

Raspberry Pi: Manufacturing Hiccup - switz
http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/781

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ImprovedSilence
I find fascinating the "open source" view we get into manufacturing here. No
"real" real company will throw out there the "oh, we mucked up, your products
are coming a week late" and then go on to explain exactly what, and why.

It's nice to see the real side of how things are made, and to develop an
understanding that usually nothing ever works out on the first go. It really
enforces the lesson of "don't be afraid to fail, and don't get discouraged" As
I know many people who have tried, do.

~~~
strags
Absolutely agree. It's too bad this happened, but they've turned it into
something interesting, and by clearly explaining what's going on, one would
hope that customers will be understanding.

It reminded me a bit of these guys:

<http://blog.saleae.com/?p=143>

Different problem, but same kind of "small-company" response.

~~~
ImprovedSilence
yeah, it's nice, isn't it. I've been aware of saleae for awhile, I really like
the look of their products. I haven't had a practical reason to buy them yet,
but someday I plan on getting their analyzer.

~~~
strags
I bought a Logic-8 from them a while back - definitely worth the money. And
they seem like an awesome company too. I inquired as to whether they were
going add a particular feature to the Logic-16, and while the answer was
essentially 'not any time soon', the founder who replied was kind enough to
add "Let me know what sort of application you have in mind -- maybe I can
point you to some other solutions out there that might work, and maybe even be
cheaper."

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sdfjkl
Nice to know they care and don't just ship anyways (it would probably work
anyways in many cases, but cause lots of frustration).

Since the author didn't mention it in the article, the "magnetics" are
actually small transformers that filter noise, DC and make it harder to fry
your board via the network port.

~~~
__alexs
Tiny versions of these? <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrite_bead>

~~~
sdfjkl
No, they're real transformers, electrically separating board from network.
Here's a schematic (first picture from the top, the box labeled _Integrated
Ethernet Connector_ ):
<http://www.conformity.com/artman/publish/printer_139.shtml>

Alternatively these can be mounted as as separate component[1] on the board in
conjunction with the "plain" type of connector that the Raspberry
manufacturers used by accident.

[1] Looks like this: <http://www.alliedcomponents.com/lan.php>

~~~
AlexandrB
Interesting. I always wondered what those little black boxes on NICs were -
but I never bothered looking them up. It's pretty amazing that modern
manufacturing can fit that kind of component into the ethernet port itself.

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ChuckMcM
See <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3448677>

This is a pretty standard 'hiccup' in manufacturing. Sadly its more common
when your factory is 'remote'[1] than it is when your factory is local. If you
read Bunnie's blog [2] about the Chumby he's got a number of fascinating
stories about how things can go sideways.

Take notes you budding product designers that requires manufacturing actual
widgets, its a whole lot uglier than you might think :-)

[1] yes that is code for 'outsourced to China.'

[2] <http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?cat=6>

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noonespecial
I actually doubt its an accident. One of the problems you have to deal with
when manufacturing in China is "substitutions". In China, the contract you
sign is just a place to start negotiations and the prototype that they first
present to you is considered a loose guide to how they will build the actual
product.

As time wears on and numbers increase, you'll find all sorts of tweaks to save
a penny or two showing up on your latest batches. They don't _try_ to make
your product non-functional, but they might make a mistake on a substitution
going after that 1/10th of a penny.

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jmedwards
Raspberry Pi are acing customer relations by turning a little bit of bad news
into something really interesting and engaging. Kudos

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bdb
Glad I'm not the only one who manages to order just _one_ slightly incorrect
part for every hardware project I work on.

~~~
DanBC
I feel sorry for the person doing the rework.

8 legs to desolder, on a 6 layer board, where the pads are going to be small
(because of pin density) and where the component shape means you can't just
cut the thing off and take the pins out individually. The click-through legs
of the socket make it harder to apply heat to the pads and wobble the
component out (which you shouldn't do anyway, but people do.)

And then the new connectors need to be soldered back on.

