kit differs from pictures and is non-functional [fixed!]

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avis vanrental
 
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kit differs from pictures and is non-functional [fixed!]

Post by avis vanrental »

I got my kit today and my c1 and c4 caps were blue instead of yellow. I'm assuming that it's just a substitution and no big deal but perhaps the instructions (which were a real bear for me to find online for some reason, BTW - I finally located them through the link in the FAQ about v1.2, Am I missing something?) should be updated to reflect the new parts?

Anyhow, I got it assembled (which was very easy) and everything actually looks as good, if not better, than the pictures in the instructions. I've checked the photos 5 times at least and my c2 and c3 caps and my chip/socket are all oriented properly. My soldering is all pristine and the batteries are brand new but I'm getting no charging on my iPod Photo. The screen illuimates when I plug/unplug the USB cord from the MintyBoost but it never indicates charging and I get no heat on the chip even if I leave it plugged in for a minute or two. My multimeter is at work unfortunately so I can't post what my voltage readings are until tomorrow. What pins would I read from in the plug, anyhow and what should my voltage be? I'm gathering high 4's to 5v from what I read in other threads.

Thanks in advance.
Last edited by avis vanrental on Mon Aug 20, 2007 2:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by adafruit »

without a multimeter it is going to be hard to determine that its working properly. also check that R5 is in the pullup config.
the measurements are in the instructions, it should be 5V output

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avis vanrental
 
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Post by avis vanrental »

So you'll have to bear with my rudimentary knowledge of circuitry and such.
The R5 appears to be in pulldown configuration (I don't have anything in any of the R5 holes) so maybe that's it. If I do decide to hack R5, I'll have to splice in at the positive power lead as I did not leave enough lead on C3 to tap in. If I do this, which of the 3 R5 holes do I connectthe other end to? I can't quite make it out from the instructions. Once finished, if the board is sitting resistors-up, is the leftmost pin in the USB plug the positive or the negative? I want to make sure my polarity is right.
I think I may have a bad connection somewhere because when I get my meter on pins 1 and 4, I get an erratic reading from .05v - .2v and the board heats up very quickly but if I wiggle my probes around a bit I can get it to read 5v for periods of time and the temperature will regulate.
Thoughts?

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Post by adafruit »

i assume you have a kit with a white PCB in which case R5 should look like this
http://s3.amazonaws.com/ladyadanet_mint ... llup_t.jpg
that's the photo from the instructions

this photo
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/69/15622 ... cc67_b.jpg
shows where to test. its also in the instructions

the polarity isnt important when doing the voltage measurement, you'll just get -5V instead of +5V

if you have cold solder joints then yes you're going to have serious problems, but make sure you're pressing on the two pins to get a solid reading.

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avis vanrental
 
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Post by avis vanrental »

Awesome! Those totally aren't the instructions that I was working from. The only ones I ever found were the ones at http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/ ... hackforv11. What is the URL for the instructions that image is from?

I did get a white board but it doesn't look like the one in that image. I'll posta pic of my finished board in a minute.

My solders were all done with a Weller precision cordless iron and the included solder. Hopefully I didn't bunk up and use the wrong kind. I'd obviously feel pretty stupid. I'll get back to you with my findings. Thanks for the attention.

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avis vanrental
 
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Post by avis vanrental »

Image
Image[/img]

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Post by adafruit »

Avis VanRental wrote:Awesome! Those totally aren't the instructions that I was working from. The only ones I ever found were the ones at http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/ ... hackforv11. What is the URL for the instructions that image is from?
its the one on the package
and the instructions here
http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/

the reason your kit isnt working is that you didnt install R5 and R4
you should follow the v1.2 instructions
http://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/solder.html

im confused why you went to the v1.1 instructions when you have a v1.2 board

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avis vanrental
 
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Post by avis vanrental »

My apologies. I was working from 1.1 instructions because I'm dense, apparently. In my excitement to get started, I didn't realize that there were submenus under the Make It! menu option. I clicked on that and got the default page with the soldering irons and other supplies on it and didn't notice the solder it, test it, etc. submenus on the side so I backed out and looked elsewhere. I feel pretty silly now.

I'll finish it and let you know how it turns out. Thanks!

Apparently the solder that I used was lead-free. Is that going to be an issue? I see on your page that you frown upon lead-free solder. Am I going to have to de-solder everything and use a different type?

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avis vanrental
 
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Post by avis vanrental »

I got it. Once I got R4 and R5 in, it worked like a charm. An awesome product! Thanks for your patience with me.

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