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1

Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff / Re: Nichicon UPJ for switching power supplies - what's so special about these caps?

« Last post by bdunham7 on Today at 11:38:31 pm »

Or "automotive" grade is another one, it meets automotive spec (wide temperatures, reliable, etc.) but you can freely use it for other designs.

Then there's "audio grade"...

Ideally suited for first class audio equipment where qualitative and quantitative
comfortableness is required.

https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/293/e_ukz-1513448.pdf

So many people love Nichicon for whatever reason, but they had capacitor failures in the plague times just like the cheap brands.  And they have a high degree of market wankery.  They're not my go-to brand at all.

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Manufacturing & Assembly / Re: LPKF Protomat S42: Machine "shock absorber"/"stroke limiter" tuning

« Last post by DiodeDipShit on Today at 11:30:49 pm »

The bumpers are there to prevent shock to the drive motors in case of over limit travel.  The machine should never get to close the the bumpers. It seems that Your tool bit may be the wrong length. Try holding the a tool slightly further out of the collet/holder then tighten. Be cautious as You could drive right through Your work and into the table. Make sure the 'Z' start is above Your work and the 'z' feed is reasonable, 5-10 inches per minute.  Protomat may have proprietary bits and You are coming up short. Contact them for new tooling or look in McMaster-Carr for equivalent length carbide bits and adjust Your 'Z' depth accordingly in the program. The machine should never get to close the the bumpers. There are parameters in the bios that set travel limits. These are hard to find in the general program. If in doubt, read the Program manual thoroughly. Then read it again. Also second hand generic software is OK, but can leave out many options.
This is the link for the software for the machine: https://app.lpkfusa.com/products/pcb_prototyping/software/circuitpro_pm/

3

Manufacturing & Assembly / Re: Source for small "potting boxes"??.....

« Last post by Smokey on Today at 11:29:40 pm »

https://www.polycase.com/potting-box
https://www.budind.com/series/general-use-boxes/potting-box-style-b-series-2/#group=series-products&external_dimensions_group=0&internal_dimensions=0
https://www.ionnic.com/electrical/wiring-accessories/enclosures-1118/potting-box.html

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Case-for-Negative-Ion-Generator-Module_1601044423197.html
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Negative-ion-Generator-Modules-Plastic-Housing_1601044289977.html

Winner!  Obviously they are listed as "Negative Ion Generator Modules"!  How the hell did you find that?

4

Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff / Re: Nichicon UPJ for switching power supplies - what's so special about these caps?

« Last post by thm_w on Today at 11:27:15 pm »

I was curious if there was a specific characteristic of the UPJ that made it particularly suitable for switching power supplies, and whether that would imply a tradeoff to using the same caps in other applications. It sounds like it may be just marketing. Would love to hear from someone at Nichicon regarding this but they have ignored my request.

Its reasonably well explained at the top of the datasheet: https://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/series_items/catalog_pdf/e-upj.pdf
- Low impedance and high reliability withstanding 5000 hours load life at +105˚C (3000 hours for smaller case sizes as specified below).
- Ideally suited for use of switching power supplies.

But yes, these topline quotes are generally marketing focused. If you see an opamp that says "for oscilloscopes" that doesn't mean you can't use it elsewhere, just means it has some properties that are useful in that specific scenario. Or "automotive" grade is another one, it meets automotive spec (wide temperatures, reliable, etc.) but you can freely use it for other designs.

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General Technical Chat / Re: $20,000 dollars of software or licences on a thumbdrive ?

« Last post by abeyer on Today at 11:26:28 pm »

If you are carrying around $20k on a single drive, with no backup image copy, on at least 2 other media, you are not doing it correctly.

... or you're doing it so right that $20k isn't worth your time to be bothered over.

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Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff / Re: Small and inexpensive direct thermal printer to print labels

« Last post by abeyer on Today at 11:23:38 pm »

I don't know of anything intended to be integrated into another product... though would be interested to see if you find something. Also, I think you can do labels in many of the "receipt" printers if you find label rolls the right size, and that narrow width works for what you need.

If you go with an off the shelf product and just do the integration, Zebra as mentioned, or Brother would be where I'd look.

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Beginners / Re: Connector Question

« Last post by Wallace Gasiewicz on Today at 11:22:32 pm »

Yes, they pull off.  Called SMB connectors.

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Manufacturing & Assembly / Re: Source for small "potting boxes"??.....

« Last post by thm_w on Today at 11:15:40 pm »

https://www.polycase.com/potting-box
https://www.budind.com/series/general-use-boxes/potting-box-style-b-series-2/#group=series-products&external_dimensions_group=0&internal_dimensions=0
https://www.ionnic.com/electrical/wiring-accessories/enclosures-1118/potting-box.html

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Case-for-Negative-Ion-Generator-Module_1601044423197.html
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Negative-ion-Generator-Modules-Plastic-Housing_1601044289977.html

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Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff / Re: Arduino Stand Alone Programmer

« Last post by pqass on Today at 11:11:33 pm »

Possible.  Sure.

It shouldn't take much to modify the "Arduino as ISP" sketch. 
Just add an I²C/SPI flash memory and some buttons.
Change the serial command processor to accept options like save/read to/from flash (using Intel hex format when connected to a host) and on a button press, read from flash and program target device (when not connected to host).  You can store several programs in the flash and select any one based on which button was pressed.

10

Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff / Re: Nichicon UPJ for switching power supplies - what's so special about these caps?

« Last post by Someone on Today at 11:11:29 pm »

LM317 is not an LDO and therefore is stable with low ESR capacitors such as MLCC.

Perhaps you'd like to support a recent design I had where an LM337 and LM317 oscillated unless the MLCC outputs had damping added. They can and do oscillate.