manterola Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 (edited) I have created this PCB after being tired of soldering little wires to several XF551s. I sent it to fabrication and I'm still waiting to arrive, so I'm not sure how well it will fit. I'm also no really convinced about the 4 thru-hole auxiliary connections I made, I think they should be pads only without holes... The idea of those connections is to be optional and only used when needed (when not only the connection between the sio ports is broken, but also the connection to the rest of PCB is broken too). Let's see.. I am open to your comments and ideas... When the PCBs arrive I want to solder one on top of the original XF551 pcb. These pcb I order are thinner than the standard ones Edited October 2, 2021 by manterola 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 Interesting... Is the idea that this would be installed / layered under the original PCB? (So pins would effectively be reaching through both PCB's?) Could you enlighten me as to the logic of why some traces appear thicker than others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share Posted October 2, 2021 Yes, @Nezgar. The idea is to solder this under the XF551 pcb. It should be enough space. Basically under the pcb there is already a bunch of wires already (like probably many other XF551 owners have) so I will remove them all and put something a bit more decent than that. The reasoning behind the wider traces is that those traces carry the ground and 5V so they would need more copper because those traces are "used" by more electrons.. i.e. more current if you have more devices down the daisy chain. For example I have a XC11 which is SIO powered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 @manterola Thanks the electronics lesson, makes sense!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted November 9, 2021 Author Share Posted November 9, 2021 (edited) This is version 1.1, still not perfect, the two large perforations were a bit off, but it work and the thru-holes are correctly located, providing better strength and connectivity to the SIO ports. If someone is interested I have a few ones to give away. Edited November 9, 2021 by manterola 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted November 9, 2021 Author Share Posted November 9, 2021 The drive board looked like this, before: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrystalKnight Posted September 2, 2022 Share Posted September 2, 2022 That's interesting, how did you, or what did you use to extend the SIO port leads through your new board? Are the only connections from your new board to the exiting board through those SIO pins? How are J3, J4, and J5 connected, the same way as the SIO port pins? Unfortunately, I went ahead and ordered the DropCheck board, but before reading the BoM and realizing that some of the parts I need stopped being sold years ago - I didn't actually find the BoM until after I ordered it - DropCheck did warn though that there were a couple of things that you should get soon before they're gone, but there was no date on the comment that I saw, so wasn't sure how old that was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted September 2, 2022 Author Share Posted September 2, 2022 (edited) The rivets are originals and untouched. The board was fabricated a bit thinner than the regular PCBs. Then I cleaned a bit the solder mess after removing the wires, and finally, I removed a bit of solder and straightened the pins for J3, J4 and J5 connections. Then I just positioned the new PCB board on top (actually under) the old one and soldered the 13x2=26 SIO pins plus the J3 to J5 which are basically DIn, DOut and Cmd. The SIO pins and the other pins are long enough to get soldered to the new board. Regarding DropCheck board I don't remember having problems getting the parts from the original old board and mouser. Now, things might have changed since I did the work like 3 years ago. Edited September 2, 2022 by manterola Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrystalKnight Posted September 2, 2022 Share Posted September 2, 2022 (edited) Interesting... these are the rivets on mine, and I think the holes are almost big enough for an M2 screw to go through them... and they're factory original, as I'm the sole owner of mine... still have the box it came in, and I remember the day UPS delivered it.. after something like 6 weeks of waiting back in the day, not like 2-4 day Amazon deliveries today. And I'll have to check Mouser for what I can get these days, and try to salvage the rest. And great work on your PCB, that looks great! It looks like a better option than replacing the entire board. Edited September 2, 2022 by CrystalKnight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrystalKnight Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 11/8/2021 at 9:29 PM, manterola said: This is version 1.1, still not perfect, the two large perforations were a bit off, but it work and the thru-holes are correctly located, providing better strength and connectivity to the SIO ports. If someone is interested I have a few ones to give away. Granted, this was 10 months ago, but do you have any of these left? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted September 4, 2022 Author Share Posted September 4, 2022 3 hours ago, CrystalKnight said: Granted, this was 10 months ago, but do you have any of these left? The PCBs are all gone. But I will upload the Gerbers. You can send the files to fabricate in Oshpark, PCBWay or JLC, depending on how patience you are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macsonny Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 5 hours ago, manterola said: The PCBs are all gone. But I will upload the Gerbers. You can send the files to fabricate in Oshpark, PCBWay or JLC, depending on how patience you are. Would be awesome if you could! They make 5 boards for $5 plus shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrystalKnight Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 12 hours ago, manterola said: The PCBs are all gone. But I will upload the Gerbers. You can send the files to fabricate in Oshpark, PCBWay or JLC, depending on how patience you are. Yes, that would be great... having never done that, which of the 3 fabricators would you recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivop Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 6 minutes ago, CrystalKnight said: Yes, that would be great... having never done that, Be sure to order a thinner PCB. I guess 0.6mm would suffice. Thicker would not allow you to solder the connectors properly if I remember correctly. 6 minutes ago, CrystalKnight said: which of the 3 fabricators would you recommend? If you really want to use one of these three, I'd let Manterola answer that. Otherwise, if you are not in a hurry, I recommend allpcb. Takes about 5-10 days to get to The Netherlands. YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrystalKnight Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 Great, thanks for the advice and recommendation. Manterola mentioned a thinner PCB, but didn't mention a thickness specifically, so thanks for that as well. We're also waiting on him to upload the file(s), so time likely won't be that big of an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macsonny Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 On 9/5/2022 at 2:45 AM, CrystalKnight said: Yes, that would be great... having never done that, which of the 3 fabricators would you recommend? I've been using PCBWay for about 12 months now and love the quality of their boards and also their service. I can't fault them to be honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted September 5, 2022 Author Share Posted September 5, 2022 I have used Oshpark, but lately I have been sending to JLC since it is so cheap. I guess any should work fine. It is a very simple PCB. The only thing out of the ordinary is that I asked to be 0.8mm the first time and then 1.0mm thick for the second version (v1.1 the one in the picture) since I thought it will give better physical characteristics, and the pins were long enough. So here I am attaching the gerbers for anyone use. Regards, xfsiofixgerbers.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrystalKnight Posted September 6, 2022 Share Posted September 6, 2022 Great, thanks! So last night I decided to go ahead and work on the resolder, and after a test, the drive is now recognized - progress! But when I attempt a format test (using a floppy I know works), it gets part way through the format and claims it can’t do high speed, then drops to standard and then fails part way through. I’ve tested that I don’t have shorts at the SIO ports. Does anyone have thoughts on what might be wrong next? And I’m considering it a win that at least progress has been made! Doesn’t hurt to ask, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hueyjones70 Posted May 24, 2023 Share Posted May 24, 2023 Are these boards available thru OSHPARK or any other place? I have two or three of the old boards that I would like to try and resurrect. I am going to install a 3.5 floppy drive in a 1050 case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted May 24, 2023 Share Posted May 24, 2023 2 hours ago, hueyjones70 said: Are these boards available thru OSHPARK or any other place? I have two or three of the old boards that I would like to try and resurrect. I am going to install a 3.5 floppy drive in a 1050 case. @manterola attached the gerbers a couple of posts back, with these you should be able to order boards from any PCB house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hueyjones70 Posted May 24, 2023 Share Posted May 24, 2023 OK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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