GB: $2.46 Ben Boost Drivers

I'll take a batch of 25 if someone is willing to make them for me. That much small component soldering would probably result in my jabbing the iron in my eye.

jakeGT said:

I'll take a batch of 25 if someone is willing to make them for me. That much small component soldering would probably result in my jabbing the iron in my eye.

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If we get enough orders I can assemble them all in my reflow oven, I know Machinist Joe also said he'd assemble them by hand :beer:

Not by hand! I have a reflow oven!

Maybe thats why people thought $2.50 labor each was way too low.

AnthoT said:

If we get enough orders I can assemble them all in my reflow oven, I know Machinist Joe also said he'd assemble them by hand :beer:

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Machinist Joe said:

Not by hand! I have a reflow oven!

Maybe thats why people thought $2.50 labor each was way too low.

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Oh, my bad

All good. I'm thinking about lowering the minimum to 10. I have had a few pms asking me for amounts less then 25. What do you guys think?

Machinist Joe said:

All good. I'm thinking about lowering the minimum to 10. I have had a few pms asking me for amounts less then 25. What do you guys think?

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That should help a lot actually :beer:

Ok. I'll update the OP when I get back to work. But its now multiples of 10 instead, with a 10 minimum.

Still minimum 1000 pieces are hard to reach. How about lowering the total ? Would that raise the price a lot ?

It would raise the price a fair amount. I didn't think 1,000 would be that hard to reach, especially at $2.50 each.

Blord said:

Still minimum 1000 pieces are hard to reach. How about lowering the total ? Would that raise the price a lot ?

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at 2.50 each it shouldn't be that hard to reach. Just need to find a reseller or two who wants to buy a couple hundred each.

PM clif about this, see if he is interested

At a minimum of 10, I'll bite, and just pay early, if that's ok with you. I might even go with an order of 25 and get them built later. This is an awesome deal, and the ben boost is a great driver.

I don't want to take payments early. Just set aside the money. I am boubtful that we will actually reach the 1,000

You said it won't be happening for 3 weeks, I'm not available in 3 weeks...if this is looking close to hitting the 1000 in 2 weeks when I leave, would you consider making an exception for me? Fair if you don't want to, I'll ask someone else that I trust to get my 10/25 with their order and just send them the money instead.

You know, with the price of these boosts being SO DAMN LOW, you can invest the money you save and make your own reflow oven (tutorial here, temperature controller here you can buy). I know it'll cost a bit more, but think about how much you end up paying for one damn Flexdrive: $24 a whop (not including shipping).

So say you buy the toaster ($60), controller ($90), 25 unassembled Ben boosts (~$65), and some solder paste (~$55 from here). That's about $270--about the price of 11 Flex drives. So not only do you have 14 more drivers than you would before, but you also have a full reflow toaster and some spare solder paste.

How do you solder that up? You reflow the side that has the small components on there (not the big inductor), and then hand-solder the inductor on the back. Even better, you can reflow all 25 of your drivers at the same time (and you should).

I'm thinking I'll probably get in on this GB for the reasons above. I've been wanting to build a reflow toaster, but didn't have a real reason to. Now with DIRT CHEAP boost drivers sold with all the parts in cheap quantities, I have a good reason. Hell, CajunLasers sells these boost drivers for $15/each. Imagine the profit you'd make if you started selling these assembled, even at the assembled price of Machine Joe's of $5. It'll pay for itself.

Exactly the way I looked at it bionic badger but a few things before you buy your oven, there is a better and MUCH cheaper way!

A $20 toaster oven sold at walmart did the trick perfectly for me, DONT go for power rating. Go for size, smaller the better!

Don't buy that Controller for $90, its a waste of money, and has a ton of bad reviews.

But this Reflow Oven Controller Shield (Arduino Compatible) | Unleash the rocket scientist in you! and this Arduino Uno | Unleash the rocket scientist in you! and a k type termocouple and a Solid state relay and you are set. Easy to assemble. Easy to use. Programmable, and you can learn a thing or two while doing it

Thats what I did and it worked out like a charm!

Anybody else interested? Its an amazing deal!

Nice. I did think Sparkfun's kit was a bit overpriced for what amounts to a sensor, a microcontroller and a relay, but it does make it nice for people who just want a kit. I'll have to check out that Arduino one you've linked there, since I've already got the Arduino.

Hmm, I'll have to check this out for espresso machine PID controllers. Sure beats $300 that many of those sites charge for kits.

By the way, what solder paste do you use? That link above is just what I found for a decent price online. Also, do you have any stencils for those boards?