rebuild mini kceptor and hub

Dodo2207

Hi Everyone,
before I start to rebuild the mini K-Ceptor and and mini Hub, I want say thank you to Chordata Motion and to @valor
for their great open source project.

Today I built my first mini k-Ceptor, I use all the provided information by @valor in the forum

I build a second one but I messed up with solderingpaste for the IMU but finished everything else. Do you have any idea how I could sold the missing IMU to this K-Ceptor?

Tomorrow I will start building the mini Hub and I will test it in few days.

I use this disscusion as a building log up to the finished suit.

If you have any suggestions or tips for me, Im thankful for all of them 🙂

Dodo

valor

Great Dodo,
Just use lots of flux and solder wick to clean up

valor

Louis Rossmann has some videos where you can see how makes it look really easy 🙂

Do you have hot air station?

Dodo2207

Thanks for the video. Yeah I have one but I cant control the air speed.

valor

You could also clean the IMU pads, put some solderpaste on the pads and reflow the whole board again.

Dodo2207

Here is my finished minihub:

It took me much time to solder the connectors on it but ithink it turns out well. I will test it tomorrow and hopefully it will work.

valor

Dodo2207
It's looking good. Fingers crossed for tomorrows test 😄

valor

Dodo2207
From the looks of it, you have some blobs shorting the some pins on the U5. Can you recheck that (im replying from my phone)
Are those shiny dots the solder balls all over the pcb? You might have to clean your board with some flux remover and ultrasound. I use MC1 Break and Clutch cleaner which costs fractions of a dedicated fluxcleaner and does the same job.

daylanKifky

Quick note: It's ok to clean the Hub with ultrasound but it might destroy the IMU if you do it with the KCeptor. We found this out the hard way: https://forum.chordata.cc/d/63-calibration-issues/52

valor

daylanKifky yea it's a good reminder.
Most MEMS devices might get destroyed by cheap ultrasonic baths.

Higher frequency cleaners with sweep function will work tho.

Dodo2207

Thank you for your tips 😁👍

Ill check my U5 but it will take a bit to clean my board bc I need to buy it first. How nesessary is it to remove little blobballs from the board if they dont connect on any pads?

I dont have a ultrasound cleaner

valor

Dodo2207
I'd say, it's an extremely good idea to remove the residue solder balls from the board, even if they appear to be "minding their own business". What I learnt the hard way is, that they have a life..and they tend to relocate themselves right in between the critical pins of the ICs.
You can also use IPA and brush the board off with a (new) toothbrush.

Dodo2207

Thanks you for all you tips 👍
Ill clean it first and try to remove the flux and the soldering balls.

The test is than next week after cleaning.

Hopefully I get the cleabing stuff fast.

Dodo2207

Wait you mean I can clean the board with Indian Pale Ale beer to remove flux and soldering balls?

valor

Dodo2207 that will be a waste of a perfectly fine beer 🙂
Isopropyl alcohol (2-propanol) is a cheaper option

Dodo2207

valor

Ok 😂😁👍👌Im new to all that buildthing so excuse my my questions 😀

Dodo2207

And how do I clean with MC1 Brake and Clutch cleaner? Do I need to mix both or spray MC1 Brake first on the board and than clutch cleaner?

valor

SDG recently covered this in a video

This particular Break Cleaner has always worked for me. It's pressurized and sometimes that alone is enough to clean the boards off, especially if you come back to the same board after a few minutes of initial spraying.

Dodo2207

I orderd MC1 Breakcleaner. It will arrives between 13-16 May. Ill try in the maintime to create some more Kceptors to solder

Dodo2207

After some trying my minihub is working 💪
The raspberry find it.

The next step is to make the sensors work too. Ill test it later and update this discussion