When is stripboard not stripboard?

[unravelled]

When I started electronics many years ago, the generic name for Veroboard was stripboard. OK there were unperforated  boards with conductive strips too, but I'm talking about the perforated board with copper tracks one side. What I'm curious about is whether  other products are now (or perhaps have always been) called stripboard.

The reason I'm asking is that I recently bought something described, (among other things), as stripboard on ebay, only to find it hadn't any strips!  It's perfboard, but has a separate copper pad around each hole, so no good for my project. I might have to take up wire wrapping.

 

So should I be miffed that I've bought a mislabeled product, or am I just not up to date with the current terminology?

 

Thanks

 

Dave

 

 

.

[raymw]

Mislabeled

[Grovenor]

The individual pad stuff is often mislabelled as stripboard so you need to look closely at pics and specs buying off eBay.

I still can't work out why one would ever want the individual pads.

Regards

[SHMD]

^

One way is to solder the component to the pads but don't cut the leads.

Instead, pend the leg to where it needs to go and solder it there. That and using wires.

 

It always looks a mess to me, and I never use it, but it used a lot at work.

 

 

Kev.

[raymw]

As well as 'normal soldered wiring' used for perf board, Vero developed this  http://www.verotl.com/en/product/verowire-wiring-pen-part-number-79-1732 a far more professional solution compared to strip board.

[Suzie]

As well as 'normal soldered wiring' used for perf board, Vero developed this  http://www.verotl.com/en/product/verowire-wiring-pen-part-number-79-1732 a far more professional solution compared to strip board.

The Verowire pen and plastic loom combs is a great way to make a project much smaller than it would be on conventional stripboard, and just needs individual pads rather than strips. I prefer the boards with short strips because they are less likely to lift than the tiny individual pads.

[unravelled]

I was fascinated by wire wrapping technology when I first came across it some years ago. I was tempted to invest in the kit, but it was a pretty pricey option so I never tried it. Am I right in thinking that well done, it is mechanically more robust than soldering?

 

It looks as if I might  have some boards to dispose of soon...

 

Thanks

 

Dave

[Suzie]

I have not seen wire wrapping used in anger for a while now, it is usually cheaper to make a custom PCB and assemble it by machine than pay someone to wrap a board, - even for a one off - with the advent of CAD and CAM, but wrapping does eliminate the copper - solder - wire path with its inevitable resistance with a direct wire to component connection with very low resistance.

[TheQ]

Bit late to the thread but I loath wire wrapping ( I was trained to do it), when in the RAF I Worked on equipment that filled an area 100Ft   X 100Ft with 7ft High racks. 50% were wire wrapped back in the 1960s when it was built. Every time you tried to monitor signals, the wires the points of the posts would stab you.

It didn't help there were only three wire colours used, Red and Black for the power rails and everything else was PINK!!!

 

It was reliable for equipment that did not move, but I wouldn't recommend it for anything portable as you are depending on a mechanical joint of wire round a square post.

 

The vero pen however is not for wire wrapping it's just a wire dispenser to feed wire from solder joint to solder joint quickly with self fluxing wire.

[dhjgreen]

Bit late to the thread but I loath wire wrapping ( I was trained to do it), when in the RAF I Worked on equipment that filled an area 100Ft   X 100Ft with 7ft High racks. 50% were wire wrapped back in the 1960s when it was built. Every time you tried to monitor signals, the wires the points of the posts would stab you.

It didn't help there were only three wire colours used, Red and Black for the power rails and everything else was PINK!!!

 

It was reliable for equipment that did not move, but I wouldn't recommend it for anything portable as you are depending on a mechanical joint of wire round a square post.

 

The vero pen however is not for wire wrapping it's just a wire dispenser to feed wire from solder joint to solder joint quickly with self fluxing wire.

Ah, pink wire, don't you just love military specs. I am surprised there was red and black, at Ferranti everything was to be pink.

 

As far as wirewrap reliability is concerned, done properly each turn around the post comprises 4 small cold welds, with 7 turns IIRC that's 28 good connections. Far better than the average solder joint at the time. Tooling needs to correct for reliability though.

[Crosland]

As far as wirewrap reliability is concerned, done properly each turn around the post comprises 4 small cold welds, with 7 turns IIRC that's 28 good connections. Far better than the average solder joint at the time. Tooling needs to correct for reliability though.

