On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:52:30 -0700 (PDT), mickgeyver
wrote:

Can't go too thick here as I'm leeching power from a Tek P6204 probe
cable.

Ok. I just noticed that the backlighting LCD inverter in a typical
laptop is constructed similarly to your prototype. Very thin G10
board, 10mm wide, and all the parts on one side. To make matters
worse, a big routed hole in the middle for the xformer. Huge copper
ground plane on one side of the board.

Yet, all the boards in my collection are quite straight. That
demonstrates that it can be done. I'm not sure what you're doing
that's wrong, but I agree with others that suggest you're using far to
much solder and heat. Smaller parts, less solder, and less heat will
help.

Incidentally, when I say less heat, I don't mean less temperature. I
use the hottest iron tip I can get away with, and work fast. That
minimizes the energy transfered to the solder joint and therefore
reduces the heat affected zone.

I was concerned that too much bending would crack some of the
components giving me problems later on.

PCB warping will certainly cause problems. It really depends on the
physical size of the components. Parts with flexible leads (xsistors,
IC's) are not much of a problem because the leads absorb the flex.
Parts that are soldered directly to the board, will either crack, or
rip the traces off the board. If you can't fix the flexing problem,
switch to a flexible PCB design and apply an insulating stiffener
board on the circuit side. It can't be prototyped with at PCB router,
but at some point, you're going to have to commit to a PCB layout.
Might as well do it early.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558