Perfboarding Layout tips

[phector2004]

Hi everyone,

Does anybody have any good layouting methods for perf? I'm willing to post my layouts, but I haven't had much success in making good/efficient ones, so I'm still battling with upright resistors wiggling and re-heating the joint 5-6 times to get rid of tough solder bridges. Adding many jumpers is also an issue 

Where is it best to start perfing from? Input? Output? Power (doubler/divider)?
Are there any good ways to do the power/ground? (i.e. solder in a copper wire? situate all the grounds near the same point? etc)
Is it best to try and lay out the circuit diagram as it is drawn, or block it up in sections, or linearize it, etc?
How do you maximize use of space without cramping it up? (i.e. NO UPRIGHT RESISTORS!!!!  )

Any advice would be great, and it really would be nice to have very sturdy mechanical connections before soldering

[andrew_k]

I pretty much only build on perf, and I'm finally getting to a point where I think I'm half decent at it

How I think when doing a perf layout:
- start at the input, with the ground nearby. Most of my time holding a soldering iron is spent building valve amps now, and as a result I've become a lot more sensitive to careful grounding. My perf layouts' ground is always next to the signal input, with all grounds inside the pedal joining at the input jack only.

- Use component leads, not wire. The only non-component lead wire on my boards is a 16AWG ground bus. Everything else is component joined to component.

- Strong mechanical connections, without solder. I build up the circuit without a soldering iron and get as far as possible just by twisting the component leads together without soldering. With something simple like a boost or fuzz face, I'll build the entire circuit without soldering and sometimes test it first. A circuit built this way can be thrown into a wall and will still work afterwards; and that's before soldering!

- Solder the parts, not the board. I hate perf that has copper pads. For my style, it gets in the way and increases the risk of shorts. All soldering is done to join components, not to bond the components to the board. This goes hand in hand with the above point re: mechanical connections.

- Know your phase and gain. In an overdrive/fuzz/distortion circuit, pay close attention to what the phase and gain is doing. Don't mash high gain stages amongst each other if they're going to be in phase, or you risk parasitic positive feedback.

- Build a bit, test it, build some more. Most of the time pedals are simple circuits, especially dirt pedals, but ever since I spent 3 days debugging an A/DA Flanger build I've learned to build in stages and test as I go.

Hope there's something useful there for you

[ashcat_lt]

- Strong mechanical connections, without solder. I build up the circuit without a soldering iron and get as far as possible just by twisting the component leads together without soldering. With something simple like a boost or fuzz face, I'll build the entire circuit without soldering and sometimes test it first. A circuit built this way can be thrown into a wall and will still work afterwards; and that's before soldering!

Any input, tips or tricks on how to make this happen?

[phector2004]

thanks a ton!

I've mainly been soldering leads together, pulling resistors and capacitors through the holes and tugging at the leads to pull the component down as far as possible. I will also admit it's been quite a pain making sure every component is soldered to the board. seemed redundant anyways.

as for phases, is that more of a design concern? or are there ways of shifting the phase in building the circuit that I'm not aware about? I'm not designing yet, but maybe in a few more months I'll put what I know to use!

[andrew_k]

- Strong mechanical connections, without solder. I build up the circuit without a soldering iron and get as far as possible just by twisting the component leads together without soldering. With something simple like a boost or fuzz face, I'll build the entire circuit without soldering and sometimes test it first. A circuit built this way can be thrown into a wall and will still work afterwards; and that's before soldering!

Any input, tips or tricks on how to make this happen?

Hmm.. good question!
- First off would be to either avoid WIMA box caps or similar caps that have very short leads. Another is that if you do want to use those components, plan around their requirements, much like you do for DIP sockets.

- Use a pair of fine-nosed pliers to get into tight spaces without mashing your existing work.

- If you have a junction of three or more component leads, plan to leave adequate space around it for the physical mass of three+ twisted component leads. It's not like vero board where you can use every adjacent hole without consequences.

- Longer "traces" can be built up much like a relay is run in athletics. The first component may have enough lead to pass/join two more components in that "trace", but then barely reach the third. At its junction with the third, twist a little hook around the third component's lead and then use the third components lead to continue on.

- If using a "ground bus" as I suggest, try bending each end at 90° and push them through holes in the perf so the ends stick out the top with the components. While constructing the circuit, leave some space between the ground bus and the underside of the perfboard so that and component leads to be attached to the ground bus can be slipped between the bus wire and the board. When they're all in, tighten the ground bus against the board using the two legs you put through the top of the board earlier. This will sandwich the component leads between the board and the ground bus, giving you a good mechanical connection between the grounded component leads and the bus wire.

[andrew_k]

as for phases, is that more of a design concern?

Yes, I included it because your original question was asking for tips on "good layout methods for perf", which I assumed to mean designing a perf layout from a schematic.