New PCBs from JLCPCB: Gold Fingers - Power Distribution

JLCPCB Prototype for $2(Any Color): jlcpcb.com
A new PCB with a gold-fingered edge connector designed to mate with an 805-12P socket.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro...
805-12P Connector on eBay: ebay.us/ViOrcc

[@jerril42]

Fantastic design concept. Watching this vocoder build is a great contrast to my digital endeavours. Thanks Julian.

[@ChrisFredriksson]

Really fun and interesting, I've wanted to see this in a video for ages, but haven't looked for one and then you post one :) Awesome!

[@timballam3675]

Alternative to a key to stop inpropper insertion is to have the pins reversed on either side....

[@jaaasgoed]

Don't they do hard gold automatically for gold fingers? Usually you don't do enig but " hard gold" on pcb fingers. This is a thicker gold layer as extra protection for the mechanical friction when sliding it in and out the connector.

[@subigirlawd_7307]

This is so cool... This is going to look and I'm positive it will have the performance of a mass produced piece of equipment when it's all done... Thank you for sharing this video with us mere mortals

[@melkiorwiseman5234]

*sings* Gold fingers. He's the man with the golden pads! :) (C'mon, you know someone had to do it. May as well have been me) :D

[@Flymochairman1]

Very nice solution there, Julian. That's the sort of part that I've been trying to envisage, admittedly off -handedly, for getting rid of the 'wall-warts' that so much day-to-day equipement relies on. If there is such a product already marketed for doing just that, can somebody point me in the right direction, please. Pinning out a PC power supply to that would provide quite a decent range and connectivity, providing the wattage demand isn't too high. Excellent hobbyist idea too, as well as l/p amplifiers and effects.

[@AlanLifeson]

Brings back memories of Commodore 64 tape deck connectors. :)

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

or if your older the Commodore pet!

[@AlanLifeson]

@@TheEmbeddedHobbyist Yeah, I learned to program on the Commodore pet, but never owned one. But they were only 5 years before the C64 and 4 years before the Vic-20, had a few of those.

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

@@AlanLifeson I learnt basic on a 4016 which I updated to a 4032. extra 16K ram! Still have it, but have not turned it on for a few years now.

[@commocore]

Nice, just found this video while looking for some solution to extend my cartridge project for Commodore 64 :).

[@siberx4]

Note that most "manufactured" PCB edge connectors use a different plating process called "hard gold" for the fingers (they still use ENIG for the pads) that results in a much thicker and more durable surface coating than the standard ENIG process used for regular pads. The ENIG-plated fingers shown here will work fine as long as the application calls for a very limited number of insertions/removals, but you'll quickly wear through the very thin gold plating if you try to use edge connectors manufactured this way in a scenario that requires regular replacement of the cards/boards.

[@TheDefpom]

@3:00 I have repaired test gear where the misaligned board edge CAN short out the socket pins (it was a Fluke 5200A AC calibrator), it really depends upon the socket pin density and spacing.

[@ehwestonful]

Why aren't there any keys on the socket and PCB edge connector to prevent reverse connection or possible misaligned insertion?

[@karlng2691]

Julian, More kits please!!!!! But harder.... I love the soldering! Thanks for the video haha!

[@jlucasound]

JULIAN!!!! :-) You bring Sunshine to even Great Britain!!!

[@duncanx99]

Given Julian's dependence on solar, he needs to... Is the vocoder going to be solar powered, I wonder?

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

Those connectors look great! They are used for bringing Sonic and Mario to the TV set!

[@R4MP4G3RXD]

9:36 "FOCUS YOU FAAK"

[@YTANDY100]

@ R4MP4G3RXD i was also thinking that :-)

[@chefbink61]

I got a red one with my last order,,,,, so there!!! Great vid,, Thanks for sharing!

[@duncanx99]

Good to hear that you have no problems with flow and wetting. I unfortunately suffer with one of the curses of male old age - enlarged prostate!!!

[@gcewing]

Bond is strapped to a chair, with his hand being inserted into a diabolical-looking machine, Gold Finger: How do you like my bevel grinder, Mr. Bond? Bond: You expect me to talk? Gold Finger: (Surprised laugh) No, Mr. Bond! I expect you to set your fingers back 1.2mm!

