Alumodi, A DNA20 Build

[kurtus]

Couple more pics I forgot to upload
I work for an electrical supplier so it wasn't hard to get these free PTC fuse samples, these are 4A with a trip of 6.8a and I was just going to use one with the build but after doing a search I think it will be better if I use the 3a ptc with a 5a trip rating in parallel to get the lower resistance rating and higher 10a trip rating, they are in the mail. Also a pic of the dna20 board jmarkus hooked me up with, thx buddy


Mamu's cradle all sanded and painted krylon fusion satin black, will look nice with the smoked lense in it.

 

[Visus]

TE is awesome
Glad you liked Mandro's build
I wonder if he knows about the oxidizing
that would suck if there is no coating now

 

[rbryant4]

mmm. looks like a nice build so want a dna20

 

[kurtus]

Pic time lol
Was looking at the shorty drip well and 510 connector and when I mocked it up using the Penelope, the shortest 510 connector of all my atties, it was sticking up out of the 510 connector about an 1/8th inch. This is due to the fact that it was epoxy potted, I actually like that alot because you can tighten down pretty hard and not have to worry about it at all. The fix to get it flush was to countersink the 510 connector into the drip well, the end result brings the pene a hair from flush, not noticable but I forgot to take a picture of that.







Next task was the acrylic screen using tamiya PS-31 smoke polycarb spray. Turns out great and you can actually control haw dark you want it by applying it heavier. Also a little tip if your acrylic/lexan screen for the cradle is a little scratched up you can use autosol aluminum polish with a cloth from a screen protector or sunglass case so you don't scratch the finish, removes all the surface scratches and leaves a nice shiny finish.







And a mock up after using clear gorilla epoxy to secure the lense into the cradle, will look better when the screen protector is off the dna board and the back is dark in the box I'm sure.

 

[kurtus]

Anyone here familiar with the screen cradle, do you think it is ok to just epoxy the dna20 board directly to the back of the screen then epoxy the screen into the cradle or should the dna board be mounted on it's own platform? Just want it to be fairly sturdy, my assuption is that this is ok just looking for real life experiences.

 

[kurtus]

Got the box back from the coater, the fanciest thing they where spraying was this color which is somekind of a burnt redish orange with a silver flake over it. Looks decent to me, small imperfection at the usb port but I think thats where he clamped onto it for coating. Gotta look for new screws now too lol, forgot that I should have sent it will some filler screws instead.





You'll notice here that the hole for the 510 is now huge.......bapgood and mikepetro have convinced me to go a different route than the crap brass/press in connectors. The idea of epoxy to hold the shorty drip well and silver 510 connector was a serious weak link, I was loosing sleep over it lol.

 

[kurtus]

Next up was to make the 510 connector, used a top cap from my drawtube mod that I bought long ago. I really like this setup that I used here.

I used a brass threaded m5 to 6/32 insert(taken from scepter ipex pvc fs box, holds ground strap in) which I drilled and tapped into the delrin insulator of the drawtubes top cap. I originally tried to use a spring under the brass 6/32" 510 adjustable pin that I had to file the head down on but it would hang up and unravel from getting jammed so I settled on a silicone oring insulator from an old 510 connector. It gives the perfect tension for adjusting to all my atties and also adds more insulation for safety.....win win. The stainless ring is a 1/4" slice from the tube of the drawtube mod to act as the nut.

 

[kurtus]

Here we have the 510 all soldered up and assembled. Its surprising how easy it is to solder onto stainless steel, lots of heat with a 60 watt iron and I used a micro hand held torch at the same time to get it really hot. I used good quality acid flux and regular lead free solder, made for one hell of a bond.




Started working on the screen placment, I bought the mamu cradle that was 1.5mm because it was the only option at the time but the 1590b is 2mm thick so I had to grind it down for the screen and cable to have the needed clearance. Also just to not that the entire inside of the box has been coated to inslulate it from any electrical connections.

 

[Visus]

On my monitor its pink

not orange-ish at all

thats a thick winter coat, they did a good job except for the usb as you said
it is noticeable but once you put the charger in it will camouflage it, I bet..

 

[kurtus]

On my monitor its pink

not orange-ish at all

thats a thick winter coat, they did a good job except for the usb as you said
it is noticeable but once you put the charger in it will camouflage it, I bet..

