MFNAKD... C3 SLO-100 minus 50

syscokid said:
Thanks, AMS. In the C3 Amps website, the description of the PCB's are described as "Milspec FR4 board with 3 oz Copper traces & Silver Plated Pads with Clear Solder Mask". Would the Silver Plated Pads need to be cleaned like you suggested? And what is meant by "with Clear Solder Mask"?
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You should clean any place that solder needs to flow.
Silver will typically turn black from exposure to light.
Clear solder mask is for wave soldering. This prevents solder from flowing onto certain parts of the board.

It is very unusual to use silver on circuit pads.
Normally this would be tin plated, but may have a very small percentage of silver.
If it has not turned black already, it's probably not actually silver, but tin.

But something silver would be used on: RF circuits, high frequency, etc.

Wave soldering is where the entire board is soldered all at once...(like mesa boogie)
 
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Amp Mad Scientist said:
Silver will typically turn black from exposure to light.
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Known as "tarnished", it is caused by the silver being in contact with air (or more specifically, with pollutants that are normally found in air). This tarnishing is not a fast process, however it is as silver does tarnish that it becomes a better conductor through contact than when it is not tarnished.
Silver will also undergo an "oxidation" process through contact with sulphur containing compounds, this oxidation being like a "sped up" version of tarnishing.

I've not ever seen the C3 boards, however I'm sure they know the spec they are having them made to. If they (C3) state that the solder pads are silver plated, I'm inclined to think that just possibly, they are. Cheers
 
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ivan H said:
I've not ever seen the C3 boards, however I'm sure they know the spec they are having them made to. If they (C3) state that the solder pads are silver plated, I'm inclined to think that just possibly, they are. Cheers
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Yeah, Rob Reeder and his C3 Amps products have an excellent reputation for providing high quality stuff. I did a good amount of research on the web for about a month before I plunked down my hard earned money. I've had the same experience with David Allen and his amp kits, and John McDonald's V2 Caldera kit.

And BTW... In talking about silver plating here: C3 Amps supplies teflon/ptfe type E wire for their amp kits: Silver plated 19 strands, 600v, and because of the teflon jacket the insulation has a much higher melting point than regular PVC hook up wire. The downside to teflon is that it's more difficult to strip cleanly with my current tools and technique.
 
It's been three days since I last made any building progress. Todays next building phase was to install the Soldano-Style parallel wires that connects to all of the tube's heaters and to the power tubes ground and plates. I installed only three buss wires and then I realized that I was missing all the resistors and capacitors that are going to be directly connected to the pots, the tubes, the switches, and the jacks. Three caps and eighteen resistors M.I.A. I'm guessing a separate package grouping these parts was accidentally omitted. I'm waiting to hear back from C3 Amps.

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Meanwhile, I can at least start stuffing the PCBs... :giggle:
 
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