Every Maker Should Have...[Pt.45]...a PCBite-Kit
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- An ingenious solution for probing even very small pin-pitch SMD-ICs/components. A bit expensive but exquisitely machined.
Sensepeek Homepage: sensepeek.com/
European price is 134 € incl. VAT here: www.elektor.de...
Support Roger on Patreon: / kainkalabs
Links to other EMSHO-parts shown in the video:
SMD-RLC-Meter: • Every Maker Should Hav...
Weller PCB-Holder: • Every Maker should hav...
Ultra-Sharp Probe-Tips: • Every maker should hav...
Ceramic Solder Plate: • Every Maker should hav...
![Component Tester Shootout [Pt.1]: General Comparison and Diode Testing](/img/1.gif)
Interesting little product. Of course I'm more curious about where to get the flexible material used to make the arm. I've tried a few different kinds salvaged from junk but I haven't come across anything as long and useful as this design utilizes. The head itself looks like a really simple design. I think I already have all the parts I can identify.
A couple of probes are well priced for the EU crowd. Unfortunately there are no US resellers listed and apparently UPS wants their own set of probes for going to the trouble of bringing me a set. The price of $27 is right at the limit of what I would spend for something like this as opposed to just making a similar design myself. Maybe their business and product availability will improve with time.
Thanks for sharing.
-Jake
Have a set of these after struggling with a variety of helping hands and 3d printed syringe needle based probes.
Would have saved so much time if I'd just gone for these in the first place. They just work and they work impressively.
Not cheap, but then I've wasted more than they cost in time and materials in trying to bodge my own solutions together.
For probing signals on fine pitch ICs... I've not used anything as easy to use or as good at staying in place.
I would have preferred they have the endings you connect the cables to be at the base, that way you wont need to touch the probes after you set them and you will also be able to switch between different things you want to connect them to + clear the view a bit
Thanks
Hi Roger! Could you please measure initial force of the clamp? Just put the PCBite on an electronic scales and get the measurement when the clamp is barely open and subtract net weight of the clamp.
There is no "clamp". The probe just presses onto the IC-pin or PCB-pad just by it´s bare weight. This weight is variable depending on how you bend the flexible "arm" and at what angle the downward looking part of the arm is set.
@@KainkaLabs Sorry, I mean PCB clamp, no probe clamp.
The PCB-holders have a very strong spring. You pull the lower/outer jacket of the holder down, put the PCB between the upper part and the lower part and release it. The spring pushes/presses the upper and lower part of the PCB-holder with a very strong force. I have no means to measure that. Why do you want to know that?
@@KainkaLabs Thanks a lot for the answer. I'm thinking of making a set of PCB clamps by myself. The price for the original set is rather high.
The holder looks similar to Omnivise from Hakko. I would also like to know how the PCbite probe works mechanically. Is it just a spring loaded needle tip mounted on a rigid wire or is it more complex? Because my experience with such a setup is not good, the rigid wire does not stay in place, it will spring back a bit and thus the contact pressure is lost. Maybe you could leave the setup 10min alone and then recheck resistance. Also, pls include a prize tag whenever you review something; prize is the most important attribute to any item.
It´s not cheap as I mentioned. In Europe it sells for 134€ incl. VAT for the complete "large" set. I think for the time and effort it saves it´s worth the money. I will probably this week already have an application where I will make heavy use of the probe tips. I will report if there are any issues. But I think due to the constant pressure by the constant weight with which it presses onto the pins there will be no problem in long-term contact resistance.
The probe tips are spring loaded contacts (pogo pins), similar to the ones being used in test equipment used in electronics assembly & testing. That little probe tip that is being pulled from the holder is a sleeve with a spring and a sharp probe tip - all gold plated. As long as the spring is under pressure, the contact resistant will not change.
I am however a big skeptic if the flexible arms are good enough to stay in place. Especially during development I have a PCB under test for a few days and I don't want the probes to move if I accidentally touch them with a hand-held probe.