[jh4db536]

new year resolution im gonna make good on this goal lol.
some parts came in yesterday.
this is gonna take me a couple months cause im really busy with work and i can only spend a few hours a week on this project.
i was actually surprised that the JA was a kit. i could use a warm up project anyway i havent soldered anything for a long time.

did the controller board yesterday

the relay boards and volumite tonight unless i have to pull an all niter at work

 

[dcpoor]

Good luck and have fun on this project!

 

[krmathis]

Best of luck!

Take your time and do it properly, no half-great rush job.

 

[El_Doug]

I just love work logs

Any reason this isnt in DIY?

 

[LeMat]

Good luck too !

I started mine as well... got almost everything I needed and started soldering. I'm quite anxious to plug it in.... I must admit it's my 1st DIY project but so far so good. (I know I shouldn't start with such a project)
I also need to stress this thing cost more than anticipated. Taking into account AC plug, hook up wire, connector and so on.... things add up pretty fast

 

[n_maher]

thread moved to DIY forum, as you were.

 

[jh4db536]

nothing sophisticated...i have a AOYUE936 soldering station (i preferred to use the gas pen) and harbor freight meter. something about cordless and the tip on that thing gets me better results. i think the temp is perfect also.

63/37 solder; checking for cold joints. btw i verified all the resistors before i populated the board.

im still a little bit rusty

1 more JT relay board to go...

 

[jh4db536]

Completed JT boards

waiting for my B22 boards in the mail so i can get started on that.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Looks good so far

Good luck with the build !

Peete.

 

[jh4db536]

this was a little bit more difficult than i thought. for some reason i had a really hard time with the box caps, the damn solder wouldnt flow correctly i dont know why (no matter what i did it flowed upwards and was repeling the circuit board even though gravity was on my side). i had to use my AOYUE936 to get this one right. i thought i screwed up when i fired it up and got some bizzare voltage readings, but my DMM battery died. I think it's time to get a Fluke...anyway the output is fine

the IEC recepticle was for testing purposes only. i gambled without a fuse hahah

 

[oneplustwo]

Just a quick note on the JTA... make sure the ribbon cable is fully engaged in the pins of the connector. I was having problems with one side and eventually figured out this stupid mistake.

I think I have the same Centech harbor freight DMM. It's not great, but I've built a few betas, a couple minimaxes, and a bunch of other stuff with it. Frankly, I was looking for a new DMM myself but then figured I had already gotten this far with a $5 one. Save my money and put it towards some new cans or something.

Let me know if you do get one and if you think it was worth it though!

 

[jh4db536]

yeah i'll probably just borrow the 'fluke' for now. i know many people who have one and use it as a battery tester lol.

thanks for the advice on the JTA ribbon cables, i checked continuity on every header from each board back to the control board, so i think it'll work fine.

 

[FallenAngel]

Looking good, but I wouldn't "gamble without a fuse" anymore, there's a funny saying about that - a 50 dollar transformer will always sacrifice itself to save a 50 cent fuse.

 

[jh4db536]

damn, i went on a 5 hour soldering marathon on sunday and i only finished half of the 1st Beta22 board (3 more to go plus chassis...). i wanted to finish the board, but i forced myself to stop before would i make mistakes. How are commercial sellers selling these things for under 2k without losing money?? This is a lot of work. ; cant wait until 4/15

 

[Magsy]

You did the right thing. I found that happening to me, it was four in the morning and I was almost there, every bit wants to keep on going but after 5-6 hours already you will probably make mistakes.

The transistors really pi$$ me off, I like to keep them all straight and neat but it is so hard to do, plus the holes for the CRDs/zeners are too big. I straightened all my box caps afterward by reheating and moving them.

The ones you hard trouble with were probably into the ground plane, max heat on the Hakko, flux, very low melting point solder, nothing would help; they will all be a pita.

By my fourth board I was completing them in 3-4 hours tho, you'll get faster!

I spent about 4 days, from 6-7pm till 3-5am :/ (wiring, testing, matching adds a lot too)