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Take Two
02/17/2020 at 13:37 • 0 commentsI'm going to order a new version of the spacer, driver, and base board. Here's what's changed:
- Thicker copper. I'm going with Oshpark's 2oz copper option. This means the boards themselves will be 0.8mm, but that's fine.
- Less soldermask. I've taken away the soldermask wherever the different PCBs come into contact with each other. I have no idea if this will help, but it can't hurt.
- More careful routing. There's a chance that the copper traces were creating high points and preventing contact on the prior revision. And I had to move most of the traces anyway, since I got rid of the soldermask.
- Better baseboard. Now it'll be easier to grip the base PCB and not have my fingers get in the way.
- "SMD" LED. On the driver PCB, I'm doing everything I can to keep the bottom side as flat as possible. That means no through-hole components. But I still want a through-hole LED as the "pin" on the driving wheel. So I'll fold the LED's legs over and solder it like a surface-mount part.
Here's what hasn't changed:
- The Geneva wheel itself. I'll still be using the same ones from the first batch of PCBs. No need to order again.
I haven't ordered yet, so it's not too late to suggest other changes or give advice on this version!