I did the latest illustration for Wayne and I found it very easy to solder to the vias shown.
I will admit that my actual procedure was slightly different from what Wayne wrote. Since Wayne had worked out exactly how the parts fit on the board, it was not necessary to assemble the diode/resistor pairs before mounting them on the board. I mounted the diode in the proper pad first, bending and cutting the lead so it just rested in the via in the position shown, then soldering. Then I mounted the resistor in the same way. Now both the diode and resistor are held securely since each has a lead soldered to the proper via. Finally, I positioned the parts and formed and trimmed the leads so they touched where the resistor and diode connect together, then soldered the junction. Repeat for the second component pair. Some people complained that the vias were filled with solder. One set of vias on my board were the same, but they are *very* easy to clear even without a power solder sucker using a bit of solder braid. The "trick" to using solder braid is FLUX and adequate heat. Few braids - even the expensive variety - have adequate flux to do the job right. It's almost impossible to introduce more flux by adding solder; the flux burns away too quickly. I keep a bottle of rosin flux on my bench. As it happens I have GC Electronics 10-4202: a 2 oz bottle with a brush. See www.gcelectronics.com for their products, but any *rosin* flux is safe and good to use. Also, remember that the braid is a good "heat sink" requiring you to raise your iron temperature a bit to put adequate heat on the side against the via you want to clear. That's where having narrow braid (I use 2mm) is good because it minimizes the loss of heat. Even so, I set my iron for 750 to 800 F (400-425C). In just a few seconds the vias looked just like what you see on the left side of the illustration at "pad locations" (you can see that they are tinned while the other vias are not). If you use a 1/4 watt resistor the lead will be a snug fit through the via. Once the via is open you can use a probe to open it up a little farther if needed so the end of the lead will slip through. The rosin flux is completely safe. It only becomes corrosive at temperatures that will melt solder. If your board ever gets hot enough for all the solder to melt, the idea of flux becoming active will be the least of your concerns, Hi! If some archeologist finds my K3 RF board at some distant future date, those solder joints will be as sound as they are today. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- No, you still have the diode and resistor in series. However as the each of the vias go to pads 15 & 20 of the connectors respectively, soldering to the pads is an alternative to soldering to the vias. You can check the continuity with a VOM just to make sure. Hope that's OK ? 73 Stewart G3RXQ ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
