I HATE PERF BOARD!

[hubble]

 

i dont get it.  its a pain in the ass.

[jlullo]

i've attempted it twice, and got so overwhelmed that i stopped   you and i should take a class together

[theundeadelvis]

It's kinda like weaving  I prefer PCBs, but I do the occasional perf when the circuit permits/

[shawn]

It takes a lot of patience. Plus it's like a puzzle, need to make sure everything fits.

[jlullo]

all i can say is thank god for options.  i can't imagine getting into this hobby back in the 70's when that was basically all we had to work with..... and besides the fact that i wasn't born yet   

[caress]

perf is my favorite!  a new layout each time, new challenges to overcome, modification options, the possibility of making it smaller...how can you resist?

[moro]

I love it. I get a much greater sense of accomplishment after finishing a perfboard project than I do with a PCB project.

[shawn]

I'll take my ammonium persulfate or my cnc router any given day over perfboard.

[jlullo]

perf is my favorite!  a new layout each time, new challenges to overcome, modification options, the possibility of making it smaller...how can you resist?

very true... i'll have to give it another shot and try not to get so frustrated!   there's only more to learn

[Joe Kramer]

What specifically do you hate about it?

I love perf board, but then, after twenty-some years, I'm pretty good at it by now.  IMHO there's no faster way to whip up a complete stompbox from scratch: grab some parts and start soldering right off the schemo.  Plus, with a PCB, unless you make it yourself, you are limited to it's dimensions and where it will fit, but you can cut a piece of perf to any odd size or shape you happen to need. 

There are ways of making the perf process a lot easier.  I usually try and redraw the schemo so that it follows the actual signal flow as much as possible.  This not only makes it easier to layout on perf, but helps you to understand better what's going on in the circuit.  With more complicated circuits, graph paper and pencil w/ eraser is helpful.  As with anything, planning ahead makes things go smoother, but that ability is something you learn only over time, and that takes patience/practice.  No pain, no gain.

Regards,
Joe   

[blanik]

as much as i love Vero stripboard, i hate perf boards... they're so complicated and easy to mess up..., Vero is like a PCB, you can easily change parts without having to reconnect wires underneath...

my 2 cents..

R.

[bumblebee]

Perfs easy,ya just need patience is all.
Veros my fav tho!

[MartyMart]

Perf can be a little "fiddly" and it's best to give yourself a bit more space to keep those
IC connections from shorting whilst bending leads around.
I've used it perhaps 15 times with success, but vero for whipping something up - is my chosen poison !

My original BSIAB II and ROG English Channel are perf builds - still working fine after 3+ years

[96ecss]

Since I've started etching my own pcb's, I don't like to work with anything else. Now that I can do my own layouts, I like pcb's even more. There is a great satisfaction from building a pedal from a pcb you made with your own layout.

Dave

[8mileshigh]

I've never tried building with a PCB as of yet, I tried vero twice and liked it but my twenty other builds were all on perf.  With perf, I get the feeling that I'm building something out of nothing and I like that.    For me, I find it easier to perf a schematic then to attempt to vero it but perf lcan look messy, there's more solder joints and ultimately the odd cold one hidden in there between the good ones.  I have learned plenty through the debugging process.

What I hate the most about building is the time I waste looking for parts, especially resistors.

Chris

[petemoore]

  I said the same thing.
  Starting off...I had left/right/upside/over and under the board too...all that gets confusing when adding a schematic to it.
  I would end up with a mangle of connections and corrections...then I'd take the valueables off and use a dense bootheel on it.
  Doesn't really matter though, when I want something yesterday, I can grab a piece of perf and whip it right up...
  You'll need to develop a third eye, that eye keeps a separate but upside down view of the bottom of the board, the other two eyes and your mind need to vision everything from the top of the board [inclluding what the third eye sees.

[GibsonGM]

You get used to it.  I've never even done a PCB from scratch, everything is on perf from the Easyvibe to all my distortions.  I find it to be really flexible in terms of layout/parts placement, and later circuit mods.  Maybe it's an art in itself? 

[markm]

I love it. I get a much greater sense of accomplishment after finishing a perfboard project than I do with a PCB project.

Yeah, I'm sure the hours of de-bugging could make one feel accomplishment, meanwhile in that time the PCB guy has been playing around with his new build!! 

[Mark Hammer]

Rules for working with perf:

1) Take notes about what goes where.

2) Always start with a bigger piece of perfboard than you think you need; you can always trim later.  Perf is cheap compared to your time.

3) Don't perf unless you have time to work on the project continuously.  Around my house, BIG projects attempted on perf never get finished because there is never enough contiguous time to go from start to finish.  Memory is your best friend when it comes to perf, and forgetting is your enemy.

4) Did I mention taking notes?

5) Use good IC sockets and use transistor sockets.  You'll want something that component leads can grip solidly.

6) CLEARLY identify where ground is.

7) Try to connect your components so that it is easy to unsolder and reposition them.  That means leaving as much component lead as you can at both ends of the component.

I try to make a point of winding cap leads around resistor leads instead of vice versa.  Why?  Because caps cost more than resistors, so if I have to clip the leads off something, making it of limited use in the future if I have to shift it, I'd rather sacrifice a resistor than a cap.  Similarly, transitor leads get wrapped around the leads for passive components rather than vice versa.

9) Get yourself some decent end-nippers.  Those too-big solder joints on the solder side of the board can be exasperating if they keep making contact with the chassis.

10) Don't be afraid to stretch out component leads longer than you think you ought to.  Don't be afraid to put resistors on end.  Both of these can assist in producing layouts that require fewer jumper wires.   But don't be afraid to use jumper wires.

11) Get to know SIP chips.  The AN6551 is a 9-pin single-in-line equivalent of a 4558, and there are plenty of other decent dual op-amps on a SIP.  I still can't get over how easy it is to lay out a circuit on perf using SIP op-amps instead of DIP.  Not only do these puppies let you choose which side of the chip you want to place each of the various components in a feedback loop; you can choose to connect V+ to either pin 1 or pin 9.  It's like the difference between trying to make out in a car with bucket seats versus bench seats.

12) Professional circuit boards provide standardized test points for circuit calibration and quality control.  Before you begin your perf project, think about where you will want to be able to test and confirm ciruit operation for trouble-shooting purposes, and provide yourself with a way to access that point.  If you can mark them in some way for easy post-build identification, do that.

13) Get yourself a nice selection of 1/8W resistors (Radio Shack sells a "variety pack").  Most effects can do just fine with 1/8 components; we just use 1/4w because they're easier to find and hold.  Sometimes, using a 1/8w resistor can make it a whole lot easier to fit things into a given space.  You can also get many electrolytic caps in small package sizes as well.

14) You will be tempted to connect leads for external components early in the game.  Resist temptation, and save off-board leads to the end.  You'll appreciate it when you're rotating the board this way and that.

15) It sounds stupid, but indicate on the board what the circuit IS.  The other week, I finally took a couple days' holiday and went to the "bin of doom" containing all those unfinished projects.  Musta been at least 8-10 things in there that I had no idea what the hell they were.

[Paul Marossy]

I'd rather etch and drill a PCB than to perf, although I have done it in the past. It's just more work and takes more planning than a PCB.