I was just trying to get a better joint on the batt-. I ended up making a mess. Now when I power on the board I don’t get any sound. I do however get sound and the board is responsive when plugged in via USB.
Does pixels work when powered by battery?
Do you have 3.3v on the 3.3v pad when powered by battery?
Do you have 5v. on the 5v pad when powered by battery and sound is supposed to be playing?
Are you sure you have your positive and negative the right way round? You said you wanted to re-do your Batt +, but that pad looks good to me (circled red). Conversely the Batt neg (circled blue) is the one that looks a bit of a mess. However there is another Batt neg terminal just out of shot (arrowed blue).
Also double check the little strand arrowed green on the closer photo. Is it a strand of wire that might cause a short between positive and negative?
You’re right, I mean batt-. I think I messed it up beyond my skill to fix. I ended up using another board.
I attempted to clean up my terrible soldering job, but I think I made it worse. I ended up disconnecting everything and using a new board.
I guess when you are learning expensive mistakes can happen.
I would like to try and troubleshoot the board though and see if it isn’t a lost cause.
What can I check without it hooked up to a battery? I have a 5v and 3.3v power supply I suppose I could use.
I just don’t understand why everything worked fine while plugged into USB. Here’s another thing I noticed. If I had it connected to USB and had the saber actually turned on and making noise, then pulled the USB, the saber continued to work. Only after toggling the Killswitch did it cease to turn back on. I know it wasn’t an issue with the switch because I have it all working now and all I did was swap the board.
This is typical of a cracked D61 diode.
Can you show me where that diode is? Is it right next to that batt- and GND pads?
Can the diode be replaced?
Yes, it can be replaced, but it’s a bit fiddly.
Awesome. I found the schematic earlier, but this is gold. I’m going to have to order a few off digikey and give it a shot.
This is the Way!!
Probably needs an air station to solder that component.
An hot-air soldering station makes it easier, but it is entirely doable with a soldering iron.