It occurred to me that I could solve the mechanical and aesthetic issues if the headers of the two boards were reversed, so that the Mega piggybacked onto the prototyping shield. I could then mount the prototyping shield into my project box and neaten up the wiring in a fixed position and then plug the Mega into it.
So this brings me to a few questions:
Has anybody ever done anything like this?
I am more than competent at soldering but I haven't attempted any mods on an Arduino card. What are peoples thoughts on the survivability of the mega board when I de-solder all the headers and replace them with stacking headers?
The reason for using the prototyping shield is twofold: A. It is impractical and more subject to error to use individual pin jumpers given the volume of wiring and the fact that the board will need to be removed occasionally; B. The project box will be subject to some vibration while in use or transport and I suspect that this will lead to conventional pin jumpers dislodging from the headers. Given those issues how else have people dealt with this when using a Mega?
Thanks in advance for any feedback, thoughts, or ideas!
Tom G.
You could replace the headers on the mega with headers with extra long pins. You could even reuse the ones you take off, on your project board. Problem solved.
You can remove the headers, you need a solder sucker to get rid of the solder but be careful, it's very easy to rip pads off.
I would not attempt to remove the large header on the end in one piece with a normal soldering iron, best to break it up with cutters and remove the pins one at a time. The smaller headers should come out ok.
CrossRoads:
High quality Phoenix brand (made in Germany) 3.5mm pitch screw terminals. One for each header pin, with extra power & ground connections.
I was gonna recommend your shield
BTW, have you considered 0.1" spacing screw terminal blocks? I'm using them for my MEGA shield. I will use larger blocks only for the power connector. Digikey has a lot of 0.1" blocks:
dave-in-nj:
also the PheonixContact will usually have a rising cage. the cheap ones have a compression screw.
That's nice. Never knew the terminology till now. Thanks. My power screw terminals are the compression screw type (only connect/disconnect them occasionally) but other ones are all rising cage.
Sorry for the delay, I couldn't post at all the last several days.
I use crimp housings and terminated wires from Pololu.com
Several standard length wires available, or crimp connectors onto bare wire to make your own.
