I felt the same when I first saw all the options. It’s nice to have flexibility but too many options easily get overwhelming. Personally, I would only leave the horizontal/vertical selection for the USB port. For everything else, I would stick with JST-PH and JST-XH since those are more common and I would include both vertical and horizontal connectors in the package. They cost nothing and soldering them is super easy. If the customer can solder the wires on the C and B pads, they will be able to solder the THT connectors as well. Plus, this would allow for people to make last minute decisions about the orientation. Sometimes you don’t know how exactly things are going to fit in the enclosure so deferring the decision until you’ve had a chance to play with various layouts would be beneficial. Just my 2c.
It would also make handling orders a whole lot easier for you as well as for any re-distributors that you might have in the future.
I agree, adding both connecters the the package will pay for it’s self in your time very quickly. It means you only have 2 different SKU for usb variations and you can have many kits packaged up and ready to ship.
Here’s the idea for the connectors category as well, so you can order everything individually (headers, housings and crimps/contacts). I’m still planning out how to categorize them effectively. Other connectors would also be here (waterproof connectors, XT-connectors etc.)
Feedback is great, definitely want to see you getting units out quickly and accurately rather than balancing a myriad of options. I admire your desire to accomodate various setups.
I would be willing to buy a complete, no soldering needed, unit but it’s never too late to learn/practice THT. Your product is potentially exactly what I need to make an upgrade, watching eagerly!
I think that you are probably best off just providing one or two varients with everything presoldered. It’s really not that hard to change the connectors if you really need to but it’s just better for your time/sanity.
Then you can spend more time making more board to get out and ultimately more money to keep you going
This is the state I’m storing the boards after assembly and QC testing them (no connectors) and I then add the USB-connector in the orientation the customer wants and I was planning on offering to also solder the other connectors against a little payment.
This essentially allows me to have just one base product that is then customized based on customer request before shipping. At this point when I’m doing everything assembly related already to the board a little connector soldering is nothing.
That’s why this was my first proposal for the product page, so you could choose if you wanted to have the connectors soldered by me before shipping. Battery and charger connections need to be done by the customer. USB-connector will be soldered without extra cost.
These two boards are getting sent to a possible future vendor, as testing units.
I think having the options is awesome if you believe it can be sustainable. But also definitely a great idea to offer a couple of complete kits with no options so people aren’t overwhelmed.
I think it makes sense for customised units to cost more. Even if you are assembling them all yourself and the config doesn’t matter, the time in administration will add up quickly.
This would make for a far more complicated webshop and process, but I really like the idea of options
The hard part is getting the new connector soldered on. You have to clean up all the solder from the pads perfectly, otherwise you don’t get the new connector pins through. And that’s the real PITA.
I guess that depends on your skills. I personally get about one of three pads cleaned up nicely with that one. The other two would still have too much solder for the pin to come through. I tend to have a little more success with a solder wick. Still, in general, unless you have a proper desoldering gun, I’d say desoldering is MUCH less fun than soldering.
Assuming the FlexiBMS Lite would become purchasable in the near future, how many units would you be interested in (initially, no future purchases included).Asking for a friend…
I can now easily print all the necessary shipping labels and just stick them all to the packages (lot of normal paper printing, cutting and taping before). Now just waiting for actual shipping packages to arrive…
I’ve thought about how to efficiently send the QC pass and calibration values with every unit, so I thought the label printer can provide an easy answer to this. Slap a sticker with the relevant info to the ESD-bag that has the BMS in it. (mock-up sticker)
