Tech Tips Thread

[spec]

Humor Side: If you used correction fluid by the gallon then is it a correct assumption that you make a lot of mistakes?
<covering head, running>

No need to assume- I make millions of mistakes. But also alterations.

Serious side: I used nail polish remover as the solvent and worked great.
EG

Maybe you have a different formula of correction fluid in Florida than in England. I did try nail polish remover, which is cellulose based, but the nail polish remover just formed a suspension rather than a solution.

spec

 

[EvilGenius]

Maybe you have a different formula of correction fluid in Florida than in England. I did try nail polish remover, which is cellulose based, but the nail polish remover just formed a suspension rather than a solution.
spec

We were not allowed to use pen in college but rather pencil. All technical reports had to be in upper case.
On the other topic, it could be that we use a different base solution. It does come with a warning that fumes can cause irritation. Ours definitely smells petroleum based, somewhere between smell of acetone and paint thinner. (both would work in our case).
I did not realize you already tried acetone. I noticed you tried alcohol.
EG

 

[spec]

We were not allowed to use pen in college but rather pencil. All technical reports had to be in upper case.
On the other topic, it could be that we use a different base solution. It does come with a warning that fumes can cause irritation. Ours definitely smells petroleum based, somewhere between smell of acetone and paint thinner. (both would work in our case).
I did not realize you already tried acetone. I noticed you tried alcohol.
EG

I tried pretty much everything. At one time there was a long-running thread on the net mourning the withdrawal of correction fluid thinners and trying to find an alternative.

Correction fluid is essential for me and, when word processors came out- where corrections were simple and invisible- it is no exaggeration to say that word processors changed by life.

The first word processor I used for a proper job was an Atom computer driving a nine-inch black-and-green monitor. I forget what the word processor was- something like Scribe- and it was not even, 'what you see is what you get' (WYSIWYG). The word processor concertinaed the time to write a particularly tedious report from five days to one day, and the subsequent similar reports could then be rolled out in half a day using cut and paste.

I used to dread doing current budgets, project spend, etc, reports but even with a rudimentary word processor generating the reports almost became a pleasure.

spec

 

[Josephl01]

I'm glad that I joined this forum. Such valuable information.,

 

[spec]

I'm glad that I joined this forum. Such valuable information.,

Yes, Jlo1- I have found that ETO to be a treasure trove of useful information.

spec

 

[GromTag]

If this method has not been used or mentioned here, this helped me get through to the point of eventual acknowledgement of an BJT's Base requirements for proper Collector operation per devices few years ago when observing them as interesting self functioning toggles before comprehension of where to look for any kind of datasheet or info on the part.

Concepts: Prototyping transistor configured boards for new or large concepts (designs that may be overburdening a transistors current rating, known or unknown). Loose connections and dry welds can happen resulting in commutation (without stator) SAT fault.

The term that checking temperature as to not overload an transistor by determining heat build up as an if you can not touch it for more than x length of time then it's too hot as per an example I have seen used.

:Cautions: The substance mentioned is applicable to determine if a transistor would be overheating on a board containing multiple numbers far beyond checking them all within a catch it before it burns out method.

The substance would be Soldering Flux in the paste form, a small dab applied to the transistors top (TO-92) or the face (or other types including FETS). All be it potentially messy if Flux is overused (or a rather large number of TTL), as determined by the rough time that it takes to melt, that Flux melting temp is actually quite low,
could be used to determine if the part is going to fail due to overheating meltdown, fast pace Flux melt would highly indicate a potential failure, a slow smelt would state that the transistor is reaching some considerable warmth. Or produce an actual smoke plume of flux vapor that may allow a catch before burnout condition of the part.

The other part of the cautions are on respiratory/Visual concerns, as when dealing with Flux and Solder as with other chemicals are hazards.
A well ventilated area would be recommended.

 

[large_ghostman]

Who has a tip for holding those tiny 0603 chip components in place while you attempt to solder it down? I had nothing sticky on hand so I tried some pancake syrup. It actually worked and the smell from the board made me want breakfast

Use those normally closed fine tip tweezers! They grip like mad, I tin the area then squish the component with the tweezers, this leaves both hands free and I simply apply heat to the solder again. I use a heavier duty pair of these **broken link removed**

 

[GromTag]

An odd ball.

If not known, it would be advised not to use an graphite pencil to check around (with contact) on electrical pins either low or especially high voltages. 1 it can conduct causing a potential short if opposing pins are crossed. 2 it could potentially electrocute the holder without any kind of voltage protection gloves if voltage were high enough.

Also the core can make an tunable resistor if the core is available. the fall off (resistance rise) should be the sharpened point towards the tip with conductive wire wound on the core itself at opposing ends of desired resistance value. (Adjustments are difficult)

Type of Graphite (Allotrope Flat Hex) may vary be chemistry, so the values would vary if a pencil core were used.

An sharpened No.2 pencil, a multi tool with resistance, place one lead at the graphite upper base at wood from underneath pencil using thumb to hold pencil on either test lead pins side, other test lead pin tip point contacting graphite, slide that lead tip vertical on sharpened tip and observe resistance value change.

Also shows uses for inductance purposes, tho not fully versatile in this use as may cause instability via the mix having imbalances throughout the pencil core. The resistor concept can be adjusted and graphite trimmed/carved to correct this.

Overall a self made wire wound resistor is better than in strength and stability than a frail graphite core.