Hello,
I had purchased six MAX9814 (PRODUCT ID: 1713) and found that two did not work properly.
I inspected the boards with a jewelers loop and discovered that the two bad boards had solder bridges on some of the IC's pads.
Four were ordered on 10/30/2014, Order Confirmation No: 618084-2772727742.
And two were ordered on 11/10/2014, Order Confirmation No: 625685-4425865657.
How do I go about returning these two faulty boards?
Thanks,
Anthony
Bad MAX9814 mic boards
Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
- Franklin97355
- Posts: 23912
- Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:33 pm
Re: Bad MAX9814 mic boards
Could you post clear, detailed pictures of both sides of your boards?
- Anthony1964
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:29 pm
Re: Bad MAX9814 mic boards
Here are the photos.
You can see clearly that there are solder bridges across some of the IC's contacts
P.S. Your "Add The File" feature would not allow me to add the fourth file. It says 3 attachments is the maximum.
You can see clearly that there are solder bridges across some of the IC's contacts
P.S. Your "Add The File" feature would not allow me to add the fourth file. It says 3 attachments is the maximum.
- Attachments
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- IMG_0309.JPG (928.59 KiB) Viewed 530 times
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- IMG_0311.JPG (893.18 KiB) Viewed 530 times
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- IMG_0310.JPG (894.35 KiB) Viewed 530 times
- Franklin97355
- Posts: 23912
- Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:33 pm
Re: Bad MAX9814 mic boards
Thanks, several of your solder joints could use some more work. Take a look at this Soldering Guide for help.
- Anthony1964
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:29 pm
Re: Bad MAX9814 mic boards
I highly recommend that Adafruit check all their MAX9814 boards.
A 33% (2 out of 6) defect rate is a little high.
A 33% (2 out of 6) defect rate is a little high.
- Anthony1964
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:29 pm
Re: Bad MAX9814 mic boards
Why am I tasked with fixing your product that I purchased from you????
Shouldn't you just give me a refund or store credit for these two defective boards???
Shouldn't you just give me a refund or store credit for these two defective boards???
- adafruit_support_mike
- Posts: 67454
- Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:51 pm
Re: Bad MAX9814 mic boards
Apparently Franklin was looking at the pin header joints.
There are indeed solder bridges across the pins of the MAX9814 chips in the photos you've posted:
- The bridge in IMG_0309.jpg is between the Gain Select pin and a non-connected pin. It should have no effect on the chip's performance.
- The bridge in IMG_0311.jpg is between the AGC threshold control and microphone bias pins. That particular short disables the AGC system, but leaves the amp generally functional.
- The bridge in IMG_0310.jpg is between the AGC attack threshold pin and the shutdown pin (which happens to be wired to VCC on the breakout). That would cause the AGC to kick in and out very quickly, but again would leave the amp generally functional.
I'll pass this information along to our fabrication and testing teams. It's possible that the testing jig for that product needs to be updated.
In the meantime, please send a note to [email protected] with a link to this thread and the folks there will get some replacement MAX9814 breakouts headed your way.
If you're comfortable with a soldering iron, you can get rid of all three solder bridges by dipping a piece of phone wire (24 gauge) in flux, holding it against the pins that are bridged, and heating the wire with a soldering iron. That's completely irrelevant to the replacements you'll receive, but it does give you some additional amps if you want to invest the effort.
There are indeed solder bridges across the pins of the MAX9814 chips in the photos you've posted:
- The bridge in IMG_0309.jpg is between the Gain Select pin and a non-connected pin. It should have no effect on the chip's performance.
- The bridge in IMG_0311.jpg is between the AGC threshold control and microphone bias pins. That particular short disables the AGC system, but leaves the amp generally functional.
- The bridge in IMG_0310.jpg is between the AGC attack threshold pin and the shutdown pin (which happens to be wired to VCC on the breakout). That would cause the AGC to kick in and out very quickly, but again would leave the amp generally functional.
I'll pass this information along to our fabrication and testing teams. It's possible that the testing jig for that product needs to be updated.
In the meantime, please send a note to [email protected] with a link to this thread and the folks there will get some replacement MAX9814 breakouts headed your way.
If you're comfortable with a soldering iron, you can get rid of all three solder bridges by dipping a piece of phone wire (24 gauge) in flux, holding it against the pins that are bridged, and heating the wire with a soldering iron. That's completely irrelevant to the replacements you'll receive, but it does give you some additional amps if you want to invest the effort.
- Franklin97355
- Posts: 23912
- Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:33 pm
Re: Bad MAX9814 mic boards
Bill is correct, I was looking at the pin headers you soldered on not the chip itself. Sorry for any confusion.
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.