Question - How to take care of your Brickstuff products for dummies
Hello Brickstuff community !
Sorry in advance for my bad English, not my first language.
I have absolutely no knowledge about electronic and I'm not an handyman neither, not even sure if I have a screwdriver somewhere in my place.
That's why I love Brickstuff products so much, so easy to use, even for someone like me.
This forum is full of great ideas and technical help, but I have a few very basic (dumb) questions and would like to know if you have any tips or suggestions.
Maybe I should write a distinct post per question? don't know...
1. Connectors are so small, with my large fingers I sometimes have a hard time to remove them, specially when they are many side-by-side on the same controller (e.g. the 3 channels on controller Trunk05-B)
Of course I try not to pull the cables. The best (but not perfect) I've found to help is my wife's tweezer in the bathroom (but she's always angry atme when she doesn't find it anymore). So, before I buy my own tweezer I would like to know if there is a better tool designed for this purpose and to manipulate those tiny connectors, if you have example that I can find on Amazon or other it would be great.
2. I'm looking for tips to organize and store all these little parts when there are not used.
We can easily find cheap plastic case with many little compartments, but I have a doubt, does plastic storage are fine or are they bad for electronic parts?
Does the little static-bag are necessary? If I need extra bags, could you point me some example on Amazon (or can we buy some from Brickstuff?)
And how to store all these little cables of differents lenght without getting them all tangled, any tips?
3) If I need additionnal self-adhesive squares, there are many similar adhesive product in craft stores but I want to be sure that I will be able to remove it without damaging my brickstuff products, Can I buy extra from brickstuff or again any suggestion that would be fine?
many thanks !
Benoit
-
Hi Benoit, thank you for posting on the forum! You ask very good questions, and your English is very excellent. Much better than my French would be. 😀
To answer your questions:
- We use tweezers whenever possible to remove plugs from connectors (especially on the TRUNK05 boards-- those plugs are very strong!). Here is the tweezer we use: http://amzn.to/2vfBSi1. These are perfect for use with plugs, and they also are great for routing/placing (and retrieving) wires.
- For storage, we use the plastic boxes like you are thinking of: http://amzn.to/2fotetY. These are great for storing connecting cables and adapter boards. The only boards you need to be careful of are the lighting effect controllers (TRUNK01-99): these have microcontrollers onboard that are static-sensitive. You could keep these safely stored in boxes like these: http://amzn.to/2vfL85H. Or you could use bags like these: http://amzn.to/2fnZnSi. Again this is only necessary for the lighting effect boards, but you could also keep your extra LED lights in these types of containers/bags also if your home gets very dry in the winter (when there is more likely to be static build-up).
- To store the cables, we like the storage boxes above. 1.5" and 6" cables should fit into these boxes without bending, but for 12" cables, you will have to bend them to store them, and with 24" cables, you may need to wind them around your fingers first to keep them coiled up while in storage (these are the easiest to get tangled).
- If you need additional self-adhesive squares, we sell these on our site here. Or if you would like to buy them directly, here are the thicker, smaller ones we use: http://amzn.to/2vxGIdm. And here are the thinner squares, which come in a mixed pack of small and large squares: http://amzn.to/2wnY3TD.
I think I answered all of your questions-- let me know if I missed anything, or if anyone has additional recommendations or tips to share.
Thank you again for posting on our forum!
-
Rob Klingberg Benoit Robert I like the #2 - storage boxes notion. Probably way smarter than what I use to organize my BrickStuff gear: just mixed together in a dresser drawer in the anti-static bags.
Admittedly not the cleanest, but I have a "power" drawer, with each anti-static bag containing the parts neatly labelled with the BrickStuff product card. (One each for various wire lengths, all adapters are together, one each for the various pico lights.) I confess most of my parts are installed, so not a ton to stock.
But the tweezers link is awesome - added to the cart. The pocket knife is only so good, and plugging in can be a challenge. Thanks!
-
Many thanks Rob and Paul to have taken time to answer all my questions, provides all these links and share your tips and experience.
This is really appreciated and very helpful :-)
Benoit