How difficult is it to wire up a PC?

[Viper1]

Hi everyone,

I completed my first MHS saber a few months ago, just a basic p4 stunt saber. I've just started thinking that i would really like a saber with sound. How difficult a job is it to install a PC sound board?

The reason i ask is the only soldering experience i have is what i used to wire up the stunt saber and on that ended up having to order a new LED because i made a botch job of soldering the first one. This is not a problem with a cheap LED but the last thing i want to do is buy a PC at $125 and mess it up

I've enquired with various saber smiths about getting a pc installed and it's going to cost an arm and a leg (on my budget)

Is this a job that as a relative noob that i should avoid or do i just need to give myself a kick up the ass?

Cheers

Simon

[amwolf]

PC's are advanced soldering, in my opinion (i've now wired up 2 of them). The pads are small (don't solder through the holes!) and you have to tin them, which is my biggest skill set issue with them so far. I would recommend practice, practice, practice. A good soldering iron with a very pointy tip really helps too 'cause in some areas there's not a lot of room. Did I mention to practice your soldering skills? If you can acquire a PC (check your local wallet for conditions in your area), just looking at it through the bag will give you an idea of what you're in for. Card one terrified me, but seeing it perform once wired up and configured more than made up any shakes I may have had when I started.

Have you tried rewiring one of the Hasbro boards yet? They're a good board to learn on without breaking the bank...

[Viper1]

PC's are advanced soldering, in my opinion (i've now wired up 2 of them). The pads are small (don't solder through the holes!) and you have to tin them, which is my biggest skill set issue with them so far. I would recommend practice, practice, practice. A good soldering iron with a very pointy tip really helps too 'cause in some areas there's not a lot of room. Did I mention to practice your soldering skills? If you can acquire a PC (check your local wallet for conditions in your area), just looking at it through the bag will give you an idea of what you're in for. Card one terrified me, but seeing it perform once wired up and configured more than made up any shakes I may have had when I started.

Have you tried rewiring one of the Hasbro boards yet? They're a good board to learn on without breaking the bank...

Thanks for the reply amwolf.

Having read what you have to say that's deffinately answerd the question for me. I'm not even going to attempt wiring a pc myself, it's deffinately going to require a step up on my part. Basic soldering such as is needed for a stunt MHS i can handle but im not going to risk attempting a PC.

When i decide to install sound myself i'll start with practicing on cheap hasbro boards.

Thgank's again

[havoc64]

I would even go one better by heading down to radio shack and buy a practice board with pads about the same size as the PC or CF cards. Then you can buy some resistors and what not and practice soldering them to the board. All in all you will be out about $4. That's what I did to practice for the smaller pads.

Good Luck

[brett]

I had never soldered before, but with many informative tutorials on you tube, (as well as on this forum of course) as well as buying a reasonable soldering iron, it all went well first time. What really helped me was a good light/magnifier. It really made the difference when soldering the switches, which is (I think) the most difficult area on the board (PC) . The CF actually looks easier to solder because there are no big sensors in the way. If you have an at all reasonably steady hand, and good iron, I would imagine most people could attempt such work successfully. It is just the expense that creates doubt, again, IMHO.

[SirRolfofSpork]

I would even go one better by heading down to radio shack and buy a practice board with pads about the same size as the PC or CF cards. Then you can buy some resistors and what not and practice soldering them to the board. All in all you will be out about $4. That's what I did to practice for the smaller pads.

Good Luck

+1 on cheap practice recommendation! You can also buy some cheap learner kits (voice modulators, light sensor, etc) that give you a feeling of building something along with getting the practice, although these are a bit more than $4, but far less than a PC.

-S.R.

[Cancer]

My first and probably most reasonable recommendation to you is to invest in a good iron with a nice and tight tip. Expect to throw down a little cash on this, but there's nothing worse than botching a job just because your tools aren't up to par with the job you're doing. Don't expect a 60w iron with a 1-inch diameter tip to do the same job on a small project that a solid adjustable-heat iron can do with a 1mm tip. Your tools make a difference!
If you're cruising through RadioShack, be wary. They sell a LOT of junk irons. They also sell a few decent ones.

If you're going on the cheap, check out the 64-093. Nice little 20w with a selection of different tips including a hook-tip and a hobby-knife tip. Both can be helpful, under the right circumstances/projects.
If you're looking for a good, solid investment iron that will be around for quite a few years and serve multiple functions, check out the 64-053. RadioShack sells these irons for around $24.99, but they're equipped with digital heat control and a pretty nice tip to start with (60w max).

Once you get yourself a nice iron, start looking for secondary tools to help you out. Stock up on alligator clips, tip cleaners and you may even look into getting yourself a little tin of flux. My most commonly used secondary tool is called a Helping Hands Tool, equipped with jointed alligator clips, a nice magnifying class, solder sponge (for cleaning your iron) and an iron rack for keeping your iron safely handy but still out of the way when not in use. *Edit: Insert:* Catalog #: 64-079

[DarthAlice]

I just finished wiring a my 1st PC & just tested it. Depending on what your running for an LED & if your running any auxil. lights really makes it your choice on difficulty level. I have wired up a few different hilts & some FX boards & a NS3 board, the PC is a bit more ah tedious. One thing that did make it easier was using ribbon tape & writing a color chart/legend



Erv said it is fine to wire on the back of the board according to one of his posts on FX.As some will notice I used the pads on the back of the board for switches (as was done on the main & aux switch wires, one thing I had to double check my connections versus wires due to a small mistake on the blinky circuit (which was mislabeled after I wired it, they always say measure twice, cut once)

(yes the hot glue looks abit messy, I like the wire to stay put once its soldered.)

[Johannes Huber]

Hi!,

havoc64, your suggestion of using practice boards to develop soldering skill sounds like a very smart investment of time and materials. I just went to the Radioshack website and took a look in their online catalog and was wondering, are you referring to pc boards, perf boards, breadboards, IC PC boards or something altogether different? I tried a search for "practice soldering boards" and that only showed a soldering iron by itself so... If you have a second and can tell us what type of board you were referring to, it would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

Johannes

[cardcollector]

The best way to practice for a PC is to get some blank PCB or circuit board, and work on adding wires to a single trace. I did that, then moved to the PC... made it a piece of cake.