7/7/22
It’s been a while since I’ve last posted on my worklog. Last week, if I'm not mistaken, I went to test my PS2 motherboard, but it didn’t turn on. In retrospect, I used an alternate power source for the 1.8V linear reg and forgot to hook ground. It was an overall unplanned mess. With wired up regs, shorting is a concern, and ptr regs are the worst to wire up cleanly. For this reason, I’ve decided to venture into the world of PCB design. Learning the ins and outs of Kicad is simple enough, but having a community that’s willing to critique and help is integral to making everything work out.
After many prototypes, I’ve created a final board. I call it “a massive, but absolutely impractical PS2PMS. It’s not as compact and awesome as the old PMS and
@Customledmods custom power board, but it'll do (I also didn't want to waste the components I already have). In addition to mounting holes for two PTH regs, one PTR and one generic 1.8 linear reg, it has mounting holes for a BMS, and holes for the TP5100 charging module. Needless to say, this isn’t my final design. I don’t have mounting holes, a power switch and many other things. Another thing I failed to notice is that the caps are above the input point. Question about that later.
Another thing I’m considering is a charge and play circuit. If I end up doing it, I’ll probably use the classic two port charge and play circuit. It’ll be the matter of slapping in a DPDT switch, messing with the wiring and that’s it. Another option that’s less out there is
this charge and play circuit. I’ll have to buy more components, but I only have to mess around with fewer things.
With all that out of the way, here are some pics:
It’s not the greatest pcb design out there, but it does its job. I’d really appreciate feedback on this circuit. I used power planes, which is a helpful feature but it confuses me.
As you can see, the power plane on the top connects the output of the PTH reg to the cap then to the output terminal. Will the current flow in that order or is there a risk of current flowing straight from the reg to the output terminal? Apologize for the weird wording, but I view circuits similarly to a pipeline. I also don’t think current is the best word to use in this context. I really don't want to f this up because getting pcb manufactured isn't as convenient as picking up a 3D print. From the looks of it, the only option for getting good quality PCBs is from jlc and pcbway (not sponsored, lol). Oshpark is stupid expensive and quality isn't good from what I've heard.