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Greetings, this is my 1st post in this nice community of makers.
I am nearing completion of my X-Carve :D. I just finished the step where I need to solder the 90° pins to the gShield. Attached is a picture of the solder job. There are a few connections that I wish would have come out nicer. For this reason, I’d like to verify with my multimeter that my solder connections are good. Am I correct in assuming that a low resistance reading between the soldered 90° pin and the adjacent straight pin would indicate a solid connection at each of the 8 locations?
Hopefully this makes sense. Reference attached picture.
Thank you for your help.
Chachin…
Edit: Trying to figure out how to attach the image.
Yes, you can check continuity to test your solder joints. Most of them look ok. From the left of your picture the 4th pin and the 6th pin may have some issues. Both of these pins have solder that look like it touches the trace on the edge of the board. Since there is solder mask there then you are probably ok, but that would be something to correct if you have problems.
The 4th pin has too much solder on it, but that also may not be a problem. Sometimes a solder joint like that one is a “cold” solder joint, which can mask a bad connection. If you have continuity between the two pins that are marked in your picture, then it is not a “cold” solder joint, just one with a little bit too much solder.
I had not even noticed the outer trace along the edge, much less that the blob of solder at pin 4 was potentially touching this trace (great catch!). I went ahead and corrected the solder at pin 4 so that it doesn’t touch the trace. Pin 6 was not contacting the outer trace. What the above picture shows must be a reflection from the flash. Attached is a new image to show the corrected blob of solder at pin 4.
I also went ahead and did continuity checks from bent pin to straight pin at all 8 locations and all is good.
To expand on what LarryM said about cold solder joints… sometimes a cold solder joint will pass a continuity check, but after a few thermal cycles will crack and break. Since you’ve already re-flowed it to correct the too much solder issue, you probably already fixed it. If you have troubles down the line however, you might keep that pin in mind for re-checking. Looks like that pin is used for spindle direction, you you probably don’t need it anyway…
I did order and install the limit switches Eric. I will definitely keep this in the back of my head in case problems arise during operation. Thank you sir.
