Things I would do differently when I next build a K2

[N5BZ, Bob 'BZ' Zinn]

Have recently put together K2/100 #5884.

I hope this is not too presumptive of me, but I have a few suggestions.
These are things I would do in the future, that I did NOT do this time:

1) I would buy at least 4 different colors of 'nail polish' to use in
color coding those little brown monolytic capacitors (and others) that
'look alike'.
I would sort the 102, 103 and any other groups of capacitors that
'look alike', using a magnifying glass.  As I was separating them, I
would put a distinguishing dot of nail polish on top of the capacitor so
that I could tell, even after the capacitor is installed, even if the
sides can no longer be seen because of other parts being in the way, I
would KNOW which value was which.

2) I would buy colored pencils in the same colors and mark the colors on
the layout drawings in the manual! I would mark the inventory sections
with the appropriate colors also.

3) I would place dots of colored nail polish, on the circuit board, in
the appropriate places.

[Elecraft could make things easier for us by EITHER supplying the nail
polish and pencils or having the colors printed on the board, in the
manual, and putting the colors on the capacitors BEFORE they are mixed
together as the kits are prepared for shipment. (hint to Elecraft, the
colors on the caps would make quality control easier, thus save time,
thus you would make back the money spent putting the colors on the caps).]

4) I would use a small piece of perf board and mount it in a handy vice.
and use it to 'guage' the lead length to 'pre cut' the leads on most
parts 'to length'. I would also use it to make sure the leads were
pre-formed to the proper width. (perhaps Elecraft could include a scrap
of board with each kit that has all the normal hole spacings.)

4a) I would catch and collect each lead as cut, so that I would NOT have
to crawl around later and dig them out of the carpet. Finding hundreds
of small pieces of wire is very difficult. (Hint: stepping on a lead can
lead to some very unpleasant moments). I am NOT sure I will EVER find
them all!

5) I would place and solder one part at a time. The confusing of a
forest of leads can cause one to miss soldering some.

6) I would use a thick glove or a finger cot (available at an office
supply store, used by those who turn a lot of pages) on one hand to
allow me to use a finger to hold the part in place, while soldering,
without burning my finger.

7) I would triple check to make sure everything was correct before
installing each part. It is MUCH easier to get it right-the first time-
than to find a mistake and correct it later.

8) I would take a 10 minute break after each 50 minutes of work and NOT
work late into the night.

9) I would buy the Rework Eliminator and build the 'un-' boards FIRST. I
would install them as I went along, rather than after everything was
completed.

10) I would have the Radio Shack 'desoldering iron' with red rubber bulb
handy and ready. I didn't buy one until after I had built my K2.

11) I would have PLENTY of light. An illuminated magnifier desk lamp
would be a very good idea.

Finally, some things I DID do this time that I highly recommend:
a) I used 63/37 or another composition _eutectic_solder_.
It melts at a lower temperature and 'freezes' fast, without a 'plastic
state'. This prevents 'cold' solder joints. Use a thin gage of solder.

b) I wind a coil of about 100 or 200 grams of solder (a nickel weighs 5
grams, so half a roll or a roll of nickels in weight) around a Phillips
screw driver shaft, rolling it neatly and carefully with many layers of
solder.

I work this roll OFF the shaft and feed solder from the center. I put
the roll in a dental floss container, or in the barrel of an old ball
point pen (the fat, 4 color bic works nicely, remove the ink cartridges,
of course).

I feed the solder out of the writing end of the pen. I can hold the pen
in my mouth and guide the solder to the target while using my hands to
hold the board, part and the soldering iron.

c) A couple of pairs of hemostats are, of course, necessary for putting
tension on the leads of the toroids. With the handle of my diagonal
cutters for a fulcrum, the weight of the hemostats is just about right
for giving the needed tension.

I hope that at least one of these ideas helps someone.

73 de N5bz


--
-bz-    "it is a beautiful day to be alive, isn't it?" [every day]

[hidden email]
http://chemistry.lsu.edu/bz
225-578-5381
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[Rod Ai7NN]

Bob, et.al.

On 1/12/07, Bob 'bz' Zinn <[hidden email]> wrote:
> ...
> 1) I would buy at least 4 different colors of 'nail polish' to use in
> color coding those little brown monolytic capacitors (and others) that
> 'look alike'.
> I would sort the 102, 103 and any other groups of capacitors that
> 'look alike', using a magnifying glass.  As I was separating them, I
> would put a distinguishing dot of nail polish on top of the capacitor so
...
>
> 2) I would buy colored pencils in the same colors and mark the colors on
> the layout drawings in the manual! I would mark the inventory sections
...
>
> 3) I would place dots of colored nail polish, on the circuit board, in
> the appropriate places.
>

IMHO all this taken together could lead to more problems. Consider
what might happen if the wrong color dot was used on the wrong value
part and/or PCB location. Just separate the parts into small
containers, I use those small bathroom Dixie cups, grab the part when
called out, double check it's value. Then, __before__ soldering check
one last time value and placement (It's at this point I check off the
part in the manual). Few steps, lessor chance for error FWIW.

