Soldering job looked really good on the assembled board. @janpom can you share a bit of your soldering technique? Did you use extra flux or just rosin core solder?
Thanks! No extra flux. (Would be extra work to clean afterwards. 
) Just a thin 0.5 mm leaded (60/40) solder with flux core. That with my TS100 soldering iron and the default conical tip and default settings (300 Celsius). I have done quite a few of them now, which was a really good soldering practice.
Itās all pretty straightforward. Youāll obviously want to start with the smallest components. I typically went in the following order:
- resistor
- diode
- USB-UART female header
- crystal
- 22p and 100n capacitors
- MCU
- 100u capacitor
- JST-PH
- display headers
The display headers are best soldered on with the display plugged in. Itās easier.
The USB-UART header is best done by soldering only one pin first; then reheat it with right hand and adjust position with the left hand. Solder the remaining pins last. The same goes for the JST-PH though that one I usually managed to do without having to re-adjust the position after soldering the first pin.
I didnāt use any helping hands. I just kept the PCB on a flat surface.
Edit: I recorded the assembly.
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Nice, thanks for the breakdown! My TS80 is arriving in the mail today, looking forward to making the second DAVEga using it.
rosin core sucks only use leaded 60/40 or 62/36/2 silver bearing solder.
@briman05 Interesting, the general advice on the internet is to use rosin core for electronics. So when you use 60/40 that doesnāt have flux in the core right? You add the flux yourself?
No it has a flux core. The internet is probably telling you to use lead free rosin core because is it safer health wise but leaded solder is superior
Makes sense. Leaded 60/40 with flux core. I figure for people that are not soldering every day a little bit of lead is ok, but I could be wrongā¦
I have used leaded rosin core and silver bearing rosin core with no issues but non leaded is not as good for electronic work as leaded
63/37 is easier to work with. Kester is a good brand.
The fumes from the flux are actually more of a health problem than the lead. Keeping the temperature low reduces the fumes. For PCB soldering I usually do 300 Celsius but I tried going to 270 and that worked just fine as well. If possible, keep the window open while soldering and/or breath out when making a solder joint.
2 Likes
Found a monster summary post for solder wire at eevblog.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/an-other-post-for-good-solderwire/msg655700/#msg655700
I have 5 last assembled DAVEgas that Iād like to let go. I wonāt be making any more kits. I also have 3 extra displays. Price:
- $16 - assembled DAVEga + USB-UART adapter + 4 simple buttons + parts for making a harness
- $7 - display
- $6 - shipping to EU, $7 to outside EU
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Yes, I am. @LRDesigns designed a nice enclosure for it. Weāll have it CNC-ed in aluminum and it will be super sexy. The bigger display wonāt be the only improvement. Iām completely rewriting the code for the ESP32 platform and adding a lot of new features. Thereās still a lot of work to be done though. I suppose it will wonāt be before 3-4 months until you can buy one. The price will be quite a bit higher than the current DAVEga but I hope weāll be able to keep it below $100 including the enclosure. No more spoilers for now. 
8 Likes
Canāt wait !!
Are there any more available with the screen?
No, sorry. I have last two without displays.
Okay, Iāll take one please. Iāll PM you in a little bit. Can you please link the correct screen again?
Iāll get one if any left, assembled or not, screen or not. Will pay in USD via Paypal, shipping to Canada.