Rombo Romboard reverse engineering troubleshooting help required

[The Equalizor]

It took an hour to build basically.


Rob

[LambdaMikel]

For those interested I've just made a video showing a time lapse of me making one of these awesome boards :-) These usually take an hour to build.

Great video indeed - I had no idea one can solder these SMD components by hand like that (I always thought it involved using a paste and one of these ovens). Thanks for sharing! 

[The Equalizor]

Oh yeah with the right iron and tip, magnifiers (stereo preferably)  and flux, (never forget the flux, that really, really helps),  its a piece of whatsit. I rarely use hot air to solder smd stuff, just to desolder.


regards


Rob

[CPC_Fan]

Excellent video Rob. Wish I had skills like that.

[The Equalizor]

It's never too late to learn smd soldering though and you don't need a huge outlay.

A hot air station is pretty much essential if you're going to be desoldering a lot of components, but again you can get very good quality stations for less than £300 quid now. I use the Quick 861 and it's great.

If anyone wants any advice about doing smd I'm very happy to help. We can either start a new thread or pm me.

Rob

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

[The Equalizor]

And just to prove you don't need a 400 pound soldering station to do a lot of smd work here is a pic of a board with chips fitted using the 50 quid ts100 iron..

Rob

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

[pelrun]

To be fair the TS100 is a *beast* of an iron that shouldn't be as good as it is (or equivalently, that the low-end Hakko stations have been a rip-off for years.)


For SMD though all you really need is the right tip and plenty of extra flux. Don't get tricked into thinking "fine pins need a fine tip"; the fine conical tips are the *worst* (they don't transfer heat fast enough). Get a chisel or similar tip that gives you an edge not a point (the BC2 tip is the best choice out of the available ts100 tips imho) and things will be so much easier. Especially when you realise you can flood the pins with flux, heat a bunch of pins simultaneously with the tip, and the solder will magically go to the right places.

[Bryce]

Ah, the TS100 with BC2 tip, wouldn't leave the house without it. Never seen one with a see-through case though, mines just a plain black version.

Bryce.

[pelrun]

It's china, you can buy replacement cases in various colours (not the one I want, though  )

[CPC_Fan]

Just wanted to say thank you to Rob for taking the the time and trouble to produce and make the board. It is a great credit to him and is an excellent piece of work.

[||C|-|E||]

And just to prove you don't need a 400 pound soldering station to do a lot of smd work here is a pic of a board with chips fitted using the 50 quid ts100 iron..

Rob

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

I never had one in my hands but surely it looks super-cool. I mean, a soldering iron with OLED screen!

[Bryce]

They're a great little iron actually. Powered from USB it's a bit weak, but if you use the PSU they supply with it then it's perfect.

Bryce.

[pelrun]

Best results are achieved if you run it from 24V. On 12V it's just "okay". 5V is only for people who hate themselves and the thing they're working on

[The Equalizor]

Is this even possible on usb. A ts100 65w iron running on USB 5v? Wouldn't that be like more than 13amps? I'm not an electrical engineer but I can't see one of these irons being run from USB.

Bryce, are you thinking of those actual USB soldering irons that come with an adaptor?

Rob



Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

[Bryce]

The 65W is only possible at 24V, it provides a lot less heat at 12V. I may be thinking of a different iron on USB though, as I have one of those too.

Bryce.

Edit: Just checked the manual: At 12V it is only a 17W iron.

[The Equalizor]

I use mine on an old laptop power supply and that's perfect. 19v@3.16a it really hits the sweet spot. If you guys are good ill post the pic [emoji846]

Rob

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

[The Equalizor]

If you were waiting for a Rombo Redux with a Thru-connector and a Pause button, well the prototype is in and works great! I'll be geting the final boards ordered this week. As per usual PM me if you're interested.


Rob

[LambdaMikel]

If you were waiting for a Rombo Redux with a Thru-connector and a Pause button, well the prototype is in and works great! I'll be geting the final boards ordered this week. As per usual PM me if you're interested.


Rob

I'd like one please. Pm sent.
This is really the missing link in my 464 puzzle.
Now I can connect from RomboRedux Deluxe to LambdaBoard, add M4X boards such as LambdaSpeak, and then DDI3 at the end.
Perfect!