 

Indeed. It was (still is for all I know) used on mil-spec equipment for this very reason, especially for wiring up backplanes I seem to recall.

[sharris]

...I loath wire wrapping...

 

I used to love wire wrapping, but then I did have it easy - on my first job I had an electric cut, strip and wrap gun (it cost a few hundred pounds, I seem to remember). Poke the wire into the tip. Put the tip over the wire-wrap pin, squeeze the trigger, move on to the other end and repeat. A good joint and faster than hand soldering. Those little tools the size of a pin vice that you have to twizzle by hand - well that's another matter altogether!

[dhjgreen]

I used to love wire wrapping, but then I did have it easy - on my first job I had an electric cut, strip and wrap gun (it cost a few hundred pounds, I seem to remember). Poke the wire into the tip. Put the tip over the wire-wrap pin, squeeze the trigger, move on to the other end and repeat. A good joint and faster than hand soldering. 

Proper job, that's the way to do it.

[TheQ]

Ah, pink wire, don't you just love military specs. I am surprised there was red and black, at Ferranti everything was to be pink.

As far as wirewrap reliability is concerned, done properly each turn around the post comprises 4 small cold welds, with 7 turns IIRC that's 28 good connections. Far better than the average solder joint at the time. Tooling needs to correct for reliability though.

Some of it was made by Ferranti!!

 

Not building but repairing we just had what looked like a nutdriver with a large central hole and a small hole in the perimeter insert wire in small hole, place large hole over spike and spin.

[baconbutty]

Some of it was made by Ferranti!!

Not building but repairing we just had what looked like a nutdriver with a large central hole and a small hole in the perimeter insert wire in small hole, place large hole over spike and spin.

Brings back memories of the AI23B radar and the hundreds of wire wraps connecting the modules to the WAC, PPC, and NC in the Phantom INAS or Nav/Attack as it was known.

 

Ollie.

[dhjgreen]

Some of it was made by Ferranti!!

 

Not building but repairing we just had what looked like a nutdriver with a large central hole and a small hole in the perimeter insert wire in small hole, place large hole over spike and spin.

Only pink in my day.

 

I bet they didn't supply you with the reverse corkscrew with a hole in for removing the wires either.  Without the "proper job" above, it is difficult to get the cold welds reliably, I suspect you had escalating reliability issues as the equipment was worked on?

[TheQ]

Only pink in my day.

 

I bet they didn't supply you with the reverse corkscrew with a hole in for removing the wires either.  Without the "proper job" above, it is difficult to get the cold welds reliably, I suspect you had escalating reliability issues as the equipment was worked on?

 No we didn't  have a reverse cork screw, it was time for wire cutters and long nose pliers to unwind the wire.

 You really didn't want to pull  a Rack Module out and then start pulling the wire around to try to trace them, the faults would then increase!!

 

Later on after I had left the RAF I worked on the AI24 Foxhunter Radar, and it's test equipment, I didn't have much to do with the Ferranti Built Transmitter or it's test equipment  but I don't remember wire wrap on either of them

[dhjgreen]

 No we didn't  have a reverse cork screw, it was time for wire cutters and long nose pliers to unwind the wire.

 You really didn't want to pull  a Rack Module out and then start pulling the wire around to try to trace them, the faults would then increase!!

 

Later on after I had left the RAF I worked on the AI24 Foxhunter Radar, and it's test equipment, I didn't have much to do with the Ferranti Built Transmitter or it's test equipment  but I don't remember wire wrap on either of them

I certainly would not recommend complete removal either.  The tool took the place of your long nose pliers, and avoided the risk of disturbing surrounding connections.

[Satan's Goldfish]

I've not seen wire wrap for a long time now or any of the required tools since 2001, the backplanes on 'modern' equipments are PCB and soldered (and mostly out of reach for testing when we blatently have a fault on one that likes to rear it's head at least once a week). Lacing and looming has been resigned to history too thanks to tye-wraps.....fortunately!

 

Red, black, and pink?! luxury. Once had the choice of white for power, white for earth, and white for signals, voltages ranging from 5v to 22kv. Great fun.

[dhjgreen]

Red, black, and pink?! luxury. Once had the choice of white for power, white for earth, and white for signals, voltages ranging from 5v to 22kv. Great fun.

I was led to believe that Pink was chosen as due to the lower level of pigment, the life of the cable would be longer, that would work for white too.