Angled Pin Headers

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Jeffrey T Apczynski

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Mar 9, 2025, 11:59:50 PMMar 9
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Hi,

I'm a bit confused on the direction that the angled pin headers are to be soldered on the circuit boards.  Please find a photo on how I soldered the headers on and confirm that I did it correctly.

Thank You

_jeff-AngledPinHeaders.jpg

Bob Darlington

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Mar 10, 2025, 4:26:09 AMMar 10
to Jeffrey T Apczynski, PiDP-10
You have the connector on the wrong side of the PCB with the switches.    Either that or I did something backwards.   Mine is running fine tho.
image.png

-Bob


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Steven A. Falco

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Mar 10, 2025, 9:40:59 AMMar 10
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According to the documentation the connectors go on the top of the PCBs. That's how I did mine.

Please see https://obsolescence.dev/pidp-10-building-instructions.html which has the following text, in particular the last sentence:

Solder the 2 angled pin headers (the ones with 2 rows of 12 pins), flush against the PCB, not tilted. The one on the lamp PCB will point down; the one on the switch PCB will point up. So both of these headers have their pins pointing away from the PCB they sit on. They are both mounted on the top side of the PCBs, as per the drawings on the PCBs.

Steve

On 3/10/25 04:25 AM, Bob Darlington wrote:
> You have the connector on the wrong side of the PCB with the switches.    Either that or I did something backwards.   Mine is running fine tho.
> image.png
>
> -Bob
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 9, 2025 at 9:59 PM Jeffrey T Apczynski <jeffrey.t...@gmail.com <mailto:jeffrey.t...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I'm a bit confused on the direction that the angled pin headers are to be soldered on the circuit boards.  Please find a photo on how I soldered the headers on and confirm that I did it correctly.
>
> Thank You
>
> _jeff-AngledPinHeaders.jpg
>
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>
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Jeffrey T Apczynski

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Mar 10, 2025, 9:50:41 AMMar 10
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Thanks,

I figured that I did it wrong.  I got confused by the instructions.  The first instruction states....
The one on the lamp PCB will point down; the one on the switch PCB will point up.
I thought it was talking about the pins in the circuit board.

Then latter on in the instructions...
They are both mounted on the top side of the PCBs
And if doing this second instruction, would make the first instruction wrong.

It didn't make sense for me, but I want to thank you for the help.

I'll be testing my kit later on today after I fix my blunder.

Jeffrey T Apczynski

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Mar 10, 2025, 9:53:10 AMMar 10
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Thanks,

I know where I went wrong. Must have been an old age brain fart.

Steven A. Falco

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Mar 10, 2025, 9:56:12 AMMar 10
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The headers go on the top side of the board. You have it correct as far as I know.

That said, it doesn't matter electrically in this case. I wouldn't attempt to remove the header. It usually results in damage to the header unless you have really good desoldering tools.

Steve

On 3/10/25 09:50 AM, Jeffrey T Apczynski wrote:
> Thanks,
>
> I figured that I did it wrong.  I got confused by the instructions.  The first instruction states....
> /The one on the lamp PCB will point down; the one on the switch PCB will point up./
> I thought it was talking about the pins in the circuit board.
>
> Then latter on in the instructions...
> /They are both mounted on the top side of the PCBs/
> And if doing this second instruction, would make the first instruction wrong.
>
> It didn't make sense for me, but I want to thank you for the help.
>
> I'll be testing my kit later on today after I fix my blunder.
>
> On Monday, March 10, 2025 at 4:26:09 AM UTC-4 rdarl...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> You have the connector on the wrong side of the PCB with the switches.    Either that or I did something backwards.   Mine is running fine tho.
> image.png
>
> -Bob
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 9, 2025 at 9:59 PM Jeffrey T Apczynski <jeffrey.t...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I'm a bit confused on the direction that the angled pin headers are to be soldered on the circuit boards.  Please find a photo on how I soldered the headers on and confirm that I did it correctly.
>
> Thank You
>
> _jeff-AngledPinHeaders.jpg
>
> --
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Steven A. Falco

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Mar 10, 2025, 10:42:39 AMMar 10
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I realized that I wasn't clear about who I was replying to.

Bob Darlington has it right - both connectors go on the top side.

Jeffrey Apczynski has the connector on the switch PCB upside-down, and that won't work because the pins will be a mirror image. That connector will have to be removed and replaced onto the correct side.

Solder-wick is good for removing parts, but I personally have never had much luck removing that type of connector, because the plastic of the connector usually melts way too easily. A hot-air gun might work, but since the PCB is the more valuable part, I generally just assume that the connector will be destroyed and that a new connector will be needed.

Sorry for any confusion, but the photos on the assembly web page I showed should make it clear.

Steve
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Harry Saal

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Aug 5, 2025, 9:37:36 AMAug 5
to PiDP-10
I managed to get the headers on the right side of the PCBs, but soldered the cable connection side of the header to the PCB, instead of the other way around!! Yikes!!! This is something that should be carefully described in Oscar's instruction info, IMHO. I hope I can remove the two heards, solder wick the holes clear, and install fresh headers....all without damaging the two PCBs. Fingers crossed............

Steven A. Falco

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Aug 5, 2025, 1:34:51 PMAug 5
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You should be able to do it. The plastic of the headers melts pretty easily; I often remove each pin individually, destroying the connector in the process, but saving the board. Or, if there is room, sometimes I'll clip all the pins close to the board to remove the connector, then remove each stub individually.

In addition to solder wick, a solder sucker can be useful to clear the holes.

Solder doesn't stick to stainless steel. So, another trick I sometimes use is to get the residual solder hot, then push a piece of thin stainless steel wire through the hole to clear it.

This is all low-speed non-critical stuff, so if you ruin a trace or two you can always use some "wire wrap" wire to bridge the damaged traces. The board should survive...

If you need more help, please feel free to post some pictures as you go through the process.

Steve
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Harry Saal

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Aug 6, 2025, 10:14:00 AMAug 6
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Success! I managed to melt/destroy the black plastic on the headers and then remove the pins, one at a time, well heated by my soldering iron. Solder wicking on both sides of the PCB got the holes clean, which I ensured using a bent paper clip. Visually all the traces looked intact, using a loop to observe.

Soldering fresh headers on the two PCBs went well, and voila! Oscar's test program ran, and all the LEDs and switch tests passed with flying colors.

Now off to install the switch set. Wish me luck!!!! Thanks to Steve for the encouragement and support and giving me hope that I would recover from my foobar.

Steven A. Falco

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Aug 6, 2025, 12:58:25 PMAug 6
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Great job, Harry!

I'm glad you were able to make it happen, and your technique sounds perfect.

Steve
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