Hot take: I was dead wrong about hotswap sockets being a gimmick

For like 2 years I swore hotswap sockets were just for people too lazy to learn to solder. I built my first 3 boards with a $25 iron from Amazon and thought I was better than everyone. Then I borked a PCB on my 4th build because I was rushing at 11pm and lifted a pad on the Pro Micro spot. That was a $65 mistake right there. I swapped to a hotswap board last month and honestly, the convenience of testing different switches in 20 minutes sold me completely. Anyone else stubbornly avoid hotswap and then switch over?

2 comments

2 Comments

lucas6312d ago

Wait, lifted a Pro Micro pad? That's brutal man...

rowangonzalez12d agoTop Commenter

...and that's not even the worst part man. I was so hyped to get this custom board working and then pop, one bad yank and there goes the pad. Been sitting here staring at the mangled pins like maybe they'll fix themselves if I glare hard enough. Worst part is I don't even have a backup Pro Micro, so now I'm waiting on shipping like some kind of caveman. Lucas you have no idea how much that little chip meant to me... Honestly though, I'm thinking about just ordering a handful of them this time. That way when I inevitably screw up another one I can just swap it out and keep going.