> 4) I would use a small piece of perf board and mount it in a handy vice.
> and use it to 'guage' the lead length to 'pre cut' the leads on most
>

Bending the leads over the shank of a small screwdriver works pretty
well and is a lot faster. I use a tool with a shank DIA of about 1/10"
or so, maybe a little smaller.


> 7) I would triple check to make sure everything was correct before

AGREED, always a good idea. Works with wood project too, measure 3
times, cut once...

..
73, Rod Ai7NN  --single speeding and more to 60--
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[Mike Markowski]

Rod Ai7NN wrote:
> ...Just separate the parts into small
> containers, I use those small bathroom Dixie cups, grab the part when
> called out, double check it's value...

A friend of mine uses egg cartons to avoid more easily toppled cups or
containers.  Oh, he takes the eggs out first.  :)

Mike  ab3ap
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[Don Wilhelm-3]

> -----Original Message-----
>
> AGREED, always a good idea. Works with wood project too, measure 3
> times, cut once...
>
And there was the carpenter who, with a puzzled look stated: "I cut it 3
times already and its still too short" <G>

73,
Don W3FPR
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2:04 PM

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[N2EY]

In a message dated 1/12/07 2:21:46 PM Eastern Standard Time, [hidden email]
writes:


> A friend of mine uses egg cartons to avoid more easily toppled cups or
> containers.  Oh, he takes the eggs out first.  :)
>

I wouldn't use foam cartons, though - static-makers.

73 de Jim, N2EY
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[Ron D'Eau Claire-2]

FB bz!

Do yourself a favor and never clip a lead so it flies loose (into the carpet
or anywhere else). Not only can they get poked into bare feet (or into
animal's stomachs), sooner or later one will find your eye, even around the
glasses in some cases (assuming you wear glasses). I clip leads
single-handedly, but use my index finger to hold the loose end of the lead
against the cutters while it's being clipped so it doesn't go anywhere. Then
I put it in a little tray (jar lid, etc.) in case I need it later for a
ground tie point or jumper. Dump the tray when it's full.

I have found that if one simply bends the leads smoothly to right angles to
the body of resistors, diodes and chokes, they fit right into the holes. No
jig used or needed. When one doesn't fit by doing that, it's normally
mentioned in the text that it needs to have the leads formed to fit.

Be very careful of that Radio Shack desoldering tool! The ones I've seen are
not temperature controlled or grounded! The temperature will easily and
quickly debond any traces the iron is used on. If you use it on the little
round pad on the not-trace side of a board, you'll probably find the round
pad and perhaps the plated-through hole on the iron after desoldering a pad.
There's a very good reason why the spring-loaded solder sucker is
recommended! Of course, a properly grounded and temperature-controlled
desoldering tool is also good, but their price and the ease of using a
less-expensive tool makes them more of a luxury than a necessity.

Very few parts need to be held while they are installed: headers for
shorting blocks and i.c.s for example.  Normally, just spreading the leads
of caps, resistors, etc. where they exit the board holds the part just fine.
The don't need to be spread tightly to parallel with the board either. Just
angled a bit. If spread too much, they can be hard to remove if that ever
becomes necessary.

Not having to hold the part ensures that it will remain still while the
solder cools avoiding cold joints caused by movement.

When the part must be held, such as a relay or i.c., I always "tack-solder"
one or two pins first, while holding the part. Then I double-check the
orientation, etc. before soldering the rest of the pins without touching the
part. When that's done, I go back and reflow the pins I tack-soldered to
ensure they're soldered right.

How do you use hemostats on toroids? For winding, snugging each turn against
the core as I add it has always produced a clean, smooth wind for me.
Remember, it is NOT necessary for no gap at all to show between the winding
and the core. Pulling on the leads IS an easy way to break the wire <G>. I
install them like any other leaded part, being careful not to pull the leads
too tight through the solder pads.

Plenty of light and good vision are important. I prefer binocular magnifiers
that fit on my head. I don't have to bring the work to the magnifier that
way.

Ron AC7AC


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[Mike Short]

An even better method to keep stuff from flying when cutting is to fill the
gap in the wire cutters with
Silicone rubber, and let cure. Then take a razor blade and slice through the
middle to allow the cutters to work again.
When you cut wires, they are retained.

