First off, apologies for any idiocy, I'm still an absolute noob at this.
I'm at the stage in my project where I'm trying to make the connections to my NRF24L01 breakout board permanent.
The Board looks like this.
I'm thinking I need to desolder the header pins to replace them with something more permanent (I don't want to use dupont cables 'cause they seem a bit hit and miss).
Am I thinking along the right lines? The alternative I was thinking was just soldering directly to the header pins, but have a hunch that is asking for trouble(bad/brittle connections)?
Thanks (sorry if this question has been asked before, I've tried to find it but no luck)
Cheers
Mark
Thanks bro,
Didn't actually think it might be down to the quality of the dupont cables.
Hot plate pretty interesting.
I'm so new I've no idea what evern exists!
That's my GFs mousepad with a picture of "Beans" on it. LOL
Got lots of mounts and bits for arduino stuff you can print. Spacers, holders, brackets, etc. Lets you mount, for example, SD cards so you can access them thru a panel or mount them flat for internal access only.
I have more than what you see on Cults. Ask me if you need something special. I also don't mind printing "one off's" if you pay shipping.
Or remove the pins, and use wires.
Put the board in a clamp, hold one pin with pliers, heat up the solder, and pull the pin up through the plastic, clean pads with solderwick if needed, solder wires to it, pat syourself on the back.
Again, a piece of heatshrink over the wire bunch will make it last longer.
Leo..
What are you thinking of replacing the header pins with? Wires going directly into the holes and soldered, may or may not be a great idea depending on the type of wires and the physical situation...
Yeah, fine wires soldered will shear at the transition from soldered to no solder. Once they break off, getting the tails out to reuse the card is a challenge. After all that work, chances are the module won't survive.
The duponts, when grouped with a shroud, hold firm. Singletons fall out.
You can splay the pins on the PCB a little bit and the shroud will hold the pins in place and the connection will remain solid. You can shake the connectors and nothing comes loose. The mass of the modules vs the retention force is low. Bigger modules like a 2004 LCD will hold when lifted by the cable.
You can replace those 2.54 pin headers with 2.54 Molex latching connectors. They are just 2.54 Dupont connector with a latching mechanism. I've seen them in both 2-pin and 6-pin. Not sure about the head room required when your NRF24L01 board plugs into that breakout board, but you could probably mount them from the backside as well.
You can get thin wire and wrap it around the pin a couple of times then solder over it, works great and you can still use dupont cables. Alternatively, pull up plastic base and take it off then you can desolder pins one by one
I remove headers by prying off the black insulator / spacer.
Then you can:
Solder your wire wrapped around the remaining pin
Remove each pin with a needle nose pliers and soldering iron. You will have to heat the hole when you add your wire as the hole is likely filled at least partially with solder.
Purchase a solder sucker (pretty cheap, I like this blue one)
AFAIK using a hot plate will still leave solder in the holes.
