500 series Level-Loc project

[irfrench]

Does anyone know if you can solder in a Premier Travel Inn hotel room!?  ;D ;D ;D

I just spoke to a very kind Scottish lady who seemed pretty sure I'd be OK with soldering in my room - I've suggested window open and fan to disperse vapour/smoke too because of the smoke alarms...  But, er, well.  That's something!

;D ;D

 

[mishagolin]

Looks great. I'm very interested but have a few questions.


Are you planning to release your PCB drawing for people to etch at home? I saw posted schematics and a posted layout but not a posted PCB blank.

Do you have a suggested parts list or should we just go through the schem and put one together?


and lastly, how did you get your PCB to look so good. I must suck at toner transfer. I can never get small traces so clean. What is your method? I've tried laser jet on photo paper and then iron. I haven't tried a laminator yet but i can see that it would apply heat more uniformly. What media are you using for the toner transfer? Photo paper? transparency sheets? specialty sheets?


Thanks

misha

 

[Dr Gris]

You can download from Ian's site 

I've been in contact with Marek and will have two red faced LVL_LOK-500 in my rack in the future  8)

Best
Magnus

 

[irfrench]

You can download from Ian's site 

I've been in contact with Marek and will have two red faced LVL_LOK-500 in my rack in the future  8)

ACE!  I was really tempted by red but bottled it and went with the black.  ;D

Do you have a suggested parts list or should we just go through the schem and put one together?


and lastly, how did you get your PCB to look so good. I must suck at toner transfer. I can never get small traces so clean. What is your method? I've tried laser jet on photo paper and then iron. I haven't tried a laminator yet but i can see that it would apply heat more uniformly. What media are you using for the toner transfer? Photo paper? transparency sheets? specialty sheets?

There is a BOM one the site.  I've ordered the parts by value as I find it easier to run through a load of 1M resistors at once rather than swapping values when populating.

Self etching - its a tried and tested method of using up cheap Christmas wrapping paper (print onto the white 'back' of the paper).  I then gentle rub the PCB with wet & dry 'sandpaper' which has been gently rubbed onto a bar of soap under a running tap. TOP TIP 1: back the sand paper with sticky tape to stop it falling apart when wet. I then clean with alcohol.

To fix the transfer I secure the paper with masking tape around the very edges and pass through the laminator a few times and then use an old clothes iron on 80%ish power for a few minutes until I think the toner has melted.  TOP TIP 2: fold some kitchen roll and use it between the iron and transfer paper.  This allows the iron to pass over the paper without gripping/ripping.

TOP TIP 3: Let the PCB cool for as little time as possible and remove the masking whilst the glue is still hot.

Then let the PCB soak in cool water for as long as you can wait. Don't rub too hard on the paper just work it down and keep re soaking.  The wrapping paper is really thin and really cheap so it doesn't take too long!

Then etch using your favourite etchant. I use FCl and warm it up beforehand in an old coffee warmer:

;D ;D ;D

Hope this helps.

Ian(Minoian)


UPDATE!:  Just got this photo from Marek... Cool!!!

 

[mishagolin]

Thank you all, wonderful info.

Now to just slot some time to work on this. 1st step= pick up a laminator

 

[irfrench]

Hi all.

So I got time in my hotel room to solder... I'm serious:

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Please note the fan and open window to make sure no unnecessary fire alarms went off... I DID confirm this with staff first.


ANYWAY.  The CNC version Marek will be making has been verified...

So hopefully he can start sending these out to all you GOOD GOOD people!  I do however think I have messed up the switching diagram I posted before so I'll try and correct that before 2015!

Couple of tips with Mareks boards:

- They are really nicely made and drilled.  Enjoy.
- They come pre tinned, which is nice, but it also means you have to be REALLY careful and not bridge anything. I made a couple of mistakes and I'm usually quite neat (may be it was the hotel room!?  )

I have not got time to check for sled-compatibility yet but will do so when I get chance.  I have not had any issues yet with the pot mounted front panel but at the same time I'm not really one to yank or rush unit removals.  I'll probably want to eventually mount them on sleds (I'll end up with a totally non matched pair  ) so it makes sense to try it.

I suppose at this point a family photo may be nice?

Evolution of a LVL_LOK?


Ian.

