@joey120373: Hi, Joey... this is not the cheapest project but surely it is not $ 350. Me and my friend combined a bom because it's beter to buy parts for couple of stations than only for one. I'm posting here our BOM... parts in red fill you do not need. [attachment=0] You can look at some of the links and choose if the prices are good for you...also if you have an electronics shop near you you can try asking if they can deliver you some of the parts - we ended up buying 5 or 6 components that were too expensive to order on-line and this way they came to cost pennies. For example for all the zenners but in minimelf we payed 0.70 cents in a local shop as to 3$ from on-line order.
In total we payed 220 Eur for the parts + around 20$ for the boards(this is plus minus 5$ for the post or something like that). My friend bought T245 handle for around 70 $ + 30 $ or Eur for the tip, I bought a t12 iron(it came whit 2 tips) from china for 15$ + 15$ for 5 more tips. We still do not have the controllers in boxes but I will not, nor my friend, paying 70 $ for a soldering station just to use its enclosure. I plan on making one my self because there are not many whit the right size for our boards... so some day when I have it done will post pictures - but still have not cleared it in my head enough to start making it. My friend ended up ordering the same iron and tips as I have when he discovered that those work just fine - for his stile of work - and cost a fraction of the JBC ones... well for the price of one JBC tip he ordered a t12 iron whit cable and 7 tips. Sure the JBC is of an exceptional manufacturing quality!
@progrock: Actually I have documented exact steps to program the chip somewhere between pages 63 to 69... well it is for windows but I think the MPLAB will work the same way on linux... and thanx to that exact list of steps I've been able to program my second controller almost an year later and not remembering anything from my previous attempt(first time programming a chip buy the way). There are some specifics solely to Pickit3 when the device could not be found by the programmer - they are covered here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqYY_nOIn5c I have published this link here already a year ago... wow, time flies :D The important thing is to power the chip from the station - not the programmer...sparkybg mentioned why but now I can't remember exactly.
Cheers and Good luck
Edit: Found it at page 63... you may want to check it for the full discussion...
Test 2: 1. Connecting Pickit3 to PC and to 5 pin header on front board, 2.Powering the "soldering station" - I have the Iron connected but no heater in it. 3. Opening MPLab, and selecting programmer to Pickit3 - it has connected and found the chip, loaded correct firmware for pic32mx. 4. I chose "Import..." and browsed(UniSolder52_SoftwarefrontUS_BootLoader.XdistPIC32production) to the "US_BootLoader.X.production.hex" and select "OPEN" 5. I select "Program" - it goes very fast true: " Programming... Programming/Verify complete" - And I IMIDEATELY have wiggling lines on the screen. Now I will try to flash it true PC: 1. I remove Pickit3 from the board - not sure if I have to switch it off, but previously I did not and got nothing so now I will switch the board off. 2 Connecting USB cable to "Soldering station" - I use the cable of the programmer. 3. Open software - "UniSolder.exe" (UniSolder52_SoftwarePCUniSolderbinReleaseUniSolder.exe) 4. Switch the station on - I have wiggling lines on screen, no sounds, nothing on software or on the PC indicates that I have switched something 5. I press "Update firmware" and browse (UniSolder52_SoftwarefrontUS_Firmware.XdistPIC32_with_bootloaderproduction) to the "US_Firmware.X.production.hex" - I press "Open" - after 5-7 seconds I heard beep and now the station looks fine - it shows my iron and "Heater open" as it should. So the only difference from my previous attempt was that I shut the station down this time. But still after flashing "bootloader" I had dose lines!
@hotdoc: Hi, I just want to repost some of my pictures of my almost populated board so you can see witch components you do not need... in your case Q17 and Q20 are not needed! [attachment=1]
and same picture without markings [attachment=0]
Note that some of the components were not populated because I did not had them at time the picture is taken. Also I would suggest using ESD strap and heat sink for handling and soldering of the IC's and FETs ... last week I finished my second unisolder and both have started without major hiccups from first boot! It may be due to my handling of all components with elevated care to ESD protection and also using a small heat sink on top of IC's wile soldering them.
For me 0,96in OLED is totally enough - sparkybg made the temp number quite large so it is fine for its purpose. biggest issue is that you cant find it easy enough.
@progrock: You can start reading at page say 60. At page 63 I've posted some pictures with some explanations on what you do not need to solder. Note on front board some parts I have not yet mounted U10,the USB, the buttons, sockets, programing header and the display...everything else is mounted - if I remember correctly.
I would not change parts with a light hand, as it would be difficult to help you if something is wrong after the assembly!
@NECHTO : "And once again a stupid question! With what to connect the contact "earth" ...?"
Please, consider rereading some of my questions to sparkybg and his answers, before making any connections. I have already asked him about earth... it is somewhere between page 60 and 70... in short i left it unconnected at the board side.
