Hi adafruit,
I am requesting help on my MiniPIOV3 kit. It did not light after completing the kit and powering it on.
First, let me state, I have no electrical engineering experience and have never soldered. I have two children 5 and 7 and our family wants to join in on the maker movement. The kids were involved in every part of this kit effort except the poor soldering, which I take full responsibility for!
We used a lead free solder and a good quality iron from your store. From your tutorials I gathered that lead free is harder to work with, but with younger children I felt more comfortable with the lead free solder. After completing the kit we powered it on and none of the lights turned on. I did try another set of fresh batteries. Then, using a multimeter, I checked for continuity, by following the pcb tracings and found continuity a where, I believe, it belonged and did not identify any bridged connections. Though "not there yet" I figured I'd give you all of my information now in the case it later becomes necessary. I am using Mac OSX, a serial USB adapter from adafruit, no lights turned on at all when powered. I must confess that the last time I clumsily checked for continuity, I had powered it on and forget to turn it off. Perhaps, now I have really messed it up. Below are photos of the top and bottom of my kit. Thank you for the help.
Thanks,
David
I am attaching screen shots. When I tried to upload jpeg I got this message: The image file you tried to attach is invalid.
MiniPOV3: No lights turn on when powered on
Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
- adafruit_support_bill
- Posts: 88145
- Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am
Re: MiniPOV3: No lights turn on when powered on
Your component placement looks correct. If you can post a larger shot of the back-side, we could see more detail on the solder. (Better light would be good too - try near a window or even outside).
The battery connections are hidden by the hot-melt glue. Double-check that you have the polarity correct.
The battery connections are hidden by the hot-melt glue. Double-check that you have the polarity correct.
- jakel
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2012 7:35 pm
Re: MiniPOV3: No lights turn on when powered on
Here are pictures with more light. I removed the glue from the battery connection.
Thanks!
Thanks!
- adafruit_support_bill
- Posts: 88145
- Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am
Re: MiniPOV3: No lights turn on when powered on
That all looks good. Do you have a multimeter? Can you test that you are seeing ~3v where the battery wires connect?
- jakel
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2012 7:35 pm
Re: MiniPOV3: No lights turn on when powered on
When I test with my multimeter I get more than 3V at the battery connection on the back of the pcb.
- adafruit_support_bill
- Posts: 88145
- Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am
Re: MiniPOV3: No lights turn on when powered on
There is a greyish area between pins 6 & 7 on the processor chip. Double-check to make sure that is not a solder bridge. Other than that, I don't see anything wrong.
If that checks out OK and it still doesn't work, contact [email protected] with a link to this thread and ask for a replacement MiniPOV processor chip.
If that checks out OK and it still doesn't work, contact [email protected] with a link to this thread and ask for a replacement MiniPOV processor chip.
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.