Stuff you wanted to know but were afraid to ask

Harry Klippton said:
What does it mean on pedalpcb schematics when resistors and capacitors have their opposite ends labeled 1 and 2?
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I use the numbers for reference when tracing a PCB. It makes things much easier when I can look at the schematic and know without a doubt which end of a component a particular trace connects to. 1 = Bottom or Left end of a component, 2 = Top or Right end of a component, depending on whether they are oriented horizontally or vertically. (this is just a mental note that I use, not some set standard that anyone else follows)

They mean nothing as far as the finished PCB is concerned. Sometimes I remove them from the final schematic but it's a bit of a manual process since I can't just "Hide all" because we DO want the pin numbers visible for ICs, potentiometers, transistors, and switches.
 
How do you guys solder your LED legs (On/Off LEDs, not clipping LEDs)? I'm not talking about when they drop in perfectly to the pcb, but when the legs are just dangling there. I see some people heat-shrink each individual leg to the wires. I haven't quite figured that out...
 
benny_profane said:
Ask @jjjimi84 what to do with extra pedals.
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Give them away to someone who will love them, I do this to try and fill up the karma slush fund.
swelchy said:
He's gonna say build a spare room with shelves to store them!
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If it was up to me my basement would be completed and be an entire giant room to record and build and store pedals. I am out of room again and i just put up more shelving.
Harry Klippton said:
I haven't listened to a lot of Zappa but to me it's the musical equivalent of an inside joke that I'm not in on. It seems like, from my uninformed perspective, that at least part of the appeal of his work is the relative complexity, which is a huge turnoff, and there's an undercurrent of comedy or cleverness that I don't appreciate either
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@Harry Klippton just explaining shit in a way i like.
benny_profane said:
Robert Plant could've been replaced with a keyboard and I'd've been fine with that.
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Queue the cat piano, putting that on the list.
UtilityBeltFX said:
How do you guys solder your LED legs (On/Off LEDs, not clipping LEDs)? I'm not talking about when they drop in perfectly to the pcb, but when the legs are just dangling there. I see some people heat-shrink each individual leg to the wires. I haven't quite figured that out...
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I solder a wire as close to the led on the cathode and then bend the anode out a bit and solder it a bit further out. Once i stuff them in a bezel they never touch
 
UtilityBeltFX said:
How do you guys solder your LED legs (On/Off LEDs, not clipping LEDs)? I'm not talking about when they drop in perfectly to the pcb, but when the legs are just dangling there. I see some people heat-shrink each individual leg to the wires. I haven't quite figured that out...
Click to expand...

I strip the wire about an inch and wrap it around the legs a couple times, solder it on, trim the excess lead of the LED, then heat shrink them.

B68FBCE5-FD8A-45C7-8799-5371BD07BA39.jpeg
 
I mount my 5mm LEDs in a chrome bezel. If the LED leads can be more-or-less straight from the board to the bezel, then I omit the plastic LED retainer. If the LED is to be mounted nowhere near the LED pads on the board, then I put the plastic retainer on the LED, then lap-solder flex leads to the LED leads and then put heat shrink over the solder joints for insulation and strain relief. I use different color wires so I don't lose track of the polarity. I use clear heat shrink, first over each wire and then another piece over both wires.

Headphones Amp V2.1 LED closeup.jpg
 
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KR Sound said:
I strip the wire about an inch and wrap it around the legs a couple times, solder it on, trim the excess lead of the LED, then heat shrink them.

View attachment 44856
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That's what I do also but mine look horrible. I haven't found a clean way to splice the CLR to the LED leg. Not as easy as twisting them together as the leads are rather sturdy.
 
andare said:
That's what I do also but mine look horrible. I haven't found a clean way to splice the CLR to the LED leg. Not as easy as twisting them together as the leads are rather sturdy.
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I’ll take some pics of how I do it. I’m out of town now, but can do it this weekend.
 
Robert said:
I use the numbers for reference when tracing a PCB. It makes things much easier when I can look at the schematic and know without a doubt which end of a component a particular trace connects to. 1 = Bottom or Left end of a component, 2 = Top or Right end of a component, depending on whether they are oriented horizontally or vertically. (this is just a mental note that I use, not some set standard that anyone else follows)

They mean nothing as far as the finished PCB is concerned. Sometimes I remove them from the final schematic but it's a bit of a manual process since I can't just "Hide all" because we DO want the pin numbers visible for ICs, potentiometers, transistors, and switches.
Click to expand...
That's actually very useful, you should not delete them from now on, makes our troubleshooting easier when trying to pin point the exact connection in the schematic relative to the board.
 
Chuck D. Bones said:
Ever wonder how they soldered stuff 80 years ago?
This instructional video might seem a bit dated, but the chemical and metallurgical processes are still the same.
Some good safety tips too.
And there are some hot babes.

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Didn't see any babes, still got a semi.
The video also reminded me I gotta get myself a red lab coat like the guy in the Pace videos, with my logo embroidered on the chest pocket of course.
 
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