Tech Edge DIY W/B controlers?

[Noddie]

just wondering if anyone on here has baught and made up one of these kits?
how hard are they to do? they are a hell of a lot cheaper than buying one ready made i think, im tempted, but i dont really have all that much PCB kit know how.
looks like i could get my WB sensor going for about £65 this way (including the wire and plug) but it would be over double that if i got a pre made controler.

here's a link to the thing: http://wbo2.com/2y/default.htm

 

[ronin_kid]

i've never built that kit, or anything like it, but i am considering it as a viable option to the vems unit i have my eye on.. my plan was to hone my skills on stuff like the maplins electronics kits before attempting something on this scale - but if your not confident doing it yourself then there should be people out there selling them on ready-built - try e-mailing the tech-edge guys... and dont forget to add international shipping and import duty to your final price..

on a side note - what is it with the Australians and DIY electronics.?. Peter at ECUTalk developed his own consult display, Matt at NIStune develops and builds daughterboards for nissan ecu's, and the guys at Tech Edge do wide-band o2 kits - there must be something in the water over there lol

 

[Retepetsir]

That's not a good thing to build as your first/one of your first tries! I think you'd be better off buying it pre-built...

 

[SammoHung]

Agree,

this will be fine as a DIY...but I would get some serious DIY practice in first


SAMMO's SOLDERING TIPS.

-a VERY hot iron (avoid cheep crap)
-keep grubby hands off teh board and components
-iron tip & shape small but large enough to heat up the COMPONENT LEG and the BOARD PAD...AT THE SAME TIME
-heat thease up QUICKLY...and GET SOLDER IN QUICK (have the solder touching ready so -that as soon as its hot enough the solder will flow)
-as soon as the solder has flowed around teh leg and pad..GET THE IRON OFF and the solder wire OUT
-keep the component and board still untill for 5 seconds (ish) untill the solder is DEFINATELY mechanically hard...
MAXIMUM of 3 seconds worth of heat to do each solder joint (iron on to iron off)..otherwise semicondictor components might become toast

Job done

 

[Retepetsir]

Not for a beginner though, the chips would be tricky.

 

[SammoHung]

Not for a beginner though, the chips would be tricky.

indeed!!! totaly agree

too much heat = bye bye working chips!!..LOL

go practice on some VEROBOARD and tined-copper-wire...untill youre a dab hand..then go for it

 

[Retepetsir]

Or just buy it premade if you need a wideband unit...

 

[Noddie]

Thanks for the info guys,
apart from over-heating the components, is there anything else that i could do wrong?
i have done a fair bit of soldering, not that much on PCBs, more wires together and stuff like that
do you still use flux when working on a pcb?

if i took my time and made sure i didnt leave the iron in contact with the components for more than 3 seconds would i not be ok?
when you say 3 seconds, do you mean 3 seconds in total, or, if it doesnt work can i leave it to cool down again and try again for 3 seconds till i get a good flow of solder?

 

[SammoHung]

apart from over-heating the components, is there anything else that i could do wrong?

yes, to heavy handedness can snap components
some components need to be protected from the discharge of static electricity from your body or tools (big subject...google it or wiki it for precautions

do you still use flux when working on a pcb?

electrical solder nearly always has flux pre mixed with the solder...often "multicore" flux..so you just feed in teh ssolder wire

if i took my time and made sure i didnt leave the iron in contact with the components for more than 3 seconds would i not be ok?

should be fine

when you say 3 seconds, do you mean 3 seconds in total, or, if it doesnt work can i leave it to cool down again and try again for 3 seconds till i get a good flow of solder?

you can let it cool and try again....but too many temperature cycles like this can knacker the components too