More SMD goodness (hopefully!) *Even more boards added*

[stevie1556]

*****EDIT*****

Loads more boards added, going to get them ordered soon and built up to test. Full list of boards are:
- Boneyard single channel version
- Midnight Haunting (Haunting Mids)
- Juicier Juice (Orange Squeezer)
- Sea Fleas (Deep Blue Delay)
- STD (OCD)
- Swamprat (Wampler Plexitone)
- Unicorn Slaying (Klon)
- Little Chubby (Husky Boy)
- Thunder Buddy (Thunderpuss)
- Fat Boosted (Spackler)
- Faux Paux (Leviathan - Wampler Faux Echo)
- 828 (Demo Tape Fuzz)

*****END OF EDIT*****

I've recently got into the 1590A enclosures after mainly sticking with the 1590B, so I've had a little creative spurt on board designing. These are just my latest ones, and are either here waiting for parts, or I'm waiting for the boards to arrive to test them. I also always try and hide the vias in pads which helps to keep the boards looking neat.

Single channel MB boneyard that's in the extra projects section.



Midnight Haunting (Haunting Mids from etchers paradise).



Juicer Juice (Orange Squeezer).



Sea Fleas (Deep Blue Delay). Has an optional dirt control for oscillation, and pinched the name from another member on here as it's such a good name. Awaiting a couple of parts for it.



STD (OCD). Awaiting a couple of parts for it.



Swampy (Swamprat aka Wampler Plexitone).



Unicorn Slaying (Klon). Never built a Klon before, always wanted to see what the hype was about.



I've got a few others in various states of design as well, and a full build report will be given on each one.

In the meantime, here is some pics of a half built STD and Snitch (Rat) and a completed Lovepedal Plexi which I'll test tomorrow.







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[chuckbuick]

Nice batch of boards.  I like the via-in-pad trick.  I've thought about it but wasn't sure if there would be any problems with fabbing that way.  A lot of time I put the vias between the pads.  I had to make the pads a bit smaller to accommodate them.

Also, I know Smallbear stocks SMD PT2399's.  So you may be able to find those from a supplier near you if interested.

[dont-tase-me-bro]

I've been thinking about getting a hot air setup.  Looks very tempting

[culturejam]

Very cool. 

[stevie1556]

Nice batch of boards.  I like the via-in-pad trick.  I've thought about it but wasn't sure if there would be any problems with fabbing that way.  A lot of time I put the vias between the pads.  I had to make the pads a bit smaller to accommodate them.

Also, I know Smallbear stocks SMD PT2399's.  So you may be able to find those from a supplier near you if interested.

I was a bit worried about that at first as Eagle doesn't let you place a via inside a pad and throws up an error on the error checking tool (I never use that now for that reason). I change layer and create a via near the pad, then when the trace is complete I move the via into the pad, never had an issue with it. However, now I'm using paste stencils, I use a lot less solder on the pads and you can see the vias (I assume it's where solder goes down the via hole). I can always top up the solder afterwards though. Before I started putting the vias in pads I did try to place them between the pads, but I wasn't sure how to edit parts at that time.

I didn't know Smallbear had them! I ordered a bunch from a seller on Aliexpress but couldn't get a delay working, assumed it was the chips, it wasn't though. Once bitten twice shy and all that. I'm ordering some adaptor boards so I can test the SMD versions when I get a working delay, then if it works well it's just a case of changing the PCB slightly.

I've been thinking about getting a hot air setup.  Looks very tempting

It's definitely a lot quicker and easier. I got mine just over 2 years ago on eBay. The one I've got is very similar to the picture below, but my one is the 862+ model so I'm assuming this one is an updated one of mine. I used to use one of those really cheap soldering irons so I decided to get a unit with a soldering iron as well. You can change the temp of the soldering iron, and the temp and air speed of the hot air gun.

Very cool. 

Cheers buddy, fingers crossed they all work first time though!

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[matmosphere]

Snitch is a great name for a Rat clone.

[copachino]

i would be very very interested on buying some of that small stuff

[wgc]

Stevie

These are great, quite a nice run!  Two of my favorite things, smd and 1590a. 👍🏼

FYI you do have to watch the vias in the pads a bit, the hole can make it hard to create even surface tensions between pads during reflow. An imbalance often leads to skewed or tombstoned parts. 

It gets even weirder when the via does/doesn't have soldermask over the top on the other side, goes into another pad, ground planes, stops at an internal layer, etc. 

In production it can cause a lot of havoc (especially when they buy 100k pcb at a time) but for what we're doing here I wouldn't worry too much. Props for creative problem solving.

Also, you can probably use smaller via diameters without issue, and that should help avoid a lot of problems too. Check the design guidelines for the fabber, I think it's something like 13mil at oshpark. 

[stevie1556]

Snitch is a great name for a Rat clone.

Snitches get stitches! Sorry, I've been watching far too many crime documentaries lately.

i would be very very interested on buying some of that small stuff

I'll be putting the spare ones up for sale, don't worry. Just want to check that they fully work first. I've got several others, a couple of boosts, 2 buffers, and a few others already verified though.

Stevie

These are great, quite a nice run!  Two of my favorite things, smd and 1590a. 👍🏼

FYI you do have to watch the vias in the pads a bit, the hole can make it hard to create even surface tensions between pads during reflow. An imbalance often leads to skewed or tombstoned parts. 

