Electronic – Options for soldering a through hole PCB (e.g. Teensy) flush/flat on another PCB

pcbpcb-assemblysolderingteensy

I am looking to incorporate a Teensy board on my PCB. I want to solder the Teensy PCB onto my PCB. But I also want to minimize the height above my PCB as much as possible. Hence, I DO NOT want to solder using regular header pins — i.e. I DONT want this:
enter image description here

I want the Teensy to sit as flush as possible on my PCB. Unfortunately, the Teensy does not come with castellated holes (like the Photon or most wireless boards):
enter image description here

So I was thinking of the following options:

  1. Using low profile header pins like this one — https://www.pololu.com/product/2663 (plastic height is 1.5mm instead of usual 2.5mm). But I want to avoid the 1.5mm as well

  2. Use straight pins like this – http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?mpart=3560-2-00-15-00-00-03-0&vendor=54 — and soldering the Teensy flat on my PCB. Is this a viable option?? A google search doesnt really show me examples of this being done.

What other tricks/tips can I use??

(I understand that the best way is to not use the Teensy board directly, and instead to design the Teensy ckt on my PCB. But for some reasons I do not want to get into that right now.)

Best Answer

  1. Stick the headers through your main board from the bottom, with the plastic on the bottom.
  2. Set your Teensy on top, with the headers going through its holes.
  3. Solder the Teensy to the headers.
  4. Using a small screwdriver, pry the plastic off the headers. You'll be surprised how easy it comes off.
  5. Solder the headers to the main board.
  6. Trim headers as necessary.
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