Page 15 of 31. Version 1.03 September 2012
Microbee Premium Plus+ | Construction Manual
The pins of the PCG ram adapter PCB do not quite protrude through the other side of the
baseboard PCB, however, there is enough of the pin in the pad holes that they can still be
soldered by ‘flooding’ the hole with solder. Apply just enough solder for it to ‘wick’ down the
hole and surround the pin so as to get a good solder joint.
6. Integrated Circuits.
Now it is time to start installing the integrated circuits.
Start with all of the smaller 14 & 16 pin devices. Take care that each is located at the correct
IC location. Check as you go that the correct device for that location is being installed by
cross referencing the parts list. The ICs are supplied on a sheet of anti-static foam with a
component reference overlay on it.
* Handy Tip *
When installing all of the ICs, solder just 2 diagonal pins to start with. For
example, on a 14 pin device, solder pin 7 & pin 14 to the board & leave the rest for now.
Then, once all ICs are in position and verified for correct type & orientation, solder the rest
of the pins for each device. This way, if you make a mistake and (say) put a device at the
wrong location, it is easy to remove the device and make the correction.
While it is possible to use IC sockets for all of the devices, it is not recommended as, over
time, socket contacts oxidise and the circuit performance can be degraded.
Next, move onto the larger 20 pin devices. Install these in the same manor, checking that
the location and device types are correct, along with making sure of the proper orientation.
It is a good idea at this point to do a thorough visual inspection of your soldering and check
for any component leads that may be shorting. As quite a few of the ICs are close together,
it is common for the legs of adjacent components to touch each other on the under side of
the board. Trim any leads that are close to each other to ensure no shorts can occur.