It gets even weirder when the via does/doesn't have soldermask over the top on the other side, goes into another pad, ground planes, stops at an internal layer, etc. 

In production it can cause a lot of havoc (especially when they buy 100k pcb at a time) but for what we're doing here I wouldn't worry too much. Props for creative problem solving.

Also, you can probably use smaller via diameters without issue, and that should help avoid a lot of problems too. Check the design guidelines for the fabber, I think it's something like 13mil at oshpark.

Thanks for the advice! I've got my vias set to the lowest that is preset in Eagle, which seems OK, I'll see if I can lower it more though. I've found that, especially on the more complicated boards, vias are a necessary evil and can't be avoided unless you make a board the size of a small car, so it's more for hiding them to make the board look neater.

I've always had an issue with components skewing off of 1 pad, and it happens with or without vias. I'm assuming it's because I use different amounts of solder paste on each pad, and the surface tension is higher on one side then the other, but using a stencil seemed to mostly solve that issue.

I've got 2 guitars on order, when they arrive and are payed off I'm thinking of investing in a reflow oven, so it will be interesting to see if the vias affect the pads then. Reflow ovens seem pretty cheap on eBay at the moment as well.

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[wgc]

Agree on all points. Some of the desktop ovens are pretty nice for the money.  It might help but imho it's really about how much paste flows into the via and how much stays on the pad. A lot of that can vary based on other factors but regardless a good heat profile goes a long way.

[chuckbuick]

You can manually change the drill diameter in the Drill drop down menu when you open the Vias tool.  Just highlight the existing size and enter the size you need.  I usually use .0156" and leave the Diameter set to Auto which gives me a pad diameter of .0296".

As far as them being a necessary evil I say they are your friends.  If you can do an SMD layout without vias then you essentially have an etchable, single-sided layout.  For some reason some people seem to think they are bad things.  I started out doing SMD designs.  When I started doing through hole layouts it occurred to me that every pin is a via.  If you do an SMD layout that uses 40 of the usual stompbox components and have to use 10 or so vias, the guy doing the same circuit in thru hole is starting with at least 80.  But realistically more when you consider some will be multi-pin tranny's and IC's.

Having said that I take a lot of time with placement of parts and routing to avoid them.  But that is purely for aesthetic reasons.  If I can't avoid using vias I don't feel like the layout is compromised.

End of via rant.

[EBRAddict]

Having said that I take a lot of time with placement of parts and routing to avoid them.  But that is purely for aesthetic reasons.  If I can't avoid using vias I don't feel like the layout is compromised.

At audio signal frequencies and voltages I'm not sure why it's a concern, either.

[stevie1556]

Agree on all points. Some of the desktop ovens are pretty nice for the money.  It might help but imho it's really about how much paste flows into the via and how much stays on the pad. A lot of that can vary based on other factors but regardless a good heat profile goes a long way.

TBH, the main reason that I want a reflow oven is because it's another gadget for me to play with, and not really anything to do with trying to solder the boards better. I'm just a big kid when it comes to getting new toys!

You can manually change the drill diameter in the Drill drop down menu when you open the Vias tool.  Just highlight the existing size and enter the size you need.  I usually use .0156" and leave the Diameter set to Auto which gives me a pad diameter of .0296".

As far as them being a necessary evil I say they are your friends.  If you can do an SMD layout without vias then you essentially have an etchable, single-sided layout.  For some reason some people seem to think they are bad things.  I started out doing SMD designs.  When I started doing through hole layouts it occurred to me that every pin is a via.  If you do an SMD layout that uses 40 of the usual stompbox components and have to use 10 or so vias, the guy doing the same circuit in thru hole is starting with at least 80.  But realistically more when you consider some will be multi-pin tranny's and IC's.

Having said that I take a lot of time with placement of parts and routing to avoid them.  But that is purely for aesthetic reasons.  If I can't avoid using vias I don't feel like the layout is compromised.

End of via rant.

I wasn't saying vias are bad, quite the opposite really. When I first starting trying SMD I read that vias are a necessary evil, and that's just how I've always referred to them in my head. I googled 0.0156" and it works out at 0.39mm, and I use 0.5mm for my vias, so I'll try a smaller size on the next board design.

I've always had the same outlook as you in the fact that the TH boards always use lots of vias, which I think inherently makes the parts easier to place up to a certain extent. I used to try and avoid vias when i first started, purely for looks reasons, but when I found I can hide them in pads, I started to use them a lot more

[stevie1556]

I've had a bit of time on my hands tonight, and did all 3 boosts from EP in SMD. I'll probably send them off to be made next week as it also means ordering extra SMD parts that I don't currently have.

Quite looking forward to trying these as I do enjoy using a good boost. I may try the Leviathan at some point this week, it will be a challenge but I think I have a work around for the sizing issue.

Little Chubby - Husky Boy



Thunder Buddy (from Ted) - Thunderpuss



Fat Boosted - Spackler



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[alanp]

I suspect that via's being bad dates back to when fabbed PCBs were expensive, and fabbed PCBs with reliably plated through holes were even MORE spendy. (This is two or three decades ago!)