[@DarrenDignam]

Would be interesting to see the contact resistance, and the effects of wiggling the connector.

[@simona625]

Would appreciate a video on designing the board in software please.

[@booboyBL]

I was interested by the reference to electroless nickel plating. I once worked extensively with this process. ENP is driven chemically, rather than electrically, and has the advantage that it gives a very uniform plating thickness, even on complex geometeries. Electroplating thickness varies greatly, being thicker in areas of high current density, (i.e. edges and extremities of the part).

[@JulianIlett]

Thanks, interesting stuff :)

[@kevinpreller1380]

Would love to see a video of designing this edge connector. I need to design a similar thing in kicad and am having issues.

[@AppleFreak675]

Hey how did you configure the correct length between the jst connectors? I am afraid the connector wont fit if I put the wrong length, please help me out here!

[@legominimovieproductions]

Hey, i have 2 hp 460-bb server psu's, and there are no existing breakout boards for them. Could you tell me how to find these blue card edge connectors in the right size? I wanted to build a breakout board for them because i dont want so solder the wires on the psu pcb

[@bipolarchemist]

"I only made 5 b ecause the gold plating is a little bit more expensive than the tin/lead" is a bit of an understatement. I looked into it once when I fancied myself doing something similar to what you've done/are planning to do and the sticker shock quickly made me re-evaluate my life choices.

[@legominimovieproductions]

At 5:20 , what is this board and where did you got it from? It looks like it would fit in a pci/pcie slot

[@thetruthserum2816]

You should have maxed out the trace width in the design rules, and added a copper fill on both sides. Did you have to draw that pad set yourself, and then trace the board outline to match the slot width? I looked for a ready made part to do goldfingers, but found none that matched my 4x2 pin receptacle... Also, if doing 2 sides not the same, would the approach be to use two 4 pin pads, then place one set on the back ,and one on the front? (2 parts), so as to know which side of the copper it was on?

[@Mark1024MAK]

Ha! You will find that over the last 50 years, PCBs for both industrial use and consumer use have been made with edge-connectors. Some only used the bare copper for the contact surface of the connector. Some use HASL and some use ENIG. Obviously just bare copper is not a good idea, but edge-connectors with HASL or ENIG are surprisingly robust and can withstand a surprising number of insertions. Of course, the copper and the coating has to be sufficiently thick if it is going to withstand lots of insertions. The female edge-connectors used to be available with both tin plated contacts as well as gold plated contacts. Despite the problems with dissimilar metals, mixing gold and tin plated connectors works fine, as long as they are used and stored in a dry environment. But if used outside, or anywhere that condensation can form, or in humid environments, then problems occur with poor contact resistance and white power growth, which results in system faults.

[@AJB2K3]

nice work on those fingers.

[@azyfloof]

I've watched SO MANY of Seon's streams, and only now learn what ENIG stands for :P

[@s.h7124]

Would be nice if you make a video how you made the fingers in kivas I’m assuming that what you used. Thank you

[@davestech6357]

Why dont you have any capacitors or leds on the board?

[@ergindemir7366]

Is there a library, or do we have to draw it ourselves?

[@toppobrillo]

the ENIG finish will be quite soft and very thin, I wonder how well it holds up to 100 insertions or so...

[@TheDIYGuy999]

Why you don‘t label your connectors?

[@gregorythomas333]

Those boards look rather nice! Yes...they do remind me of the C64 connectors :)

[@MrBrymstond]

Silver is the best conductor, but it tarnishes to quick and needs coating after installing the components, you could use liquid tin to protect the copper or nickel or use a non-electrical conductive sealer.

[@andarthome142]

Nice board, can you do a video about how you design your boards.

[@tonylorentzen]

Yes please!

[@duncanx99]

I'd certainly like to see how you specify the board to JLCPCB.

[@tonylorentzen]

@@duncanx99 The way to do this is through so-called Gerber files that are created in a PCB layout program. I'd still love to see how that process works and what kind of layout software you're using, Julian.

[@tinygriffy]

Why not use all available copper on the pcb when building a power distribution board ?

