Ready, steady,.....

I took the solder paste out of the fridge some hours ago. I had to use pliers to unscrew the clear sealing cap, and to screw on the blue plastic nozzle. Looking at it, I can see patches of yellow in the paste (flux?) as if it isn't properly mixed. You can see it in the picture below under the word "Omni".

The part near the nozzle looks homogenous, though, so I'm not too worried. I probably won't get to the separated paste further down the syringe.

I began to coat the surface-mounting pads on the stepper driver board, carefully doing the pads in the order as given for placing the components so that I wouldn't end up coating the pads for my non-surface-mounted 0.25 ohm resistors. Here is an action shot of paste just about to be applied to the motor pads.


Here is the pasted board - you can see R3 and R16 (below and above the chip location, respectively) left untouched.

Reading those instructions on LED orientation didn't help, because my LEDs have a green "T" marking on the underside, so it wasn't obvious which end is which. I guess if I get it wrong the LED simply won't light!
I went back to RapidOnline, who supplied the LEDs, and looked at the full tech.spec. as given for the part number. The data sheet shows current flow to be in the direction of the "T" from top to stem, so I've aligned the triangle on the LED's data sheet diagram with that on the circuit diagram for the board.

Here is the pasted/assembled board, all ready for frying (except it's tea-time, the cooker is in use, and I'll have to wait!):


I was surprised to find that the board was more robust in this state than I expected, and had no problems moving it to take the photograph.

Woo-hoo

The good folks at Farnell, bless their little cotton socks, had refunded £20.75 straight onto my credit card (but fogot to tell me!). They didn't have to do this, as it was my error in the first place, so I am very grateful.
I have now ordered, from Farnell, as it only seems right, some solder wire and solder paste. I'm going for lead-free as an environmental sciency person.

Farnell (second) sub-total £19.26

• solder paste, lead-free, no-clean, 5 ml, 10 g, manufacturer: Edsyn, part number 1521898, £16.11
  
• solder wire, lead-free, 0.7 mm, 2 m, manufacturer: Multicore, part number 9887105, 64 p.

When it comes to adding the costs of everything, I can take off £20.75 for the Farnell refund, but add £1.62 it cost me to post the extraneous parts back!

Back on 11th June, the costs had reached £262.88, excluding a set of washers and screws from B&Q, and the welding tips that got missed off, at £2.
Then on the 21st July came the first Farnell order (less the refund now received), £72.08
and the subsequent return postage of £1.62
the RapidOnline order £12.35
the RS order (less the solder paste refund now received), £3.59
the Maplin further order (including 2 LEDs now not needed) £1.99
today's Farnell second order (as above) £19.26

so the running total now stands at a whopping £375.77

I probably wouldn't have started if I'd thought I'd be spending this much, but hey, still having fun, and it's giving me something unusual to talk about at weddings!

Joy and distress

Having been informed by Nophead that I had eleven too many headers (I had ordered 12 24-pin connectors, as listed on the Reprap parts lister, when it seems 4-pins were needed, so one 24-pin cut up into short sections would be enough for all three boards!), I emailed Farnell. I explained that it was entirely my error, that I'd ordered 12 and only wanted 1, and asked if I could send the others back unused for a refund. They emailed to say yes, or at least I'd get a credit raised. Very decent of them, considering!
I've put them back in the post now. That was the joy.

Now for the distress. After RS local trade counter failed to find my goods when I was there, and then took half an hour to determine that the missing item, solder paste, wouldn't be available until the 6th August, I thought I'd better ring the trade counter to check it was there before setting off on my sojourn. I rang the number given for the local counter this morning - but the system automatically puts you through to head-office. I explained what I wanted, and the lady said she'd ring the counter for me to check (since there was nothing on their system) ringing me straight back.

Having heard nothing 3 hours later, I rang again. She said she'd been trying, but nobody answered. She'd continue trying.
Another 2 hours passed, I rang again, and got passed to somebody new, who redirected me to the counter - but all I got was holding messages.
When she went off shift, I got passed to the 3rd operator, who tried again.... Anyway, another 2 hours later, she rang me back to say she hadn't managed to talk to anyone yet (it was now 5 pm) and went away (with me on hold) to consider options.
As a private individual without an account BECAUSE I'D ELECTED TO COLLECT (apparently), she couldn't send me another tube of paste out, because their system didn't have my details on it! It would look like a new order - unpaid. So I'd have to pay again online, and then have a credit put on my account afterwards. Humph. So they'd get to keep the money. Don't like that.
The weird thing is that all my details are on one of their systems - I can get to it all when I log in to their ordering website. After going round the houses, and it being 3 weeks since I expected to have the solder paste, and them not being able to tell me where it was/is, I have requested a refund. I should receive a cheque.
Guess I'll be using my Farnell credit to order solder paste....

The order of things

I ordered from Farnell and RapidOnline the day before yesterday. Then I went off to Maplin by bus to get their parts.
Unfortunately, it is apparently Maplin's company policy to stock only 2 of the green LEDs. Be aware of this. It means it's better to buy a bag of 5 from RS instead, if you want more than 2 from a shop. As it is, I ended up taking what they had, and then discovering that fact when I got back home, so then I ordered from RS as well, meaning I'm going to have 7 green LEDs! I was planning to collect the RS parts from their local trade counter today - more later.

Here is a picture of the parcel of electronics components I collected from Maplin.
No I've not a clue what's in it either..... You hand over your list, and receive a bundle from the store room, with no labels. Hmmm. I'm going to have to be very careful collating the different parts for the different boards. And I'm going to have to label the components myself, beforehand, to have any chance of getting the right part in the right place.

The best thing about ordering ONLINE is that you don't have to drag yourself around different shops in order to find exactly what you want/need. Or find that they haven't actually got it. Oh, and you get the delight of (often) finding exactly what you want. Oh, and then you recognise just how far online purchasing has come in the last couple of years. Then you get the joy of the anticipation. Then more joy with the delivery. Then you get to unwrap your "pressie/s"!

And wonder, what on earth is it?

At least online stuff that is delivered comes with a despatch note, identifying what is in your parcel.

I'm very impressed with the Farnell and RapidOnline ordering systems. You can copy and paste a list of your parts with optional extra text in the case of Farnell, so I have been able to add my own identifier, as per my components spreadsheet.
My Farnell delivery arrived yesterday afternoon by UPS in a shoebox-sized carton. Everything is in its own bag, labelled with the part number and a brief shop description. That identifier text I submitted has been added onto Farnell's despatch note, so that I can trace the parts by my own identifier, not just the supplier's. Nice. And my RapidOnline order came by Royal Mail this morning.

I'm not impressed by RS, though. I ordered my 3 different items online, and booked them for collection at the local RS trade counter (TC). I thought that was a fine plan. Turns out that RS TC stands for Really Slow Tree Chopping. I guess.
Anyway, along I went, finding it is at the back of beyond off the bus route, and then a bit further, and then round the corner to the far door, and then a wait. One item appeared. The Chap asked another member of staff. Another wait. A second item appeared from storage elsewhere. Another wait. A third person was roped in at this stage. Another wait. It turned out that my third item, the solder paste, was out of stock. (There seems to be a UK-wide dearth of lead-free solder paste!)
When I'd ordered online, it was all marked "available". Hmmmmph. The Chap then said he'd get my paperwork ready - this was when I think they went out back to chop down the trees! I ended up, EVENTUALLY, with several sheets of paper and an extra one saying that I HAD paid in full. This all took well over half an hour. So I have to go back with that note in 2 weeks' time, 6th August, when they should have the last item in.
Oh the joy of online ordering!!