Armchair Bronco
Member
- Messages
- 620
My GGG "Rodent" ProCo RAT clone arrived over the weekend, and I'm just about ready to fire up my soldering iron later this evening.
I've have quite a bit of soldering experience, but all of it has been with small electric motors for radio controlled airplanes, electronic speed controls, and lately with patch cables. But I've yet to solder even a single component on a PCB.
I'm planning to secure the PCB in a mini vise so I'll have both hands free. My clamp-on vise looks like this one:
I also have a couple of spring-loaded heat-sink clips, and I was planning to use these to dissipate heat, even from things like resistors and caps that don't ordinarily need such treatment.
I'm in no rush to finishing this build. My goal is to get it right the first time with NO MISTAKES. If I plug it in the first time and it works, I'll be a happy rocker indeed.
So: what are some general tips and tricks that I could benefit from, in no particular order?
I've have quite a bit of soldering experience, but all of it has been with small electric motors for radio controlled airplanes, electronic speed controls, and lately with patch cables. But I've yet to solder even a single component on a PCB.
I'm planning to secure the PCB in a mini vise so I'll have both hands free. My clamp-on vise looks like this one:

I also have a couple of spring-loaded heat-sink clips, and I was planning to use these to dissipate heat, even from things like resistors and caps that don't ordinarily need such treatment.
I'm in no rush to finishing this build. My goal is to get it right the first time with NO MISTAKES. If I plug it in the first time and it works, I'll be a happy rocker indeed.
So: what are some general tips and tricks that I could benefit from, in no particular order?