[@JulianIlett]

The currents involved here are not huge.

[@larryjaques7]

Will you be specifying a wider tab for future PCBs, Julian? Centering on the pad is optimum, and there is no cost difference, right? Interesting talk. Thanks.

[@JulianIlett]

I probably will - also a thinner PCB (maybe 1.2mm). Also the connector isn't exactly 3.96mm, it's more like 3.97mm - which is closer to 5/32"

[@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse]

Is there no chance of voltage creep on the 12v to ground pins if the socket is slightly misaligned as you have no solder resist mask between the edge connectors?

[@DurzoBlunts]

For voltage creep and of ever crud builds up i will resort to evidence outlined by Louis Rossmann and his videos on a design flaw in Macbooks that short out a LED backlight voltage line to the CPU line which is not the 50+ v the backlight runs on. Needlesss to say he saw many dead CPUs on that series.

[@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse]

@@DurzoBlunts Yes that is where I got the thought from given the movement possible in the slot Julian posted.

[@Mark1024MAK]

Andi Archer - not across that distance at that voltage level. Unless of course the surface becomes covered in damp dirt.

[@user-qf6yt3id3w]

Watching AvE taught me that cameras focus faster if you say "Focus, you fuck!"

[@ryanmalin]

Stop talking and stick it in!!! 😜

[@rich1051414]

That's what she said...

[@UnexpectedMaker]

OMG, You showed your face on YT! I've not had a reason to do gold fingers on a project yet, but I have been quite curious about how well JLC can make them, and they do look quite good! And a clever use for them in your project too! Do you know if you can find right angled female connectors? So the board can slot in in parallel with the main board? Like m.2 drives do?

[@helmuthschultes9243]

@unexpected maker, there probably are still some right angle edge conn. But more common is a daughter card at right angle with normal 90deg edge conn set for multiple side ways stacked boards. Seems edge conn are less and less common with modern assemblies

[@bobriemersma]

"Because a great power supply can't have enough solder joints and high-resistance erratic friction connections."

[@1dakikadakarakalem]

Can you do make adressable rgb controller ?

[@jethrokarsters9125]

Where did you get the edge connectors from?

[@AJB2K3]

ebay, aliexpress or banggood. They come up ofter but Commodore 64 compatable one are rear as hens teeth!

[@jethrokarsters9125]

@@AJB2K3 haha.. oke thanks man. I'll look em up!

[@JulianIlett]

I've added a link to the description :)

[@DrGreenGiant]

Living the risky life not making it reversible Julian! Lol

[@CrazyCoupleDIY]

I always order my PCBs from JLC PCB, they are too good

[@jlucasound]

It is like four Bus Bars in one PCB. Nice. Am I right, Julian? Gnd (0), +5V, +12V, -12V. ?

[@JulianIlett]

That's it :)

[@urugulu1656]

if this vocoder ever gets completed i want to see what you spent on it including shipping. i could imagine some could go broke even just loking at the expenses of this project

[@overlordgamingLTD]

For 10 boards shipped it's about 8 euro so it's still cheap enough even after shipping.

[@urugulu1656]

@@overlordgamingLTD given i frequently find 20 bucks worth of shipping on the screen captures well not really

[@manfredmurer9508]

I'd dare to say that you missed the with of the connector part of your PCB by some 1-2 mm...

[@Markus0021]

You did understand his explanation of why he did this, right? And that it was a deliberate design choice?

[@AsilarWindsailor]

Collaboration video between Julian and the 8-Bit Guy???? I heard him say "Commodore"

[@idontwantachannelimjustcom7745]

I'm now picturing a 1xpcie with an arduino on board. Make a computer card that interfaces with an arduino to control something. Make a smart home or a weather station or something.

[@duncanx99]

Been there, done that, quickly wondered why I bothered...

[@idontwantachannelimjustcom7745]

@@duncanx99 or a pcie->pci->isa adapter then arduino

[@AJB2K3]

Who's got the song Goldfinger stuck in their heads now?

[@massimookissed1023]

Well I do now.

[@JulianIlett]

Yeah, I've been singing that all week :)

[@andymouse]

Me...cheers for that!

