Bimmerboy
Flashlight Enthusiast
Whoa... I had no idea. That's cool! Bring it on! 😎
Something like "You Light Up My Life" would be pretty funny. Either that or "Super Freak", which has nothing to do with light, but would crack people up anyway.
Hotwire PWM Regulator for Mag D body, JM-PhD-D1
- Thread starter JimmyM
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Whoa... I had no idea. That's cool! Bring it on! 😎
Something like "You Light Up My Life" would be pretty funny. Either that or "Super Freak", which has nothing to do with light, but would crack people up anyway.
Nor me with at least 5-8 of them. Plus you have such a reputation that although generally I don't think pre-pay's are a good idea, it would be no problem with you.
SafetyBob
Enlightened
Ya Jimmy, let us know if you want some money up front.
I agree, an extra 15 bucks isn't a deal breaker at all......not even close. But you are certainly right, that is a tad bit on the upper end of the scale of what I would have expected....
Bob E.
I agree, an extra 15 bucks isn't a deal breaker at all......not even close. But you are certainly right, that is a tad bit on the upper end of the scale of what I would have expected....
Bob E.
JimmyM
Flashlight Enthusiast
Thanks for the votes of confidence, all.
I've just received an unexpected bonus check from work! That's always nice.:naughty:
I was able to appropriate a portion of it from the CFO (wife).
So I've just made a few purchases.
Hot air reflow station
PCB frame
solder paste, syinges, tips, etc
reflow oven building bits
Some other digikey bits
some tweezers and other bits
Still to get/do:
IR board preheater
remainder of reflow oven bits
Run a few new wires from my breaker panel to my bench to handle the load of all these heating devices. I have enough room for one more 240V breaker. 120/240 20A, 120V 15A
Some will point out that some of this stuff is redundant or unneccessary. But the budget surplus is here now, so I'm getting what I need. Everything.
Next to get are all the boards and components. I'll have the boards made in panels of 4 or 6 boards so I can run them as a batch in the oven.
I'm still undecided about IR or convection. The controller can go either way. I could use a B&D Infrawave (1500W) for IR. But I've read that IR only ovens can scortch plasic components (2 adjustment pots). On the other hand, I could do convection with a Euro-Pro TO289. But it's only 1200W. I've read that these "lower" wattage ovens can't ramp fast enough from 150C to 220C during the reflow portion of the curve. So I think I may have a solution.
I could combine the heaters from 2 TO289 convection ovens and run it on 240V. But to be able to reflow double sided boards you need to be able to heat the top hotter than the bottom and do it quickly. So I can put all of (or most of) the 2nd oven's heaters on the top. So I get the advantage of 2400W of hot air, but with the addition of a bit of IR from the additional elements in the top of the oven.
I've just received an unexpected bonus check from work! That's always nice.:naughty:
I was able to appropriate a portion of it from the CFO (wife).
So I've just made a few purchases.
Hot air reflow station
PCB frame
solder paste, syinges, tips, etc
reflow oven building bits
Some other digikey bits
some tweezers and other bits
Still to get/do:
IR board preheater
remainder of reflow oven bits
Run a few new wires from my breaker panel to my bench to handle the load of all these heating devices. I have enough room for one more 240V breaker. 120/240 20A, 120V 15A
Some will point out that some of this stuff is redundant or unneccessary. But the budget surplus is here now, so I'm getting what I need. Everything.
Next to get are all the boards and components. I'll have the boards made in panels of 4 or 6 boards so I can run them as a batch in the oven.
I'm still undecided about IR or convection. The controller can go either way. I could use a B&D Infrawave (1500W) for IR. But I've read that IR only ovens can scortch plasic components (2 adjustment pots). On the other hand, I could do convection with a Euro-Pro TO289. But it's only 1200W. I've read that these "lower" wattage ovens can't ramp fast enough from 150C to 220C during the reflow portion of the curve. So I think I may have a solution.
I could combine the heaters from 2 TO289 convection ovens and run it on 240V. But to be able to reflow double sided boards you need to be able to heat the top hotter than the bottom and do it quickly. So I can put all of (or most of) the 2nd oven's heaters on the top. So I get the advantage of 2400W of hot air, but with the addition of a bit of IR from the additional elements in the top of the oven.
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Mr Happy
Flashlight Enthusiast
OT, but you are making me envious with all that 240 V talk. I'd love to have a 240 V outlet in my kitchen (electric kettles work much better on 240 V than on 120 V :devil: ). Unfortunately my house is pre-wired behind all the drywall and it is not easy to run new circuits.
JimmyM
Flashlight Enthusiast
My shop is in my unfinished basement. It's easy to run new wire.
JimmyM
Flashlight Enthusiast
To be honest, I expected a little more feedback. Well, maybe hoped is a better word. Maybe because I'm so stinking pumped! Do you guys know what this is gonna do for the cost of my designs? The size?
Alan B
Flashlight Enthusiast
Sorry, Jim. We're all jealous. I'm looking at a mill. Restraint.
Mr Happy
Flashlight Enthusiast
Jealousy compounded by your having a basement. No basements in California.
JimmyM
Flashlight Enthusiast
A mill is serious business. I read here that the tooling can cost as much as the mill itself.
