Step 1 – Resistors

Fit three resistors of 470 Ω at R3, R6, and R8 (yellow/violet/black/black/brown) [these are the LED resistors] – Resistors are not polarised components.

Fit one resistor of 10 kΩ at R7 (brown/black/black/red/brown) [this is the MOSFET base resistor]

Step 2

Fit the four large (220 mΩ) resistors at R1, R2, R4 and R5 (red/red/silver/gold/black). Check that you use the correct holes, as there is a test point hole close to the R2 left leg position.

Step 3 – Blue capacitors

Fit two blue 100 pF capacitors (marked "101") at C1 and C5 [these are to set the chopper frequency on the steppers]. The markings for C1 could cause confusion – refer to the picture for correct placement. Check the values carefully: there are 3 different values, 22, 101 and 474, all in similar packages. The value is marked in tiny writing on the component. These are not polarised components.

Step 4

Fit four blue 470 nF capacitors (marked "474") at C2, C3, C6 and C7 [decoupling caps].

Step 5

Fit the black diode in the centre bottom of the board above the trio of resistors. [Protection diode for MOSFET].

This component is polarised and must be fitted with the silver band to the right, aligning with the black strip in the board markings.

Step 6 – LEDs

Fit the two LEDs with clear lenses (which shine orange) to LD1 and LD2 at the bottom of the board.

These components are polarised and must be fitted with the positive (i.e. longer) leg to the top hole, marked + on the board or they will not light. The short leg is normally the cathode (negative) leg, and the long leg the anode (positive) one.

You can confirm this using the diode or LED setting on a multimeter (if you have access to such an up-market meter) or by using a resistor and a power source. (more info needed about how to do this)

LED Info on Wikipedia

Fit one red-cased LED in the centre of the trio of resistors at the bottom of the board, remembering that + is the long leg and goes into the right-hand hole. The marking on the board is partially hidden at this point by the resistor.

Step 7

Fit three connectors at the bottom of the board, the 2-pin connector in the centre, and the two 4-pin connectors to left and right [one for each stepper motor]. Take care that they stay aligned flat to the board as you solder them in. The Blu-Tack tip is particularly helpful here.

Do not overheat, as you can melt the plastic with thermal conductance from the large pins. Tack each connector into place at each corner pin first and and then you can ensure a good amount of solder is applied, as these connectors are demanding both mechanically and electrically.

Step 8

Optional step: here we fit two test pins either side of the C4 capacitor marking. These are used to provide a place to get a trigger signal for an oscilloscope when testing the chopper decay. There is a place for a third pin as GND, but is is very close to the large resistor and so is not being fitted. There are many alternative GND points on the board that are easier to connect to anyway. These single pins can be very fiddly to solder, so the choice is yours. In further pictures they are not shown.

Step 9

Fit the two 8-pin headers, JP1 and JP2. [for jumpers to set decay & step sizes] These are not handed, and can go either way around, so long as the long pins face up from the board.

Do not overheat, as you can melt the plastic with thermal conductance from the large pins. Tack each connector into place at each corner pin first and and then you can ensure a good amount of solder is applied, as these connectors are demanding mechanically. Make sure these headers are mounted flush to the board so they don't lean.

Step 10

Fit the two 4-pin headers JP3 and JP4. They are not handed and can go either way around, so long as the long pins face up from the board. Make sure these headers are mounted flush to the board so they don't lean. As above, be careful with overheating.

Step 11

Fit gold coloured tantalum capacitor 47 μF at top left C8.

Caution: this component is polarised and must be installed correctly, otherwise it can explode in a dramatic and hazardous way. The positive (+) hole is marked (but note that the printing will be under the 8-pin header by now) – it is the one furthest from the edge. The capacitor's positive leg is marked with a + sign. Good eyes are need to see this, but it is normally the long leg. You may also need to bend the capacitor's legs slightly to allow access to the jumper header. Take care not to bend too near to the capacitor body as it is quite fragile. It does not need to be pressed tight to the board, so you can leave some leg for the bend.

Step 12

Fit right angled black boxed header [link to controller board]

Note: the design allows for a wider 14-pin connector with extended functionality. The TVRR reference build uses a narrower 10-pin header that fits in the centre of the hole array. Tack the corners first and ensure each pin has a good amount of solder applied to anchor the header to the board.

Step 13

Fit the 2-pin screw terminal block.

Step 14

Fit the large black 220 μF electrolytic capacitor at C4.

