Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast

By MacroFab, Inc.

Dive into the electrifying world of electrical engineering with Circuit Break, a MacroFab podcast hosted by Parker Dillmann and Stephen Kraig. This dynamic duo, armed with practical experience and a p... more

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FAQs about Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast:

How many episodes does Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 448 episodes available.

Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast episodes:

June 25, 2022MEP EP#334: Double as good!
MEP EP#334: Double as good!
Project: SNACKEY
PCBs and Components arrived

All PTH components fit

Assembly starts tomorrow
Nichicon Obsolescence
Removing 8 and partial 2 of there SMT Aluminum Electrolytic lines

Nichicon has 43 lines of SMT Electrolytic capacitors alone

Lines they are getting rid of have these qualities:
Standard range

High reflow temp

Low impedance

New series is UBH which seems to partially cover what they are removing
High Temperature Range

Vibration Resistance

Low temperature ESR specification
Jeep A/C Troubles?
Jeep AC started acting weird

Vacuum leak

Replaced the controller module and introduced new problems!
uTracerV6
New version arriving soon

1000V @1A

Check out the previous version Stephen modified on episode 135
...more
1h 1min
June 18, 2022MEP EP#333: Cody's Corner - Q2 2022
MEP EP#333: Cody's Corner - Q2 2022
Cody Endlich
10 years experience in electronic component distribution and commodities trade

Currently the head of strategic sourcing at Macrofab

Last seen on episode 318 to discuss Strategic Component Sourcing and MacroFab joining the ERAI
What we saw in Quarter 2 2022
Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Ukraine and Neon gas

Neon gas is used in semiconductor production for running the lasers required for the lithography

Lockdown hits Shenzhen as Covid Infections Increase
Components that come out of China directly effected

Raw material shortages causing ripple effects in other countries manufacturing

New Earthquakes hit Japan and Taiwan
Magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurred off the coast of Fukushima, Japan on the evening of March 16

Renesas and Murata operate factories close to the epicenter

Took 3 days to reestablish production

A Logistical Headache
biggest problem for MLCC suppliers at this stage is they cannot deliver materials to Shanghai and Kunshan
Magic 8-Ball
Cody thinks there will be a loosing of supply chain due to the impeding recession

Parker see's the industry streamlining catalogs of components similar to 2018 Ceramic Capacitor shortage
...more
48min
June 11, 2022MEP EP#332: This Podcast Intentionally Left Blank
MEP EP#332: This Podcast Intentionally Left Blank
USB-C will be mandatory for phones sold in the EU ‘by autumn 2024’
The rule will apply to other electronic devices including tablets, digital cameras, headphones, handheld video game consoles, and e-readers

Laptops will have to comply with the rule at a later date
What about laptops and devices that fall out of the 100W?

USB “Extended Power Range” or EPR for 240W of power
More Voltage 48V from 20V as max, still 5A

Are there any USB Type-C connectors rated for the 48V yet?
Stretching Stainless Stencils? PART 2
Continuation of last weeks topic

Ended up being that ⅓ of the panels had poor copper registration from the PCB manufacturer
Project: SNACKEY
PCBs ordered from OshPark

Parts ordered from Mouser

Drop in Mosfets to replace TIP 102 and TIP 107?
IRL510 for N-channel

IXTP76P10T for P-channel
Time to Say Goodbye, Floppotron 2.0
The stack of floppy drives, harddrives, and scanners is finally being put to rest after 6 years

Supposively Floppotron 3.0 is coming soon though!

The Floppotron: Doom E1M1 - At Doom's Gate
Prep your boards!
Some things to consider when preparing your designs to send to your CM
Part placement

Edge is the wrong place to put parts for many many reasons

Leave room for fiducials

Provide a Stackup - we are regularly asked for that

File naming - use a common naming system or provide info on which files are which

Do no provide every layer your EDA tool exports, some are blank!
...more
49min
June 03, 2022MEP EP#331: The PCB Plague
MEP EP#331: The PCB Plague
Neutrik EtherCON Ruggedized RJ45
Lockable RJ45 cable within an XLR style housing

Also come in a sealed version that offers IP65 rating
Interesting PCB failures
“The Plague”

Black Pad

Very poor to no solderability
Effect of Moon Phase on Tombstoning
Many factors play a role in the overall outcome of PCB assembly, especially when very small components are involved. Broadly speaking, tombstoning is a problem with very small 2-pin components (0201 caps and such) and we've filtered out the following challenges:

- proper paste application

- component placement

- designing for "good" thermal properties of the PCB with regard to tombstoning

- moon phase
Stretching Stainless Stencils? Oddity Today
Interesting manufacturing defect surfacing

Stencil “stretches” ever couple panels or so

Anyone ever seen or experienced this before?

