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Step 14Required Assembly: Ceramic Capacitors
In this step, we will place and solder all four ceramic capacitors. The ceramic capacitors are pretty small, and flat; to dont confuse these with the electrolytic capacitors, which are can shaped and made of metal. We will deal with those later.
Ceramic capacitors, like resistors, do NOT have an orientation. You can insert them either way.
Please take a moment to look at the first image for this page. Capacitors have only two legs, yet there are three holes for each capacitor. This is actually to make things easier for you; capacitors come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them have their legs very close together, and others are farther apart. These holes will accomodate both. You will see a pair of parallel lines in the silkscreen; this is the symbol for a capacitor. There will be one hole on one side of that symbol, and two holes on the other. The one hole by itself MUST be used for one of the capacitor legs. The other capacitor leg can be used in either of the other two holes. If you are using the Digikey parts for these capacitors given in the beginning, you will likely find that the 15pF capacitors lay best in the closest hole, while the 0.1uF capacitors lay best in the farthest hole.
The two capacitor markings that have a '15' written above them, right next to the 1M ohm resistor we recently placed, are the holes for the 15pF capacitors. The ones ordered from Digikey have the writing '153' on them, although yours may differ if bought elsewhere. Place them so they comfortably stand up; we do not want these to get in the way of the crystal we will be installing soon. There is no need to make sure they are all the way or otherwise force it. Bend the legs so they are secure, solder, and trim off any excess wire.
The two capacitor marking that do NOT have the '15' written above it are the .1uF capacitors. You will find both of these next to the IC socket, where they help clean up the power the PIC uses. 0.1uF capacitors usualy have the marking '104' written on them. Place them in the remaining spots so they stand, bend the legs to secure, solder, and trim any excess wire.
Sadly, most multimeters do not have the ability to test for capacitance. There is no real easy way to test the work done in this step, so please make sure to do it as best you can. If the 0.1uF capacitors aren't working, the PIC will run very unstable, and be somewhere between annoying and useless. If the 15pF capacitors aren't working, the PIC will likely not run at all because it wont get a solid signal from the crystal that controls its speed.
Ceramic capacitors, like resistors, do NOT have an orientation. You can insert them either way.
Please take a moment to look at the first image for this page. Capacitors have only two legs, yet there are three holes for each capacitor. This is actually to make things easier for you; capacitors come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them have their legs very close together, and others are farther apart. These holes will accomodate both. You will see a pair of parallel lines in the silkscreen; this is the symbol for a capacitor. There will be one hole on one side of that symbol, and two holes on the other. The one hole by itself MUST be used for one of the capacitor legs. The other capacitor leg can be used in either of the other two holes. If you are using the Digikey parts for these capacitors given in the beginning, you will likely find that the 15pF capacitors lay best in the closest hole, while the 0.1uF capacitors lay best in the farthest hole.
The two capacitor markings that have a '15' written above them, right next to the 1M ohm resistor we recently placed, are the holes for the 15pF capacitors. The ones ordered from Digikey have the writing '153' on them, although yours may differ if bought elsewhere. Place them so they comfortably stand up; we do not want these to get in the way of the crystal we will be installing soon. There is no need to make sure they are all the way or otherwise force it. Bend the legs so they are secure, solder, and trim off any excess wire.
The two capacitor marking that do NOT have the '15' written above it are the .1uF capacitors. You will find both of these next to the IC socket, where they help clean up the power the PIC uses. 0.1uF capacitors usualy have the marking '104' written on them. Place them in the remaining spots so they stand, bend the legs to secure, solder, and trim any excess wire.
Sadly, most multimeters do not have the ability to test for capacitance. There is no real easy way to test the work done in this step, so please make sure to do it as best you can. If the 0.1uF capacitors aren't working, the PIC will run very unstable, and be somewhere between annoying and useless. If the 15pF capacitors aren't working, the PIC will likely not run at all because it wont get a solid signal from the crystal that controls its speed.
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