Yeah it looks more pink in the photos than it is, I think its the red tone and the silver making it appear more pink. He said it is a red color but never said what it was. Its different thats for sure and at the right angle it looks silver. Not gonna complain since it was free. I traded 2 lamps and a photocell from work for it. The coating is very thick and has already held up great to me bashing it around since making the new changes to the box. I was able to clean that spot in the usb port pretty well too after I took the picture with a file, looks alot better there now than it did and it is not really noticable once the port is in place.

 

[kurtus]

Installed the 510, no epoxy required here what so ever, snug as a bug in a rug lol. Really nice to have the adjustability on the connector and having a 22mm top cap seals the deal for me. Super happy with this aside from the fact that I'm not really crazy on the look of the dimples on the cap but it made it easy to hack up and use haha.


Flake up close and I remade the acrylic screen because it is damn near impossible to make it without getting stress cracks on the edges, doesn't like stress or heat at all. Got it done though crack free.




Picture down into the 510 showing the brass screw and silicone tension insulator down in there, uses a flat head screwdriver to adjust it. Basically it is a copy of how the russian 510 adjustment works.


Thats all I have for the moment, just soldered up the dna board, usb board, buttons and batt holders, next up is making a brace to hold the dna chip in the box. Its getting really tight in there lol.

 

[Laoboi]

Looks good! Would like to see the guts of this beast!

 

[kurtus]

Looks good! Would like to see the guts of this beast!

Working my way there bud, I'll take pictures of that process if I do it tonight. thanks

 

[kurtus]

Last nights picture session, didn't get as far as I wanted though due to trying to be patient and letting the epoxy dry.

The first thing on my to do list that had me most worried was installing the board. Started brain storming ideas....can you see my plan?



Cut the notches out of the .060 lexan I'm using here and removed the onboard fire button for a flat contact surface.


Applied gorilla clear epoxy onto the edge of the cutout of the box then slid the cradle in


Applied gel epoxy all around the bezel from the inside, i'll build it up even more once the display is installed.


A quick check to see if I messed it up lol.....nope all good

 

[kurtus]

Deep breath, I applied clear epoxy on the edge of the screen with a toothpick very lightly and then placed it into the cradle, held it there with my finger for 10 minutes. Glad I remember to have a vape by me haha


Heavied up on the gel epoxy around the screen of the cradle very slight edge of the display for extra hold. Then I used clear epoxy on the outer edges of the transducer dealio thing on the back of the dna so not to get glue all over the back of the display screen and to hold it in place where I needed it. It basically set into the gel epoxy coat that was all around the bezel so its a bit elevated off the display.


So back to the lexan piece, I did a couple bends and then test fit it.


Now I had to wait for the epoxy to set

 

[kurtus]

So while I'm waiting on the epoxy to dry I started working on the battery box. Here is a pair of 3a TE Connectivity RGEF300K fuses for a parallel setup



Fuses wired up and wires ran


I'm using 3m exterior foam tape to hold the battery holders together and it will also hold them down in the box. I plan to reinforce with epoxy as well for a firmer hold but the 3m tape holds very well.



Ok, epoxy is set on the dna, time to make use of that lexan piece. I used the same 3m exterior tape here as well placed on the back of the dna as well as the sides of the lexan, gives it some sandwich action in the box. I went this route with the 3m tape because nothing will stick well to lexan unless it is a special adhesive. The plan now is to build up gel epoxy over the ends of the lexan holding on the sides of the box.


I did a quick dry fit of the battery holder, it is really tight but I can get it all in there, also it gives me another attachment point for the dna chip with more epoxy. Sorry its blurry but its all I got.


Quick check to see if I wrecked everything in the install process, this was on the dim screen by the time I got to my camera but its good

 

[kurtus]

Epoxied the dna chip cradle into place as well as the buttons

 

[Laoboi]

How did the cradle and screen fit in with the 1.5mm cradle and 2mm body thickness? Also, did you desolder the fire button with desoldering braid?

 

[mikepetro]

The easiest way I found to remove the fire button is to use flush cut wirecutters and snip the two leads closest to the edge of the board. Then grab the switch and wiggle it back forth until the other two leads break. Comes off pretty clean this way, no solder iron required.

Sent from mobile, excuse brevity

 

[Laoboi]

The easiest way I found to remove the fire button is to use flush cut wirecutters and snip the two leads closest to the edge of the board. Then grab the switch and wiggle it back forth until the other two leads break. Comes off pretty clean this way, no solder iron required.

Sent from mobile, excuse brevity

You're a life saver mike! Thanks for the info.