 

[kato]

I love that you soldered in your hotel room. I've always wanted to do this because I love soldering when I'm away from work.

Didn't realize you could connect a PCB directly to a front panel without a sled! Intriguing.

 

[mjrippe]

I love that you soldered in your hotel room.

I love that you inquired about soldering in your hotel room!  If you think about what other folks do in hotel rooms, soldering is almost like having a Bible study.

 

[mishagolin]

Just reporting back. I picked up a laminator using a 20% off coupon. Tried it with some photo paper that I have but it didn't work. The photo paper was too heavy and strong. I couldn't get good transfer and the paper wouldn't break down in the water. Next I tried pages of a magazine and this worked much better. I'm using hcl and h2o2 as etchant with a sponge. The high concentration h2o2 from beauty supply stores works great.

My mouser order for all the parts should come in soon. Not sure I'll get to build this weekend but looking forward to it.

Thanks for all the tips guys.

 

[irfrench]

I love that you soldered in your hotel room.

I love that you inquired about soldering in your hotel room!  If you think about what other folks do in hotel rooms, soldering is almost like having a Bible study.

Sorry for the off radar.  Work has been crazy busy the past week or so.

The hotel staff weren't exactly sure what soldering was but I promised it wouldn't kill me, other guests or burn the place down and that seemed to put their minds at rest.

Funny you should mention other 'things' people get up to, the room I had was one of those 'family' ones where they have a direct set of back-to-back doors between rooms.  I'm an acoustician as my job so I immediately expected to hear EVERYTHING that went on next door... I did. And in a weird way it made an interesting change from The Weakerthans and Hussey.  ;D ;D ;D ;D

I think a few boards have gone out already so I'm really excited to see builds starting to be completed...  Please remember to rotate the BC550c's and make sure you orient the I/O ICs correctly otherwise they will go on permanent strike.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[Dr Gris]

Got my package from Marek today. Red fronts  8)
Looks great!!
Thanks!

Cheers
//M

 

[Indecline]

Got my package from Marek today. Red fronts  8)
Looks great!!
Thanks!

Cheers
//M

I got red panels too. They will look great in the rack!  8)

Hopefully I'll have the Mouser cart done early next week. Too much mixing to do this weekend

 

[Biasrocks]

Putting together an parts order.

Which pots are recommended for this? Size, etc? Recommended Part No?

Toggle types DPDT - ON-OFF-ON? , STSP ON-OFF?

Mark

 

[irfrench]

Putting together an parts order.

Which pots are recommended for this? Size, etc? Recommended Part No?

Toggle types DPDT - ON-OFF-ON? , STSP ON-OFF?

Mark

Hi,

I've just been using any ol' 16mm solder tag pot - I ordered them from a couple of different places and didn't pay much attention and they all fit OK.  I think there were a mix of brands too so any of that type should be fine.

I'm amazed I forgot to confirm the switching types for the toggles...  They are all on-off-on.


Thanks,
Ian

 

[Biasrocks]

Thanks Ian,

One other question,

Coil Resistance for the DPDT relay.

Is 360 ohms okay?

I'm I correct assuming it's a non-latching type?

Mark

 

[mylesgm]

ordered mine… looking forward to this!

 

[irfrench]

Thanks Ian,

One other question,

Coil Resistance for the DPDT relay.

Is 360 ohms okay?

I'm I correct assuming it's a non-latching type?

Mark

Yup, non-latching.

The coil resistance governs the current draw - I'm using 12v/720R in mine. 720R = 22mA ish, 360R = 44mA ish. MAKE SURE IT CAN RUN AT 16V!!!.

There is very little consumption going on in the LVL_LOK-500 so it shouldn't be a problem - I also put the relay(& LED) on the -ve supply for load sharing but tbh it was probs overkill! 


Ian

 

[Indecline]

Just put a Mouser cart together and ordered. I should have time to assemble it next weekend!

If all goes well, I'll share a link to the cart here.. Knowing me, I probably screwed at least two things up 

 

[manulaudic]

Looks Sweet !

Indecline, what was the cost of the mouser cart? roughly.

Cheers,
M

 

[Indecline]

Looks Sweet !

Indecline, what was the cost of the mouser cart? roughly.

Cheers,
M

For a pair it was about $110 with knobs and everything. Mouser has all the transistors in stock too.