Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly aid

JLSE · May 15, 2008

Well i've mentioned it a few times, and finally took the plunge. Dr. Lava’s 6x booster / driver circuit, my eyes are still twitching from the tiny solder points. I don’t own the proper soldering iron for this type of work, but made due with what I have. I figured posting some macros of this circuit may aid others in assembling theirs. As to not contribute to the piracy of this circuit, I blackened the markings on key components. The idea of this post is just to get a little closer, so you can see what this build entails.

Enjoy..

JLSE · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

This is the hardest component to line up and solder, the pics it comes with are a bit blurry. Take your time with this , and I would suggest mounting this prior to the coil.

JLSE · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

Finished product! One more pic to go, its the opposite side from this one.

JLSE · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

I havent tested it yet, I need a break and will do that this evening.

MarioMaster · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

not bad assuming you don't have any SMD type soldering equipment, that one chip looks like a real pain

drlava · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

looks pretty good except you have misplaced one of the capacitors in your last picture, double check them with the instructions diagram.

also use some flux remover before powering it on to clean off that residue..
your macro of the tiny chip shows the pads are lifted off the copper traces, so make sure there is good contact there too.

JLSE · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

drlava said:
looks pretty good except you have misplaced one of the capacitors in your last picture, double check them with the instructions diagram.

also use some flux remover before powering it on to clean off that residue..
your macro of the tiny chip shows the pads are lifted off the copper traces, so make sure there is good contact there too.

They are a bit raised, but connected. I didnt want to burn anything up, so its not as clean as I would have liked :-/

Ahhhhaaaaa! I see it, wrong location :-X Close call, that couldnt be good for it! Thanks for that one, ive never assembled such small parts. Very impressive driver, its a very nice design and quite the layout

**added

The second pic was taken prior to soldering, I just wanted to illustrate how small the contacts are. Ill take a couple of more finished pics.

JLSE · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

MarioMaster said:
not bad assuming you don't have any SMD type soldering equipment, that one chip looks like a real pain

The iron I used has a standard tip, but that will change!

JLSE · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

Ok fixed the cap and got a better pic of those points, after I soldered them

JLSE · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

This is the iron I used for this..

Bionic-Badger · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

For the cost of all these laser components, you might consider buying a good soldering system too. They're like $60 shipped on Amazon or something (search for "Aoyue").

JLSE · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

Ive got a nice soldering station, im just going to go back to the retailer for a smaller tip.

Scog · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

Very impressive work especially with a tip that size.

JLSE · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

If I had the right tip, I probably would have screwed it up! There is nothing more motivational than a good challenge

JLSE · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

Assembled and working! One thing I noticed is it wont exceed 100ma with 3v in, is this right? Just want to make sure things are normal

drlava · May 15, 2008

Re: Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly ai

wannaburn said:
Assembled and working! One thing I noticed is it wont exceed 100ma with 3v in, is this right? Just want to make sure things are normal

What is your load? Did you use flux remover? It will go well over that current with a laser diode like load.

Lava drive DIY kit close-up pics / assembly aid

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