***Official Electronics Thread of Officialness (it starts off with lots of Nixie Tube Clock goodness

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I'd forgotten about it too.

Thanks. :) The whole point of doing it on a spare bit of wood was to be a total mess. It still works and still sits under our bedroom TV ready for switching over action. :D


Here's my latest creation, much neater but still has that home made and inept at electronics look about it. ;)

P1050281.jpg


A circuit to convert motherboard PWM into a more or less linear DC voltage. The version shown is for a couple of Gelid Icy Visions each with two 0.25 Amp fans. The circuit can do around 0.6-0.7 Amp per power transistor.

I've fitted a switch and give the option of a less aggressive fan curve. It's not perfect but it works, is cheap and simple and gives RPM feedback to at least one fan.

My Recon fan controller utilises a similar circuit, which I found out after building the circuit a few times.
 
Hey guys, while soldering some new connectors on my R/C batterys, the tip on my brand new soldering iron 30W (10 quid) has eroded away partly and i cant understand why - Now i did try and tin it the first time around from cold, but the solder just dripped straight off only after using it on the first connector it started to stay shiny, then it went black, so wiped off on the sponge all was fine, but it eroded half the tip away.

Im using 60/40 solder This Stuff which is meant to be the good stuff, but im not sure where i went wrong?
Any ideas on how to prevent it from happening again.
 
KnightStalker said:
Hey guys, while soldering some new connectors on my R/C batterys, the tip on my brand new soldering iron 30W (10 quid) has eroded away partly and i cant understand why - Now i did try and tin it the first time around from cold, but the solder just dripped straight off only after using it on the first connector it started to stay shiny, then it went black, so wiped off on the sponge all was fine, but it eroded half the tip away.

Im using 60/40 solder This Stuff which is meant to be the good stuff, but im not sure where i went wrong?
Any ideas on how to prevent it from happening again.
Click to expand...
It's just oxidisation, clean the tip every time you make a joint and another tip is to put a bit of solder on the iron when you aren't using it.
 
PermaBanned said:
How long have you had it? It's my understanding that while tinning does help prevent the tip from degrading, it doesn't stop it and you will have to replace it eventually.
Click to expand...

About 6 hours lol, used for about 2.

RomanNose said:
It's just oxidisation, clean the tip every time you make a joint and another tip is to put a bit of solder on the iron when you aren't using it.
Click to expand...

So this happens normally then? if so that is going to bug me to death, shame really as the iron did the job perfectly, time to find replacement tips and a few of them.
 
Just finished designing and building a circuit to run a watchmaker's lathe - takes an old washing machine motor and provides full PWM control on a 200V/360W motor for the princely sum of about £30.

More than happy to share if it's of use to anyone, although it's just something I've knocked together and it probably conforms to zero safety or regulatory standards!!
 
Tealc said:
It's possible but I'd expect the circuit to be quite complex. Is the device not QI enabled and you'd like it to be so?
Click to expand...

Pretty much.

I can find so little info on it. Over than the new Nokia phone induce it.
When I get a new tablet. It would be greats if I could add it no a protective case.
 
Tealc said:
I had previously mounted it on veroboard but I just couldn't get it working with a long LED lead attached. Not sure if it was stray capacitance of the board or just some dry joints.
Click to expand...

I like the old style breadboard construction! Is the op-amp directly driving a long cable line? They will typically become unstable when they do due to the capacitive load, perhaps this combined with the veroboard parasitics tipped it over the edge as it were. The construction you've done now is very suitable for work into the MHz range, but it's also possible it's oscillating now only so high that it doesn't really show any signs of it! Anyhow, an op-amp should have a resistor of around 50-100 Ohm in series on its output if it is to drive a long cable.

Makhaira said:
Just finished designing and building a circuit to run a watchmaker's lathe - takes an old washing machine motor and provides full PWM control on a 200V/360W motor for the princely sum of about £30.

More than happy to share if it's of use to anyone, although it's just something I've knocked together and it probably conforms to zero safety or regulatory standards!!
Click to expand...

Good ingenuity, guessing it's a circuit akin to a light bulb dimmer, using a TRIAC to produce PWM at 50Hz? A washing machine motor must not be an induction type motor then?
 
Good guess, but it's not, it's a DC motor. Using a power mosfet driven from a schmitt trigger pwm circuit, with a mosfet driver interfacing the two. DC supply is just a simple transformer with full wave rectifier diode setup.
 
Anyone develop circuits and enclosures for manufacture? I am looking for someone who can design me a PCB to go into production, rather simple stuff really, but I have not got the foggiest idea how to go about it!
 
There are plenty of free CAD packages PhillyDee that will take a circuit schematic and generate a PCB layout for you. Most are limited to one or two layers in the free versions, but if it's simple then that won't be an issue at all for you.
 
Can anyone provide recommendations for places in the UK where I can get a PCB manufactured in a quantity of 4? I need something making for a project, but unfortunately the traces will be so fine that homebrewing isn't really an option. There seem to be plenty of companies around that will do it, but I'm looking at £10+ per board, which rapidly becomes more than the cost of the entire project.

Any suggestions welcomed, otherwise I'll replan the project to use a larger surface area with bigger traces.

Thanks!
 
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