[quote author="ScotY808"] In the meantime, do you have any tips for soldering the OLED? Is it best to tin the PCB first, apply flux? to OLED connector, then heat it up to join them?[/quote]
Well, I totally messed up the first time - I soldered it backwards, even when I was checking 3-4 times to be correct way then I had a soldering bridge under the cable so I don't know if my way was correct. I will try to find the video I used to learn and will post it here.
First i tried like in first video, then I saw my mistake and had to desolder the OLED, then there was solder on the pins and I made it like in second video but I had solder bridges...maybe if it is made with les solder on the pins... but how I would know how much is enough... But now I know an easy way to fix solder bridges under the cable :D With a hot Iron at soldering temp. use a narrow tip and glide it between the pins with pressure(but not much) till the bridge is gone. The bridge will be visible true the transparent cable!
Look very carefully every pin of U5, and make sure you see it as a single unit - no residues, no noting touching it and adjacent pins! They are small and easily overlooked.
I edited my previous post wile you were writing so read the part about schematics.
Edit: I can not see very well those pins(marked red) - can you recheck them if they are not touching anything else? [attachment=0]
@ScotY808: Can you make a better picture of the zone around U5? Maybe a closeup of every row of pins of U5. And look again every IC for shorts. Schematics become easy to read when you understand how they are written. Every red label is a line coming or going to corespondent red label. every 3.3V label is a 3.3v line coming. and if you look at oscillator schematic you see OSC1, OSC2 and GND labels. Now GND I suppose you understand where it goes, and if you try to find where the OSC lines go, you will find them at pins 40 and 39 respectively at U5. If you see the same red label in any part of a schematic it means it is connected to that same line... Hope you understand! Reading a schematic is a major knowledge used all the time in electronics.
@GuruMeditation: On page 63 there is a BOM file in my post. See if it help you for some details - on every element I ordered there's a link to the seller. Most parts are from Comet/Farnell and TME. Mouser wanted too much for delivery of 5 components so we discarded it as a supplier.
@ScotY808: You did not wait for Sparky to answer your questions! Remember that there is a time difference of around 7 hours between USA and Bulgaria!
I remember something Sparky mentioning that OLED board should be connected - I don't remember what it was exactly but remember saying to myself I must wait for the oled to power it. Patience is not my virtue also when it comes to this kind of things :D
Check again your board for shorts and for contact - almost all capacitors should sound continuity between one of their side and GND, but NOT sound on both sides. For those not beeping at all on GND find the nearest component they connect to and check them - you should not hear a beep on both sides of a cap for too long time. Then you check your resistors - It should show resistance but it should not beep on his sides if its resistance is greater than the threshold of the multimeter for beeping continuity - that is how I found a shorted resistor on my board - then following the line found a short on OLED's cable. You should spend as much time as you need to check all you components at least once.
And I just want to say - this was my experience with this fun project, I'm a newbee at electronics and for that always take my words with a grain of salt - it is very possible I'm wrong!
Edit: Post some pictures of the boards+ back side of the front board. Cheers
@sparkybg: Ahaa, I did not see one when I have opened the plug on the T245 so this option never came in mind.
I have a question... When I was programming my controller I used the unisolder.exe in the UniSolder52_SoftwarePCUniSolderbinRelease folder and it worked. Also I don't have Visual studio installed on my PC only the .net platform installed a long time ago. Also when I had the controller already flashed and connected to PC - unisolder.exe showed everything I supposed it should show...all the lines going up, down when heating and so on. Is it any particular reason to install visual studio and go the way you described instead of continue using Unisolder.exe form folder UniSolder52_SoftwarePCUniSolderbinRelease ?
[quote author="puzzle"]@Toporkoff: My guess - it is the way to identify which iron is in the socket. [/quote]
Your guess is wrong. :) The controller is doing instrument identification only reading the resistance of two resistors in the connector.[/quote][/quote]
That sentence was meant for the JBC's controller since there is an extra connection to the plugs on the drawing, but anyway... I'll learn when it's good to not interfere - sorry!
@ScotY808:
My controller is still without a box my friend uses it as is, boards and cables, and all :D The prices are incredibly high for a box and I'm thinking of buying a sheet of Plexiglas and building one myself. I don't think it will be a problem to extend the connection of the display a little bit but I don't understand why you would need that - the front board would be mounted to one of the sides. Or you have something else in mind?
I did not want to draw over the pictures but since it is needed, here they are (unedited pics are on page 63). Those are my connections: [attachment=3] C21 and R21 are bridged when soldered - it is OK, they have to be connected.
[attachment=2]
[attachment=1] I have soldered R29 - I did not see written it is not needed but I guess it is not critical if it is placed or not
[attachment=0]
Hope it helps all newbees like me...
Sparky may comment if my drawings are correct but my station works so I think it is OK. Cheers
