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Soldering time! Let's try to put together one or two of these power distribution boardsPermalink On twitter.com
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The LED is a simple one, and just shows whether there's power on the board or not. Not sure if I'd normally put that on there, but I could think of a few cases when that would be quite practicalPermalink On twitter.com
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Soldering those XT60 connectors is a bit harder than I was hoping, there's a lot of copper, so they really need some heat before they take the solder and connect to the PCBPermalink On twitter.com
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Also, if you put in too much heat, this happens. The plastic melts, the pins shift around, and you end up with a connector that doesn't fit anything anymore. Caught this one in time, luckilyPermalink On twitter.com
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Trick: have the connector “plugged in” while soldering. So even if the plastic does get soft, the pins cannot go anywherePermalink On twitter.com
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Anyway, first board is populated enough to test it. And it lights up 🥳Permalink On twitter.com
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Out of curiosity I also tried to put together one of the messed up boards where I had an issue with the power planes. They go together and you can connect the rings to the rest of the power planes, but it's really no fun 😐Permalink On twitter.com
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Never finished this thread it seems. Put together two power distribution boards in very different configurations. Connectors fit great, soldering is just as annoying as soldering anything else, but they see to work quite well. Time to put them in the @tindie store 😁Permalink On twitter.com
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I’m almost expecting some “but why” kind of questions. Well, the choice of halfway decent 12V DC connectors is rather limited. One of the most commons connectors is the “cigarette lighter plug”. But those are bulky, expensive and honestly rather terrible (in many cases)On twitter.com
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Most of the hardware you find for that are horrible. I have some "extension cords" for those plugs that are pretty much an electrical fire in a cheap-ass plastic case disguise. Was just trying to find some pictures, but wasn't lucky enough...Permalink On twitter.com
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They do have their strengths though. Try fiddling a XT60 connector into its socket in a moving car. But upon doing some research (some of which you can find here: hackaday.io/project/168223/log/172938-connectors), I found that e.g. XT60 work much better for many use cases.Permalink On twitter.com
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There isn't too much supporting hardware for that though. So this is the first step into changing that 🥳Permalink On twitter.com