Author Topic: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder  (Read 33651 times)

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Online Kean

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #25 on: September 24, 2016, 10:57:21 am »
I got my set the other day, and they are really nicely made.  I've found a few uses for them already.  They are certainly handy in cases where an Omnivise or Panavise is too large, and smaller helping hands are too unstable.

Only thing I didn't like so much is how difficult it is to install the adhesive insulation washers.  I got some on, but it was hard to line them up nicely while holding the spring open without the strong adhesive sticking in the wrong position.  Not sure if they should be "factory installed", but they do need to be easier for customer installation.  One way would be to make them from a stiffer rubber material, and maybe using less strong adhesive.  Alternatively, it should be possible to dismantle the PCBite for installtion - I tried to disassemble one, but I think they might be help together with thread locker

The attached photo shows them holding a "heatsink" where I'm load & thermal testing some DC/DC converters with various inductor choices.  (Yes my desk is a bit messy, but that is probably better than normal!)
 
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Offline ehelljoTopic starter

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #26 on: September 24, 2016, 11:08:05 am »
Great to get your feedback, impressive bite in that heatsink!

We agree that the optional insulation washers are a bit tricky to mount, we will consider your ideas to make them stiffer. The best tip we received so far is to use a helping hand(another human hand that is) to hold the jaw open while installing the adhesive rubber washer.

/Johan
 

Online Kean

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #27 on: September 24, 2016, 11:12:09 am »
Great to get your feedback, impressive bite in that heatsink!

It isn't a real heatsink, just a piece of aluminium angle... but that is actually quite close to what the customer will be using as these will PCBs be part of a sculpture with LED lighting.
 

Offline ehelljoTopic starter

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #28 on: October 13, 2016, 07:03:11 pm »
PCBite is now in stock and includes free shipping worldwide!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pcbite/reft/13754495/ee

And again thanks for those cool photos of all your projects using PCBite!
 

Offline rx8pilot

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #29 on: October 13, 2016, 07:21:07 pm »
Do you still order them from the Indigogo page?
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Offline ehelljoTopic starter

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #30 on: October 13, 2016, 07:23:38 pm »
Yes we accept orders on Indiegogo. We are "in demand" on Indiegogo.
 
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Offline ehelljoTopic starter

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #31 on: October 13, 2016, 07:36:41 pm »
Thanks, i will make sure its sent before the weekend to save a few delivery days.
 

Offline julianhigginson

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #32 on: November 19, 2016, 05:02:25 am »
I'm pretty sold on these... I want something to work with small wearable device PCBs, and my hot air rework iron, and seems it's this, hakko omnivise, and the panavise with the board holding head is about it..

and of the 3 options, this looks like it's lowest... also I expect the metal base will be good for absorbing extra heat and protecting my desk.

so - anyone done hot air rework with these, and been happy? how are the board protective washers for heat immunity? I guess i could leave/take washers off 2, and have them on the other two?

if I don't buy this I'll probably get a single hakko omnivise.
 

Offline julianhigginson

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #33 on: November 19, 2016, 10:56:56 am »
thanks blueskull!

It looks to be almost exactly what I'm looking for. Good to hear it's practically useful to people who are using it.
 

Offline mrpackethead

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #34 on: November 20, 2016, 06:11:02 am »
Forgive me if this horse has been beat to death around here, but does anyone actually use a PCB holder often?  I rarely find myself wanting anything to hold down the board.  Granted, most of my projects are repairs, and therefor the boards tend to be heavier because they are already populated, but even the small assembly projects I do get the old mousepad treatment.  Every time I use a board holder or vise, I spend more time fiddling with it than I would just setting the board down on a soft mousepad and dealing with any difficulties.


I have two Hakko Omnivices and they are absolutely something i use daily.   They are great for holding a board over a Preheater or steady while you are putting SMT parts on..  and when you have double sided boards, putting on the bench is not always an option.

These are a nice idea, and ithink i'll pick up a set.




« Last Edit: November 20, 2016, 06:18:39 am by mrpackethead »
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Offline julianhigginson

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #35 on: November 20, 2016, 11:08:48 pm »
I don't have a preheater yet, but it's on my to get list... probably just a cheap one as I won't be using it anywhere near as much as the reflow iron.

so - sounds like these PCBites shouldn't be expected to work with a preheater? I was hoping they might sit on top of one, even if they did get pretty hot. The preheater isn't going to cause as much heat as the reflow iron.
 

Offline julianhigginson

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #36 on: November 20, 2016, 11:39:02 pm »
hmmm, good point about the magnets.

if I was to stand them next to the preheater with some means of raising them, I'd have the same issue as using an omnivise with a preheater - my boards tend to be very small lately, so clamping from off the side of the preheater will mean a large part of the board is missing the preheater..

Anyway, I'll worry about it once I get a preheater. maybe a panavise 301 with an extra 315 head is in my future....
 

Offline julianhigginson

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #37 on: November 21, 2016, 03:01:31 am »
weird... indiegogo isn't letting me buy one.. fails at the payment phase with 2 different credit cards, one Visa, one mastercard, from 2 different banks. And it even fails if I choose payment via paypal! (fails at the point of going to paypal's site..) have tried a couple of times today from scratch each time... might try another day.
 

