Manual technical typos, design suggestions, etc.
Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:00 pm
Let me start by saying the quality of the kit you guys sent out puts even the 'giants' like Makerbot Industries to shame. I will pay you to send me an updated manual (after all the bugs are flushed out) so I can keep it in my bookshelf. Current manual version 1.3.0, May 2013
That said, I'm on day 3 of the build and here's all the fixes, notes, etc: (I've sent the first two days worth via kickstarter messages, since I haven't gotten a reply from you yet I figured you prefer this info here)
Missing parts: My kit had 3 of the 4n25 Optocouple’s and was missing the 2x UCC3732x Gate driver ICs. I was also missing the fan connector for the motherboard. The bolt and nut included with the 7805 for the Interrupter were not the same size.
PCB: I had 3 holes closed off with tin plating on arrival. Who fabbed your PCBs?
R6 in the manual and on the circuit board is labeled as 470Ohm, but the parts kit has a 560Ohm (by process of elimination). I see it’s for an LED so I see that it's a fine substitution, other people might not.
C4’s pin spacing doesn't match the PCB, trivial but a bit of an annoyance.
Page 25, Step 4: “C2, C3, and C5 through C16. Note that these are ALL electrolytic and polarity matters†Only C5-C7, 15, 16 are polarized caps, the rest are ceramic.
Page 24-27: I don't see steps to solder the tank capacitor to the board nor do i see a step to solder the fan connector. Also, my kit was missing the fan connector.
Page 28: Isolation Xfmer You don't specify whether or not the two wires we mark come from the same bundle (same side of the transformer).
Page 30: Interrupter: You don't have a step to solder in D1, the diode behind the Midi jack. You also don't have a step to solder the LED.
Page 33: "The light should not turn on ... when switch in MIDI position" This was not true for my kit, it's on either way. I scoped the optical transmitter and verified a pulse train when in 'Fixed' mode and no pulse when in MIDI mode and no MIDI source.
Also, my LED in the Interrupter kit was DOA, tested before assembly with LED tester.
Design notes:
Using solid pads instead of thermal pads on your ground plane made soldering those connections fairly brutal. I wouldn't be surprised if you started to see a trend with your customers complaining about intermittent issues because of cold solder joints on those connections. Experienced people will catch it; new ones may not realize how much extra time has to go into making those connections.
Not mechanically securing the IGBT heatsink the the PCB is making me really nervous. I plan to use the coil in my Science 'Road Show' and it will see rough handling and bumpy hour long trips in my trailer on a weekly basis.
That's it so far, I'll update here as I go deeper down the rabbit hole. Hurry up and get us those toroids, I'm in the middle of teaching a summer STEM camp with 20 local teachers, 200 students that would love to see this running.
That said, I'm on day 3 of the build and here's all the fixes, notes, etc: (I've sent the first two days worth via kickstarter messages, since I haven't gotten a reply from you yet I figured you prefer this info here)
Missing parts: My kit had 3 of the 4n25 Optocouple’s and was missing the 2x UCC3732x Gate driver ICs. I was also missing the fan connector for the motherboard. The bolt and nut included with the 7805 for the Interrupter were not the same size.
PCB: I had 3 holes closed off with tin plating on arrival. Who fabbed your PCBs?
R6 in the manual and on the circuit board is labeled as 470Ohm, but the parts kit has a 560Ohm (by process of elimination). I see it’s for an LED so I see that it's a fine substitution, other people might not.
C4’s pin spacing doesn't match the PCB, trivial but a bit of an annoyance.
Page 25, Step 4: “C2, C3, and C5 through C16. Note that these are ALL electrolytic and polarity matters†Only C5-C7, 15, 16 are polarized caps, the rest are ceramic.
Page 24-27: I don't see steps to solder the tank capacitor to the board nor do i see a step to solder the fan connector. Also, my kit was missing the fan connector.
Page 28: Isolation Xfmer You don't specify whether or not the two wires we mark come from the same bundle (same side of the transformer).
Page 30: Interrupter: You don't have a step to solder in D1, the diode behind the Midi jack. You also don't have a step to solder the LED.
Page 33: "The light should not turn on ... when switch in MIDI position" This was not true for my kit, it's on either way. I scoped the optical transmitter and verified a pulse train when in 'Fixed' mode and no pulse when in MIDI mode and no MIDI source.
Also, my LED in the Interrupter kit was DOA, tested before assembly with LED tester.
Design notes:
Using solid pads instead of thermal pads on your ground plane made soldering those connections fairly brutal. I wouldn't be surprised if you started to see a trend with your customers complaining about intermittent issues because of cold solder joints on those connections. Experienced people will catch it; new ones may not realize how much extra time has to go into making those connections.
Not mechanically securing the IGBT heatsink the the PCB is making me really nervous. I plan to use the coil in my Science 'Road Show' and it will see rough handling and bumpy hour long trips in my trailer on a weekly basis.
That's it so far, I'll update here as I go deeper down the rabbit hole. Hurry up and get us those toroids, I'm in the middle of teaching a summer STEM camp with 20 local teachers, 200 students that would love to see this running.