[@tinplategeek1058]

🎵 The man with the midas touch 🎵

[@unperrier5998]

"you can't have 2 plating on one board"... yet the old board he showed us and used as reference (the larger one with the misalignments) has pads with two colors: silver and golden... unless there's no gold plating and the pins exhibit raw copper, but I doubt it as there's no trace of oxidation whatsoever. Unless it's not possible with JLCPCB but the Julian didn't mention that.

[@Mark1024MAK]

Un Perrier - it is possible to have the majority of the board HASL, and just the edge-connector fingers gold plated. But not for the cheaper end of the market.

[@unperrier5998]

@@Mark1024MAK So yeah that's a JLCPCB limitation then. thanks

[@petesclark]

I think it's spelled 'oxidization'.

[@unperrier5998]

​@@petesclark right, I used a 'y' as I usually do in French (as I'm French), but in English it's with an 'i' instead. Thanks, I'll update the post. As to the 'z', in the UK it's with an 's' (I live in the UK) www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/oxidisation

[@Mark1024MAK]

Copper, over time, especially in a damp atmosphere may suffer from oxidation. The name of the resulting blue/green layer is verdigris. However, if kept in dry conditions, verdigris may not form and instead the surface of the copper changes from a bright shiny colour to a darker dull colour. Neither is good for electrical contacts.

[@gcewing]

3.96mm makes more sense as 5/32".

[@helmuthschultes9243]

Soldering should be fine when using good flux core solder

[@jw200]

Can you recommend any?

[@helmuthschultes9243]

@@jw200 the comment mainly was related to soldering qualities on the pcb finish. Good flux is always best for results. Which solder are good types has many variables. Location/country, available suppliers, price, stock held etc, etc. I have never found any premium solders on the Ebay, Banggood, etc cheap channels

[@helmuthschultes9243]

MULTICORE BRAND was always great, but does not seem stocked at retail channels for many years. I have made do with many lesser brands for some time. RS, Farnell(Element 14 here) and others seem over priced, or made purchase too difficult (See Defpom with RS supply)

[@Jaycsee66]

Cue Shirley Bassey.

[@duncanx99]

Wouldn't we all have liked to do so....

[@thenewtechguy8526]

You should first let GND contact GND then the rest of the power pins.

[@greaser5691]

8:37... I could smell that horrid stench of solder wetting gold through the screen... :)

[@MrBrymstond]

Pulling the connectors in and out only wears the gold away and you're stuck with what's left, probably liquid tinned copper or nickel. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4q2nGp7jsScn5Y

[@TuttleScott]

all this talk of mating and I thought I'd accidentally gone to pornotube

[@SamFugarino]

Meanwhile OSH Park and others go out of business.

[@irgski]

we say “VEE-ah” and “BEV-al”

[@benbaselet2026]

Who cares how you say it?

[@fredstarkey3425]

I used to sell these connectors 50 or so years ago. The pitch is 5/32". It's the Yanks answer to the metric "half way" between 0.1 & 0.2 inches. The Yanks don't do decimals, so 5/32" is the nearest fraction! (0.156") Hahaha

[@Mark1024MAK]

Err, I think you will find the the British also used imperial back then for the majority (if not all) electronic design work...

[@fredstarkey3425]

@@Mark1024MAK Yes we did. Although we used 0.15" pitch mainly.

[@Slikx666]

Hello Julian. Just so you can see where your JLCPCB come from. Naomi Wu uploaded a video 16 hours ago where she visited them. Thought you might like to see. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGbLo4NrnrKHo68

[@keithmiller5042]

Thank you Slikx66 - seeing the PCB production facilities was a real eye opener. The factory guide was such a gentleman, helping Naomi Wu to get her dust suit on. I wouldn't have thought of that. I am extremely surprised that such a huge firm would be prepared to accept an order of just a few dollars. Good that it does though. Worth subscribing to see what else Naomi can show us.

[@BeezyKing99]

Slikx666 this has been posted an hour ago by someone else... yours is a repost.

[@Slikx666]

@@BeezyKing99 Sorry, I didn't see it.

[@danielegger6460]

So they're just bog standard boards with ENIG finish? How exciting...