This component is polarised. The negative (-) end is marked by an arrow with a - sign, and usually the can has a 'neck' at the positive (+) end. The graphic on the board is larger than the component and to ease the fitting of the final component (the PTC fuse in step 17) we found that we could adjust the legs to bias the fitting to toward the negative end (see pic for alignment)

Step 15

Static care: Now to fit the most important components! The two stepper drivers are large and, like a millipede, have many legs. Hopefully yours are all in line and straight. If not, now is the time to align them. Apart from the number of legs, they should be straightforward to fit. Clean joints and the right amount of solder is important. Too much solder may cause shorts on either side of the board; not enough may cause 'dry joints' after extended use. They are not difficult to fit – just check the joints with a magnifier, and they are good chunky things to fit!

Step 16

Static care: Fit the MOSFET (STP55N or P55NF06L). The board silkscreen depicts the orientation by a black bar representing the metal heat-sink that should point upward. These chips need to be perfectly upright, and should easily sit in the position. Try to avoid soldering them in a leaning position.

Note: It is best to protect the MOSFET from static charges. In the pic we see a professional system, but touching an earthed pipe or metal PC case is an alternative. If your board is looking like this reverse side then it is "lookin' good".

Step 17

Fitting the last item on these boards, the PTC (solid state resettable fuse). This is a large and incongruous component that has given Al more grief that most of the others! It is a little tricky as the space is tight and the legs need to be 'adjusted' to fit around the adjacent components so they are not touching one anywhere, while being careful not to crack the PTC itself. Using some pointed pliers to protect the top of the leg during bending is a handy tip.

Step 18

Now you should fit the jumpers to the places as shown in this photo. Please note that the board markings are inaccurate for the 1st Build Group, and you should instead trust this photo.

Step 1

Fit 10 kΩ (brown, black, black, red, brown) resistors at R1 (Note: this is incorrectly marked R11 – a through-hole – on the board, refer to pic), R5, R6, and R17. Leave the resistors raised a little above the board, this will allow you to 'ease' their position if needed when fitting adjacent components later.

Do not fit R13 at this stage, *even though it is shown in photo* — there is a patch mod board that needs to be mounted in the place of R13 instead of this resistor. Instructions on this mod are noted on the electronics check page.

Step 2

Fit three 100 kΩ (brown, black, black, orange, brown) resistors at R7, R12, and R20. Leave R20 a little raised above the board, you need to ensure the DIL Sockets to left and right of R20 can be mounted in a later step, and R20 may need to be 'eased'

Step 3

Fit three 4.7 kΩ (4K7 yellow, violet, black, brown, brown) resistors at R2, R3, R4 at the bottom left of the board.

Step 4

Fit a 220 Ω (red, red, black, black, brown) resistor at R9, above the SD card marking.

Fit a 330 Ω (orange, orange, black, black,brown) resistor at R10, above and to the right of R9.

Fit a 1 kΩ (brown, black, black, brown, brown) resistor at R8, on the left-hand side, a little above halfway up the board.

Step 5

Fit two 50 mΩ surface mount resistors (marked "R050") at R11 and R14 in the top right corner (there are, in fact, two resistor places marked R11 on the board, but the other is for the through-hole component that we fitted in step 1).

Please note that there will be a heatsink added across the top of these two resistors, so it is very important that both are absolutely flat to the board.

There is a knack to fitting these: Put a small amount of solder on one of the two pads. Use tweezers to place the resistor (either way around, depending on your own handedness) and heat the soldered pad to fix the component. Finally, solder the other end.

Note that the original kit supplied 100 mΩ resistors for this purpose (as shown in these pictures). Do not use these. Make sure you have received the replacement 50 mΩ resistors.

Step 6

Fit two 470 Ω resistors at R15, on the top right of the board by the surface mounts, and at R16, on the top left of the board.

Note - it is recommended to fit R15 on the bottom of the board (not as shown in the picture) to keep it away from the heat sink that will be attached to the 2 SMD resistors (R11 & R14)

Step 7

There is no Step 7. (this step is left intentionally blank :) )

Step 8

Fit the diode – a small orange-coloured component.

This component is polarised, and the black line goes to the right, matching the line on the board graphic.

Step 9

Fit the beige inductor (brown/green/brown/gold – 150 μH) in L1 on the left side of the board, a little over halfway up. It is not polarised.

Step 10

Fit two blue 22 pF capacitors at C1 and C2, to the right of the crystal. Double check that you have the 22 pF ones. They are not polarised.

Fit the 20 MHz Crystal. Leave this raised a small amount above the board, as the case of the crystal should not touch any of the tracks or components near it. You may wish to use a small piece of thin cardboard as a spacer while you solder it. It is not polarised.

Step 11

Fit the rest of the 470 pF blue capacitors (10 in all, marked "474") at C6, C7, C8, C9, C10, C11, C14, C16, C17 and C18. These are not polarised.

