OT? First Dumb Mistake of the Year
- Thread starter JimPerry
- Start date
Blimey, three days.Just soldered up a small stripboard for a 556 circuit - then noticed that I had used a 16-pin DIL socket
Mine was 01/01/ 2013
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So why can't you just put the 556 in the socket with the bottom two pins on the socket unused?Just soldered up a small stripboard for a 556 circuit - then noticed that I had used a 16-pin DIL socket
If there's gaps in the middle rather than at the end then they'll only be out by one strip so they can easily be moved to the correct strips.
JimPerry
Senior Member
Because, like a complete fool, my mind switched to counting pins from 1 - and as there were 8 pins on each side nothing is in the correct place
Have you already cut all the tracks with the stripboard cutter?Because, like a complete fool, my mind switched to counting pins from 1 - and as there were 8 pins on each side nothing is in the correct place
If a large amount of the pins that need moving were connected with wires then they can simply be desoldered and repositioned.
Even if you can't save it, it was only a small circuit so not much stripboard wasted. But it's often good to have a previously assembled breadboard version of the project in front of you so that you can check how many pins each chip has and where they go. Also treating each side of the IC as separate SIL connectors reduces the likeliness of an error like yours being unrecoverable as long as you count the pins from the same end on both connectors.
I made a mistake on the first. Ages ago I built an adjustable switching regulator circuit on stripboard which has 2.1mm DC jacks for input and output and terminal blocks for the output. I plugged a 12V power supply into the output power jack, causing the PICAXE and an LCD to be powered with 12V. The PICAXE, being an M2 part, was saved by its internal voltage regulator. The LCD survived with only 'minor injuries' - which was surprising as I was expecting it to die completely - it just requires a slightly greater Vdd-Vo voltage and does that weird thing where having more pixels on makes that column fade but only on the left side of the display and only when the contrast level is set too low.
JimPerry
Senior Member
Oh, yes - it is a 25p piece of toast (rescued everything but the socket and a 1K resistor).
My other memorable screw-ups include laminating a colour poster - produced by a Xerox wax-based printer (smear, smear) - and labeling a CD with a Neato label - on the wrong side.
We live and learn
Brilliant Jim, i like how you are working on getting all the mistakes out of the way early in the year
My favorite is putting electo caps on backwards, magic devices with how the are self trouble shooting, and let you know with a loud POP and all that crud everywhere to indicate where the problem is, and should you be deaf and blind, they also include a bad smell, should you have missed the other 2 indicators.
My favorite is putting electo caps on backwards, magic devices with how the are self trouble shooting, and let you know with a loud POP and all that crud everywhere to indicate where the problem is, and should you be deaf and blind, they also include a bad smell, should you have missed the other 2 indicators.
flyingnunrt
Senior Member
Talk about a bad smell...
Have you ever shorted a DIPswitch across a 3 cell Li-Po?
That is really BAD!!
Have you ever shorted a DIPswitch across a 3 cell Li-Po?
That is really BAD!!
All the above has restored my faith in human nature.I have cooked the odd transformer and let the smoke out of lots of transistors and things over the years. I havent actually damaged anything yet this year but it wont be long as I plan to use the soldering iron soon. Best "little accident" I ever saw the aftermath of was a very experienced Marine Electronics engineer reverse polarity two very large capacitors (bigger than milk bottles and much fatter) when building a 50+ Amp 12v power supply. Spectacular, just like after a snowstorm and very loud as well I was informed. Also very expensive. But no doubt I will do my best even though I draw everything out first and double check it.
Clockwork
Clockwork