Offline mrpackethead

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #38 on: November 21, 2016, 08:42:34 am »
Why would you be preheating int 230C? thats not preheating thats taking it to soldering temp.

when i'm repairing or modifying a board, i'm preheating the board to about 150C, then you hit it with hot air.  saves breaking boards by lifting tracks etc..  Depending on the preheater you might only be heating a small portion of the board.
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Offline newbadboy

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #39 on: November 21, 2016, 01:05:56 pm »
weird... indiegogo isn't letting me buy one.. fails at the payment phase with 2 different credit cards, one Visa, one mastercard, from 2 different banks. And it even fails if I choose payment via paypal! (fails at the point of going to paypal's site..) have tried a couple of times today from scratch each time... might try another day.

Not the first time ive heard that IGG refuses cards without reason
 

Offline julianhigginson

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #40 on: November 24, 2016, 05:57:07 am »
well, I came back to the PCBite indiegogo page after a few days and tried again...
having already have it fail to work with 2 credit cards and paypal last time I tried..

Now I've submitted an issue to indiegogo, so lets see how that goes.

I sure hope for the PCBite guys sake that I'm the only one this is happening to... Plenty of people seeing this behaviour would just close the browser tab and go find something else to buy.

 

Offline julianhigginson

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #41 on: November 29, 2016, 10:40:00 pm »
well... looks like chrome autofill (just my address, not even the payment details!) is what kills an indiegogo order.
And they can take 5 days to respond to a support request, with a "yeah, it's probably this" canned email.
 :--

Pretty hokey, if you ask me. And I wonder how many potential sales this whole situation just kills.

But I finally have my PCBites ordered. Which is exciting because they're pretty much exactly what I had in mind when I started searching here for the different board holding solutions people were using for rework of small boards all those weeks ago.
 

Offline suicidaleggroll

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #42 on: November 29, 2016, 10:45:57 pm »
well... looks like chrome autofill (just my address, not even the payment details!) is what kills an indiegogo order.
And they can take 5 days to respond to a support request, with a "yeah, it's probably this" canned email.
 :--

Pretty hokey, if you ask me. And I wonder how many potential sales this whole situation just kills.

But I finally have my PCBites ordered. Which is exciting because they're pretty much exactly what I had in mind when I started searching here for the different board holding solutions people were using for rework of small boards all those weeks ago.

I've run into many sites where the Chrome autofill doesn't work.  For some reason the way the fields are populated doesn't get through the system, they come through blank, or switched, or just wrong.  It's happened enough times that I've just disabled Chrome's autofill entirely.
 

Offline julianhigginson

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #43 on: November 29, 2016, 11:02:35 pm »
I've run into many sites where the Chrome autofill doesn't work.  For some reason the way the fields are populated doesn't get through the system, they come through blank, or switched, or just wrong.  It's happened enough times that I've just disabled Chrome's autofill entirely.

Weird... I've never had this problem until this particular attempt at buying on indiegogo. And I use basic info autofill a lot - any time I sign up for something new on the web, or buy something on the web. Name, email address, street address where required. all autofill.
 

Offline Zucca

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #44 on: December 08, 2016, 10:01:13 am »
Just ordered it!
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Offline julianhigginson

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #45 on: December 09, 2016, 05:45:09 am »
Mine showed up!

very cool.  Holds my small PCBs exactly how I want, and very nice to work with my reflow iron.

One thing I hadn't realised is the base of the device is epoxy of some sort.. no idea at all what the temperature range of this is, so that means sitting it on a preheater is pretty much completely out, and I'm definitely going to want something else to use when I eventually get a preheater.. Standard panavise 301 model with the additional PCB holding head is looking a likely combo.

 

Offline TheDane

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #46 on: December 23, 2016, 11:53:57 am »
Is the item sent from EU, or outside EU?
- it's a neat product, and somewhat usefull imho.

I do have one idea, or request to make it super usefull for someone like me:
The top, where the spring and washer is located, can easily be flipped around - so a double sided board can be worked without the clamps has to be worked each time the board is flipped.
The height should not vary too much between top and bottom work side, if possible.
A strong magnet on the bottom item sticking to the base plate - and a weaker magnet in the top, with a ferromagnetic core embedded inside the spring/washer item?  :wtf:  :-+ :-+ :-+
(Yep, the PCBite has bitten and cracked itself on an iron toothache :-DD)
« Last Edit: December 23, 2016, 11:56:27 am by TheDane »
 

Offline pixelk

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #47 on: November 22, 2017, 10:16:14 pm »
I just pledged for the Version 2.0 !
http://kck.st/2B3eHco

I don't need the new probes, but the larger plate will be welcome.

-- EDIT --

By the way, this kickstarter also permits to get the original package for the original Kickstarter price, which is nice for those that missed it and want it at a discount.

-- EDIT --

I created a new topic dedicated to the 2.0 KS : https://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/pcbite-2-0-a-new-kickstarter-for-an-upgraded-version/
« Last Edit: November 24, 2017, 09:05:38 pm by pixelk »
 
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Offline 0xdeadbeef

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #48 on: December 03, 2017, 03:42:55 pm »
Anybody knows which shipping carrier they use within Europe?
Trying is the first step towards failure - Homer J. Simpson
 

Offline julianhigginson

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Re: PCBite - The professional and affordable PCB holder
« Reply #49 on: December 05, 2017, 02:01:34 am »
cool!

I'm still getting use out of my original pcbites.

Not sure I personally need more, or probes, but the basic product is very solid and my go-to PCB holding solution for rework.

Definitely recommended to anyone who's watching this campaign and sitting on the fence.
 
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