One of the most fun things about running adafruit is all the stuff we’ve learned about manufacturing electronics. Sure you can always just get a factory to do it all for you, but the more you know about the process the better prepared you’ll be even if you outsource it all!
We’ve been posting here and there about how to make stencils on a laser cutter, techniques for fiducials, and running our pick and place but now we’ll be setting aside mondays as the day you can expect to see us highlight a tip, trick or technique. We’re going to start out with some SMT basics, this mini tutorial is about SMT solder paste refrigeration and how we do it in our shop.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
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Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: New Python Releases, an ESP32+MicroPython IDE and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
I have a question related to the 12V fridge you have in the photo. Have you guys had any problems with it?
A coworker purchased one some months ago, also from Thinkgeek. Just the other day, he came into the office and his cube smelled like fried electronics; the fridge was dead. Luckily it didn’t start a fire. The plug on the end of the power cable that plugs into the fridge was partially melted. I haven’t had an opportunity to look into it more to see what failed, but it’s something you should watch out for.
Thinkgeek has stopped selling this fridge and similar models on Amazon (also no longer sold) have many 1-star reviews relating similar stories.
Great to see this line of tutorials!
I have a question related to the 12V fridge you have in the photo. Have you guys had any problems with it?
A coworker purchased one some months ago, also from Thinkgeek. Just the other day, he came into the office and his cube smelled like fried electronics; the fridge was dead. Luckily it didn’t start a fire. The plug on the end of the power cable that plugs into the fridge was partially melted. I haven’t had an opportunity to look into it more to see what failed, but it’s something you should watch out for.
Thinkgeek has stopped selling this fridge and similar models on Amazon (also no longer sold) have many 1-star reviews relating similar stories.
We’ve had no problems but you can use any other kind of 12V camping fridge