Mike
AI4NS

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[David Cutter]

I advise against bending the wires of axial components against the component
body; this can lead to stress fractures at the joint depending how much
force you use.   I use fine needle nose pliers to hold the component wire
near the body, then bend the wire sharp against the pliers.  It's a small
but easy and consistent way to avoid a stress failure which might take a
while to appear.  Having said this, modern components *may* not be
susceptible to this failure mode: I'm just in the habit these 50 years.

I remember a colleague clipping wires near me and one flew into a power
supply I was working on causing a large flash and bang right under my nose.
A salutary lesson to all.

David
G3UNA


----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron D'Eau Claire" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>; <[hidden email]>
Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2007 12:36 AM
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Things I would do differently when I next build a K2


FB bz!
I have found that if one simply bends the leads smoothly to right angles to
the body of resistors, diodes and chokes, they fit right into the holes. No
jig used or needed. When one doesn't fit by doing that, it's normally
mentioned in the text that it needs to have the leads formed to fit.

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[Geoffrey Mackenzie-Kennedy-2]

I agree with David and use the same method to avoid instant or delayed
stress failure.

73,
Geoff
GM4ESD

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Cutter" <[hidden email]>
To: "Ron D'Eau Claire" <[hidden email]>; <[hidden email]>;
<[hidden email]>
Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2007 7:29 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft]Bending component wires

>I advise against bending the wires of axial components against the
>component body; this can lead to stress fractures at the joint depending
>how much force you use.   I use fine needle nose pliers to hold the
>component wire near the body, then bend the wire sharp against the pliers.
>It's a small but easy and consistent way to avoid a stress failure which
>might take a while to appear.  Having said this, modern components *may*
>not be susceptible to this failure mode: I'm just in the habit these 50
>years.
>
> I remember a colleague clipping wires near me and one flew into a power
> supply I was working on causing a large flash and bang right under my
> nose. A salutary lesson to all.
>
> David
> G3UNA

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[Ron D'Eau Claire-2]

I believe you misunderstood me, David. I was not suggesting that one should
bend "...the wires of axial components against the component Body..."
assuming you meant bending the leads sharply at right angles against the
body.  

I hold the component in my hand and press down on the end of the lead with
my finger until the lead extends away at right angles to the component body,
allowing the lead to form a smooth curve that occurs naturally where it
leaves the body.

All components with leads are designed for that sort of handling without
damage. In my experience, that produces lead spacings that normally drop
right into the pcb holes. I was observing that I have not found it necessary
to use various tools to wrap the lead around in order to get the right
radius bend in the lead where it exits the part body.

I avoid using pliers to make sharper bends, especially right-angle bends in
leads, unless absolutely necessary. Sharp bends, especially a tight,
right-angle bend does stress the lead that can cause the metal to
crystallize at the bend. If such a drastic bend were needed, I'd use pliers
and definitely would not bend the lead against the part body either.  

In general I avoid forming leads with pliers and other tools as much as
possible. Tools like needle-nose pliers provide a huge amount of leverage
and it's very easy to accidentally apply more pressure on the lead than one
intended, damaging the part. With modern epoxy coatings, a good clue is
whether your technique causes cracking of the epoxy around the lead. It
should not. That said, cracking the epoxy around a lead does *not* mean the
part is damaged. On most parts no harm is done: it's just a warning to be
more careful. However, some parts are very tender. The small chokes that a
number of builders have had trouble with are a good example. The very fine
wire used on the choke winding itself is attached to the much larger
component lead just inside the epoxy coating at each end. The leads are very
securely attached to the body of the choke, so it is easy to bend the lead
too sharply when using pliers, cracking the epoxy and breaking the
connection to the fine wire just inside with almost no external clue that
any damage was done. It's all a matter of which way the lead was bent
relative to where the lead connects inside. If the builder is lucky and
happens to bend the lead toward the connection inside, it'll probably
survive. If it's bent the other way the lead will pull the fine wire and
it'll break easily, ruining the part.

Ron AC7AC



-----Original Message-----

I advise against bending the wires of axial components against the component

body; this can lead to stress fractures at the joint depending how much
force you use.   I use fine needle nose pliers to hold the component wire
near the body, then bend the wire sharp against the pliers.  It's a small
but easy and consistent way to avoid a stress failure which might take a
while to appear.  Having said this, modern components *may* not be
susceptible to this failure mode: I'm just in the habit these 50 years.

I remember a colleague clipping wires near me and one flew into a power
supply I was working on causing a large flash and bang right under my nose.
A salutary lesson to all.

David
G3UNA

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