Solutions? Next Steps?
Project: SNACKEY
Hacking a USI/Vendnet/FSI 3159

Theory of how a snack machine works

Interesting Parts
UCN5890A

UCN5842A

SC529136CFN2

M48T18-100PC1

What I am doing to hack it
Motor control
High/Low side transistors

Might change this to mosfets to reduce voltage drop

Arduino all the things

Current sensing
INA219 High side sensing
...more
1h
May 27, 2022MEP EP#330: Rogue Gerbers - Jerry McDaniel of Customer Care at MacroFab
MEP EP#330: Rogue Gerbers - Jerry McDaniel of Customer Care at MacroFab
Jerry McDaniel
Has been at Macrofab for over 5 years

Currently the Director of Customer Success

Previous life, he was the CTO/CFO of Litigation Records Services
A records retrieval company in Texas managing litigation records for both Plaintiff and Defense attorneys

Application support for Presensoft Inc. for almost 11 years
Customer Success
How do you figure out how customer's act?

What is the advice you can give to engineers?

What is the weirdest thing a customer has ever done?
...more
55min
May 20, 2022MEP EP#329: Supply Chain Crunches
MEP EP#329: Supply Chain Crunches
Reddit Question from r/ECE What are some pros and cons of becoming an electrical engineer?
I'm a senior in high school, and I am giving great consideration to majoring in electrical engineering. What are some pros and cons that I should know about?

From r/ElectricalEngineering - If you get an electrical engineering degree, you can get a software job. The reverse is not necessarily true.
Pinotaur Supply Chain Crunches
Replacing a Relay with a Mosfet
Looked into Solid State Relays but nothing seems to fit

Design concerns?

Mosfet drivers like the IRS25752

A primer on high-side FET load switches (Part 1 of 2)

Integrated or discrete load switch: which one should you use? (Part 1 of 2)

Constant Innovation in Quality Control

Current Sensors
Replace integrated solution with more discrete solution

Little differential opamp

Current shunt

Sprinkle in some bypass capacitors
...more
52min
May 13, 2022MEP EP#328: Berry Based Physics with Collin Anderson
MEP EP#328: Berry Based Physics with Collin Anderson
Collin Anderson
Computer scientist turned electrical engineer

Has worked on things as varied as:
Quantum key distribution at Los Alamos National Laboratory

A tool to help decipher glyphs of the classical Mayan civilization

FPGA firmware at the Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory

Currently an engineer and co-founder of Orthogonal Systems
An engineering and software development firm specializing in:
Custom test & measurement hardware

Databases

Data analysis
What are Particles Really?
Thinking of sub atomic objects as particles muddies the water

Starting with an understanding of wave theory

Knowing particles are waves, the weirdness is less weird
Electron Standing Waves
Current flow is more like a sound pressure wave

Each electron is kinda doing its own thing
...more
1h 11min
May 07, 2022MEP EP#327: Mike Kahn of Elemental Machines
MEP EP#327: Mike Kahn of Elemental Machines
Mike Kahn
Been working in the high tech industry for over thirty years

The bulk of this time he has been involved in the architecture and design of complex electronics and embedded systems across a wide variety of segments including general purpose computing, digital communications, digital video, medical devices and life sciences instrumentation

Currently the Vice President of Device Engineering at Elemental Machines, a startup that has created a service that allows LabOps professionals to monitor their lab equipment through a combination of IoT devices and a suite of cloud applications
How did you get started in the industry?
Elemental Machines
What is it

How is it all integrated
Cloud

Vice President of Device Engineering
What is your primary focus?

IoT connectivity for data gathering
What is being sensed

Industries served

How to get started?
Services for outfitting labs
Manufacturing and bringing products to market for Enterprise customers
Consumer VS Enterprise

Custom specifications

How rigorous your documentation and process is

ISO9000
...more
45min
April 29, 2022MEP EP#326: The Infinite Finite Grid
MEP EP#326: The Infinite Finite Grid
PART 2 : Is there a macgyver way to measure voltage without a multimeter?
Lots of great suggestions in our slack channel
Recreating older devices before digital multimeters where available

Galvanometer

Electrostatic Voltmeter

Most of these require lots of experimentation or other precision devices to calibrate

Let's explore the electrolysis method further
Tools and measuring devices required
Watch / time keeping

Container of known volume

Materials
Distilled Water

Equations from Purdue

Amps & Time <-> Coulombs <-> Faradays <-> Moles of Electrons
Interesting EE homework question
Calculating actual component resistance by in circuit resistance measurements
...more
50min
April 23, 2022MEP EP#325: Metric Knuckle
MEP EP#325: Metric Knuckle
Keystone Cool Part
Countersunk parts?
Have you used any parts like that?

Design considerations

Possible Assembly issues

Cool 16x2 character display
How do I branch into Electrical Engineering?
Is it worthwhile to get certifications?

Projects

Finding your path.
Is there a macgyver way to measure voltage without a multimeter?
Electroscope - pith ball or gold leaf
Vacuum may be necessary
...more
1h 4min

FAQs about Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast:

How many episodes does Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 448 episodes available.

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