Ever since I started doing runs on my Projects, I needed to plan for a lot of things, which mainly, was caused by budgeting issues. The numbers of PCBs required was too small to be outsourced and also, the price, if any, does not justify the endeavor. In the end, the usual solution would come down to myself doing all the soldering and stuff.
Gettin’ Jiggy wit it
When I need to consistently solder the PCB boards, I have to make sure the results from repeated soldering does not deviate. And they must be completed as fast as possible too. Watching all those YouTube videos about manufacturing did give me ideas except that I do not have the luxury of a solder bath, automated component placement or even a Jig.
But. A. Jig!
Yes! I can make one!
In most of my ‘mass manufacturing’ activity, I always have a Jig to make ensure minimal delays to soldering or even wiring. In this case, I have created a temporary soldering Jig for the LiPo Charger Adaptor. The original LiPo Charger only has a USB-C connector for the power source. However, from the Board to the Product, there are no connectors which means, one needs to solder the battery to the Module. Long story short, I designed a simple PCB to connect to the Module which has a JST2.54, and a JST1.25 micro connector.
This Lipo charger module must be prepared before it can be soldered to my PCB. The first step is to solder the PC Pins which must be aligned upright correctly. To do this, I plugged in a pair of PC pins into the prototype board (yellow arrow). The other pair of PC pins (green) are then plugged in the opposite direction. When the module is placed over them, the (green) pins are upright and the PCB is level.
To repeat the process, I just need to cut away and plug in the two PC pins, place the LiPo Charge Module on top and solder.
Once I have soldered the prepared LiPo Charger module onto the PCB, the excess pins needs to be cut away. This is the part where one can get hurt. The PC pins are quite strong and when it is cut, they will spring away, becoming shrapnel. Here in this situation, the cut pins will shoot upwards. Since my cutter does not have a ‘catcher’ mechanism, I improvised by placing my finger over the pin. To protect my finger, I placed two layers of double-sided tape before taping it. You can see how dangerous when the cut pins stuck to the protection layer. And even more when you see the holes it left on the tape.
In the end, it is all done. They will be packed first while waiting for the rest to come. Together, the bag will be filled with more PCBs and parts, one stage at a time until it is completed,