Alan B
Flashlight Enthusiast
I have a lathe/mill, so have some tooling. One little project required a rotary table/chuck which was itself a project, and cost a good fraction of the lathe/mill. And the very special part I made hasn't been used. yet. But I've used the rotary table/chuck quite a bit on other projects as well.
But, as you know, when you want to do/make something it is worth a lot to be able to.
Incidentally, I recently saw a case where a fellow put a through-hole pad under the center of one of these chips so he could reach through from the bottom and solder the middle pad. Make the hole just larger than a small pencil tip. Interesting thought.
I for one didn't know enough about those items to be able to appreciate them. 😕 Pray tell?
No. 😱
No. 😱😱
JimmyM
Flashlight Enthusiast
I had read about doing that. It's good for one-offs, but isn't the "proper" way to do it. I suppose if it works well, it's proper. But hand soldering each of the legs on those 4mm sq Tiny84s would take for ever on a hundred of them. So the reflow approach will definitely aid in production.
JimmyM
Flashlight Enthusiast
Oh yeah. Lower cost and and smaller units. I can't wait to get going on the C body regulator. I don't want to get into numbers regarding the cost of the D1 yet, but I think many folks will be very pleased. :naughty:
Alan B
Flashlight Enthusiast
This design was pretty optimized for low cost, right from the start. However, I would caution everyone not to make the price too low. If it isn't worth your time to make them, it won't last. So make it worth doing, and then everyone benefits from the continued availability and support.
Oops. Not yet. Gotta watch that. 😗JimmyM
Flashlight Enthusiast
Everyone's a comedian...This design was pretty optimized for low cost, right from the start. However, I would caution everyone not to make the price too low. If it isn't worth your time to make them, it won't last. So make it worth doing, and then everyone benefits from the continued availability and support.
In ant case... Good advice. I don't want to have too many orders and not enough time to fill them. But even at a very palatable price point, it will still be worth my time. It will help feed other projects development. Everybody wins.
SafetyBob
Enlightened
Jimmy, I don't want to make you rich off this project, but I do want you to make enought to make it worth your time.......time to design and make more variations of this project. We already know about the 400, 600, and 1000 watt landing light club that absolutely wants this too.
Imagine a small nuclear fuel cell making 40 amps of good DC juice. You know how many landing lights we could fit in a POB? Actually, we would put two or three together somehow. They put 3 led's in a M@g flashlight here didn't they?
Actually, I want you to make enought to get the neat toys that makes designing and manufacturing these and other boards fast and easy for you. I want you to be able to go on a little bit nicer vaction this summer and tell the family, this is all due to the generocity of people around the world who just wanted a simple little regulator board in their flashlight to make it more usable.
What could be better than that?
Oh, how we coming on those boards too? Yes, another comedian.....
Paypal is still fired up and ready to send. Just give the word.....two for me please (that will be the start by the way.....)
Bob E.
Imagine a small nuclear fuel cell making 40 amps of good DC juice. You know how many landing lights we could fit in a POB? Actually, we would put two or three together somehow. They put 3 led's in a M@g flashlight here didn't they?
Actually, I want you to make enought to get the neat toys that makes designing and manufacturing these and other boards fast and easy for you. I want you to be able to go on a little bit nicer vaction this summer and tell the family, this is all due to the generocity of people around the world who just wanted a simple little regulator board in their flashlight to make it more usable.
What could be better than that?
Oh, how we coming on those boards too? Yes, another comedian.....
Paypal is still fired up and ready to send. Just give the word.....two for me please (that will be the start by the way.....)
Bob E.
JimmyM
Flashlight Enthusiast
Whoa, I don't know about a better vacation. I don't plan in making THAT much. It will be a comfortable margin. Enough the finance future projects and replenish some money lost on past research on failed projects.
It will help things develop faster and better. It will really improve the production life cycle. I'm really excited about a few upcoming designs.
I've gotten the first of the deliveries today, with others already shipped and on the way.
I'll order the boards and build a prototype using "production" methods. I have enough production style parts for a couple of regulators. Once I've tested them and confirmed proper operation, one or two will go to Lux for testing/proving and the official LuxLuthor stamp of approval.
SafetyBob
Enlightened
Jimmy, I am excited for you to get some really great equipment, expand your enjoyment of creating actual projects that benefit real people (go with me here I am on a roll)......being able to make better electronic projects over and over again and be able to constantly be able improve your equipment which will certainly improve the results will be a great service to us all.
So let's see:
D regulated driver
C regulated driver (projected)
small torch driver (<500watts projected)
medium torch driver (1000 watts projected)
larger torch driver (8000 watt or lower projected)
That got them all? I will go up to maybe the 1000 watt landing light, but you KNOW somebody will find an insane bulb that has that 8000 watt level to it......might as well be prepared.
WAIT......HID? (couple of hundred watts please.....)
But seriously, it sounds like things are coming along very nicely and the results will be beyond what any of us even thought possible......thank you!!
Bob E.
So let's see:
D regulated driver
C regulated driver (projected)
small torch driver (<500watts projected)
medium torch driver (1000 watts projected)
larger torch driver (8000 watt or lower projected)
That got them all? I will go up to maybe the 1000 watt landing light, but you KNOW somebody will find an insane bulb that has that 8000 watt level to it......might as well be prepared.
WAIT......HID? (couple of hundred watts please.....)
But seriously, it sounds like things are coming along very nicely and the results will be beyond what any of us even thought possible......thank you!!
Bob E.
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