14 Contributor

    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