Step 12

Fit the SD Card holder. It has bumps on its underside that should hold it in position through the two holes near the edge of the board. It should bump into position exactly; solder the two outside tabs first and then the inner and outer legs. All soldering is on the top for this surface-mount component.

UPDATE:18May2012: There has been questions on the GG about the 3 pins at the rear of the SD card socket (bottom right in pic), if you refer to the previous pic you will there are 3 pads, 2 of which are very close together. It is best to keep from bridging the pads with solder, though if you do so it will *NOT* cause any problems because the current firmware does not use the signals on these pins which are for the SD card detect 'write protect' function

Step 13

Fit the reset button. The legs extend out to the left and right, but the button can be placed either way around.

Step 14

Fit three 2-pin connectors and three 3-pin ones at the bottom of the board. [thermistor (2-pin) and endstop (3-pin) connectors]

Step 15

Fit one 3-pin (fan) connector to the top left of the board.

Step 16

Fit the five dual screw terminals at the top of the board. Facing outward.

Step 17

Fit the right-angled black-boxed 10-pin headers on the left side of the board [connections for cables to driver modules].

Step 18

Fit the yellow LED at LD2 with its long lead (anode, +) to the left and shorter lead (cathode, GND, -) closest to the screw terminals on the right.

Fit the smaller gold-coloured tantalum 1 μF capacitor at the top left in the position marked C15.

This component is polarised, so ensure that the positive (+) leg is nearest R16. The markings on the board may be partially covered by adjacent pads.

Step 19

Fit the red LED at LD3 with its long lead (positive, +) on the left, towards the centre of the board, and the short lead (GND, -) on the side nearer the edge of the board.

Fit the transistor labelled BC559 at Q4 with the flat face towards the bottom of the board, as per the markings on the board. Don't confuse this with the part for IC4 that is in the same type of package.

Step 20

Static care: Fit the voltage regulator at IC4 labelled KY5033 (or maybe LP2950), with the flat side facing towards the bottom of the board – as per the markings on the board.

Fit the larger gold-coloured tantalum 5.8 μF (or maybe 6.8 μF) capacitor at C12 below IC4.

Observe the correct polarity, as shown by the + sign on the board (positive/+ to the left). Note that the legs on this need to be carefully squeezed together to avoid putting pressure on the gold body part.

Step 21

Fit the tri-colour LED at LD1. The longer of the outer legs (red light) goes at the bottom, toward R9. If this is the wrong way round the RGB lamps will light incorrectly.

Step 22

Fit the three DIL IC sockets. Your sockets may be marked with a notch or a square hole that aligns with the marking on the board, i.e. at the bottom for the large IC1 and at the top for the two small ones at IC2 and IC3. Check closely before soldering to ensure all legs are protruding evenly through the holes on the back of the board. It is easy to have one fold under the socket while fitting all the legs through. Tack the diagonal corner pins and check the socket is flat against the board before soldering the rest of the legs. Be quick, to avoid overheating any single pin, which risks melting the plastic socket.

Step 23

Fit the 4-pin header at the top of the IC3 socket.

Fit the right-angle 6-pin connector at the top right below the red LED – take care with heating and alignment as before.

Fit the one 2-pin jumper in the space marked SDWP at the bottom of the board, and a second below the diode and above C6 on the top right. (SDWP stands for SD card Write Protect.)

Step 24

Fit the SPI/ISP header at the bottom right. The ISP header is polarised, so follow the shape marked on the board to ensure correct orientation. The slot in the side should be towards the SD card.

Fit the four 10 μF electrolytic capacitors (black cans) at C3, C4, C5, C13.

These are polarised. For each can, double-check which leg is positive (should be marked on the case), and match it to the + marking on the board.

Step 25

Static care: The components in this step are static-sensitive. Ensure, if you haven't already done so, that you are suitably earthed to prevent damage from static electricity.

Fit the voltage regulator 7805 at IC5, and the two MOSFETs marked 4P03L04 at Q2 and Q3, orientated so that the metal heatsink back faces down toward the centre of the board. This side is marked with a black bar on the board.

It was originally envisaged that extra external separated heatsinks would be required for the MOSFETs, but experience has shown that the external heatsinks are not generally required - the MOSFETs have behaved themselves well under load.

Testing

This is incomplete. At this stage we should do any testing prior to inserting the chips at the final stage. These tests are being finalised, and have not yet been documented properly.

Electronics Checks

Step 26

Fit the chips, observing correct orientation. The legs of DIL chips may need 'easing' inward by pressing each row of pins on a firm, flat, non-static surface. You can use the anti-static bag as a mat to do this.
Conduct final chip tests and you are fit to install your new boards on your TVRR1.