~~~
luser001
Just curious since I had a hard time doing a simple soldering project.

Would it be difficult even if they had some equipment to precisely maintain
temps and suck out the solder? Does such equipment even exist?

~~~
DanBC
Yes, you can get soldering irons with hollow tips and vacuum pumps especially
for rework work.

(<http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/soldering-stations/0165396/>)

For a small quantity of items you can get "solder suckers" which are spring
loaded pumps with a high temp nozzle. You have that in one with the iron in
the other hand. You'd clean the pads with solder wick afterwards.

~~~
sedachv
Also solder wicks, for those of us who don't have rework stations.

------
wr1472
I'd be interested to know what kind of x-ray device they used to get those
images? How much does one cost, and are they affordable (and safe) for a
hobbyist to use?

~~~
sdfjkl
Something like this: [http://www.nikonmetrology.com/en_EU/Products/X-ray-and-
CT-In...](http://www.nikonmetrology.com/en_EU/Products/X-ray-and-CT-
Inspection/X-ray-systems-for-electronics-inspection/XT-V-130-Electronics-X-
ray-system)

It weighs slightly over a (metric) ton, and despite being marketed as "low
cost" model, it's not something the average hobbyist can afford. Or even needs
:)

And yes, it's lead-lined, completely enclosed and safe to use as long as you
don't put your hamster in it.

~~~
wr1472
So nothing on the App store or Android market then?!

~~~
nitrogen
Not sure if you're serious, but most phones lack an x-ray emitter.

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antirez
This stuff happens, it's not a problem. I just wish that the project was less
in a hurry because it's a no profit organization so there are no time-to-
market issues.

~~~
polshaw
I'm not complaining, it's surely no easy task, but how can you claim they are
unduly in a hurry? They were 3 months behind their original plan.

This was a mistake by their manufacturers, and could have happened no matter
how long they took.

~~~
celticninja
they were only 3 monthsd behind if you took November as their shipping date,
that was pretty much the earliest it could have been for a Q4 release, whereas
it could have been as late as end Dec.

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gaius
This is totally like that time back in '83 when Acorn couldn't manufacture
enough ULA's for the Electron in time for Christmas. Probably some of the same
people involved too!

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TomAnthony
Interesting post.

Could someone explain, for a non-hardware guy, why the magnetics are
necessary?

If they are necessary, why do jacks without them exist?

~~~
DanBC
partly for impedance matching, partly for noise filtering.

(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impedance_matching>)

You can use a component on the PCB, or a component built into the socket.

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alexchamberlain
As one of the commentors said... Sh*t happens. Not their fault...

~~~
joezydeco
I don't see it the same way. The article says they spec'ed a certain part on
the BOM and the manufacturing house dropped in a different part. I see this
all the time from overseas board houses that think they can get away with
subbing in a cheaper part and charging the same price.

If this was my vendor and something like this happened, believe me, this would
not be "Shit Happens" and a shrug all around from my management.

~~~
elliottcarlson
To be fair, the "shit happens" statement is from the POV of a customer - and
that's quite correct. We don't have further insight in to what the Raspberry
Pi foundation is doing or communicating to their manufacturer and I doubt it's
a "ship happens" attitude there as well - but that's just a guess and that's
all either of us really have.

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ktizo
When have you ever before seen an apology from a computer supplier about
delays in delivery, that actually went as far as including x-rays of the parts
involved, just to illustrate to ordinary customers how exactly it all went
wrong?

~~~
DanBC
This is an excellent post by the foundation. I'm pleased they're showing
people the actual parts. (After the launch I have no doubt there are some
people vigorously complaining about this too.)

It would be really nice if they now link to some good quality electronic
engineering page to explain what "magnetics" are, and how they work, and why
they're used in network connectors. Teaching people about computing is great.
Teaching people about electronic engineering would also be great.

