SMD soldering with stencils

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Description In this Workshop you will learn how to solder an all SMD board using a stainless steel stencil, solder paste and a soldering oven.
Website(s)
Type Workshop
Kids session No
Keyword(s) hardware
Processing assembly Hardware Hacking Area
Person organizing Felix, DrLuke, Entropiandi
Language de - German, en - English
de - German, en - English
Other sessions...

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Starts at 2014/12/28 14:00
Ends at 2014/12/28 20:00
Duration 360 minutes
Location Hardware Hacking Area

Increasing component densities on Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) require increasingly smaller components. At some point Through Hole Technology (THT) can't be used anymore, and Surface Mount Devices (SMD) have to be used. SMD components can become extremely tiny, some of them being smaller than the tip of a typical soldering iron. Many components also have their solder pads at the bottom, making them unreachable with a soldering iron. This is where stencil soldering comes in: Using a stainless steel sheet with little apertures as a mask, a pasty mix of solder and flux is dispensed onto the pads. In the next step, the components are placed onto the solder paste and the whole board is baked in a soldering oven. Following a specific temperature profile, the solder paste liquifies and bonds to the components and the pads, and your board is fully soldered and ready to use. This Process is usually used in industrial manufacture of PCBs, but can be scaled down very well for home production and prototyping. The board you will solder in this workshop contains an ATTiny48 microcontroller, which can be programmed using an AVR In-System Programmer (ISP) or arduinos. It also features 5 LEDs in a cross pattern and an accelerometer. We will program the boards with a demo software that makes it possible to use the board as an electronic water-level with pretty good precision.

Table of Contents:

   1. Small introduction into how this process works
   2. Demonstration of all the steps involved in soldering together one board
   3. Board assembly by the participants with assistance where required

This Workshop will approximately take two hours to complete. No previous electronics or soldering knowledge is required, but is recommended. This workshop handles with VERY tiny components which require some dexterity and good eyesight, or else you will have a hard time participating. Bringing your own magnifying glass is highly encouraged. But don't be discouraged, soldering those tiny components isn't as hard as many people would make you believe. We will also assist you in every step if you need some help.

The primary language of the workshop will be english, but we also speak german.

Price: 8 Euros This price will be the bare minimum to cover the material costs of the workshop. You will get a fully functional board (batteries included!).

Code: see https://github.com/felixheld/ewal