I have been trying to identify new things on an old pc power supply I might be able to use with test etc. on my new Arduino uno. I found some voltage regulators, PWM, resistors etc. What are my chances that I can use stuff like this, and be able to use small componets like on the Arduino? I am old school analog and only have a single power soldering iron?
I appreciate any input or advice.
By small components I assume you mean surface mount components.
These are a bit more tricky to work with and you need a good soldering iron or hot air rework station, along with a good quality pair of tweezers and if you are anything like me a magnifying glass or head mounted magnifier.
While a lot of modern devices are available in only surface mount packages I would advise you to get to grips with through hole devices before moving on to surface mount.
Thank you, I will look into the hot air and good soldering iron, and start with through hole. Have no experience with building pcb's in this day anyway.
I've never used surface mount in a home-project. In fact, I generally build the circuit permanently on a plug-in breadboard and avoid soldering as much as possible, if I have the space. I haven't made a custom PC board in many years.
I think most hobbyists use a hot plate, griddle, or flat frying pan. I work for a small electronics manufacturer. We have [u]this pre-heater[/u] and [u]this air pencil[/u], but we only use it for rework. We've got one of those bench-mounted magnifier lamps set-up with our surface-mount rework station.
Our boards are assembled by an outside contractor. We can remove & re-install most surface mount parts, but for any of the fine-pitch parts (smaller than 0.050 pitch) we send the boards back to the board assembly house (if they need rework). Small resistors & capacitors can be difficult with the air pencil too because the air can blow-away the part, and it's difficult to hold it in place (and hold it still) with tweezers when heating it up (for these we sometimes use a soldering iron.)
good to know, I think I am getting ahead of myself and need to take a step back and just follow the tutorial and work into this stuff slowly.
