Zombieverter PCB - “Soldering area too small” Topic is solved

[Landsi]

Hi everyone!

I recently became a Patreon supporter of Damien, to start my journey towards electrifying my VW T3 bus.

I downloaded the Zombieverter plot files, had a look, checked some components availability… felt courageous and exchanged a few parts with available ones (identical specs - is that recommended? ) and ordered from jlcpcb last night.

However, when they checked parts pacement, i got the following email:

Hi Sir or madam,



Well got your order with many thanks.



Sorry to bother you, but there is one thing that we want to confirm with you about your SMT order before proceeding.



As shown below, seems the packages of the parts ( D9、D10、D8、D7、D11、D6、D3、D4、D2) cannot match the corresponding pads on the PCB board, so we are unable to assemble them.

For this case there are 3 options for your choose as follows:

The reason stated online was „Soldering area too small“
(The parts in question where the „original“ ones, not the ones I exchanged for available ones)

So naturally, since I have no Idea what I‘m doing, I chickened out and cancelled the order

Has this response been recieved before? Will i just have to solder it myself?

I have little knowledge in this area, but want to learn (a key reason why not buying the VCU already built from Damien directly - another reason is that i fully expect to fry at least 1 vcu before my build is over - so having spares is appealing to me.)

I‘m happy to follow up on this on my own and report my findings, but if anyone knows how to get around that already, or if it‘s already clear that the zombieverter designs may need a small adjustment, that would be good to know.

Cheers,
Landsi

[jrbe]

The "as shown below" pictures and their different options forward would help understand this a ton.
Their mentioning packages sounds like the wrong footprint was selected. Means the contacts don't match the pads properly. This could be jlc being picky or a legitimate pad to contact mismatch but it's hard to tell without the images.

[Landsi]

You‘re right ofc - The image they attached didn‘t have the items in question on it though, so not so useful. The preview in the order (now cancelled) does however.

To me it looked like the parts fitted no problem, but ... as said, i have no Idea what I'm talking about

[royhen99]

The part in the the BOM is wrong. Should be SOD-123 package, LCSC part number C81598.

[Landsi]

Oh, thank you!

I guess i will need to search the wiki for a more up-to-date BOM file and compare - i already exchanged a few parts myself, but that was only due to sunsetted / unstocked parts...

Will give this a try & share the BOM file i used with success in the end

EDIT: Idiot, ignorant me had no clue that the BOM & CPL files are an integral part of the VCU design files - i will of course NOT share those. Available for download for Damian’s Patreons.

[Bratitude]

heres the bom i used. theres differnt 2 parts missing, one which i got from digi key and installed my self

[Attachments removed Zombieverter files are not for public, Patreons only]

[jrbe]

Looks like you have a path forward with the previous shared info. But to your wanting to learn some more info for you.

There are a few with incorrect rotations. JLCPCB has odd rotations vs kicad and other ecad programs. Those jlc will take care of if the rotation doesn't matter if it's 180° off. It's common enough that there are jlc specific kicad plugins to help correct rotations.

A bunch of the diodes are too small vs the footprint. Those are legitimate concerns. It's kind of like looking at USB micro mini and c, a quick glance and they look the same but they definitely aren't.
All components have standard sized footprints but some like inductors are just a hot mess of close but not quite footprints. You should always check the datasheet for an inductor to make sure the footprints match.
If you haven't already, watch some hot air smd soldering videos (skip the ones with soldering irons.)
One example is tombstoning, why you shouldn't put vias in pads of small components. The solder melts and wicks down into the via and lifts the component off the board on one side.


There are many others to watch for but a big point that's commonly missed is how the components move and float around while the solder melts. It's also how and where where the solder flows, wicks up contacts, down vias, etc. can have large effects on soldering quality and rate of failure. Watching some of the failure videos will help understand why there are certain ways of doing things and why the recommended footprint in a datasheet is important.

It's also why a 3D viewer in an ecad program helps because you can usually see these issues. JLCPCB has their viewer too that can help spot issues. Sometimes the center point of a component is different, rotation, etc. Lots of little details to watch for. Jlc can correct a lot of these but then you still have messed up Gerbers. It's worth cleaning it up so the struggle isn't repetitive.

[Landsi]

Thank you all so much! Very welcoming.

And what is very clear to me now, is that my original question was actually better suited at Patreon directly.

I found the correct files now! (Hint: on Patreon, search for “Zombie” only, not “Zombieverter” in full )

I can continue on my journey again with slightly more confidence than before.

Cheers