PowerBoost 500 shield surrendered working

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khw18
 
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PowerBoost 500 shield surrendered working

Post by khw18 »

After using the PB500 for loading a 900mAh LiPo, it wasn't in use for several month. A few days ago I sucessfully used it as single power supply for the test arrangement: UNO-R3 + Bidirectional Level Converters + 9DOF-IMU + HC-06 BT-Module. All was OK but after about 20 minutes the PB500 surrendered working - with all LEDs Off. Connecting PB500-USB input power didn't improve the situation.
PowerBoostShield A.jpg
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PowerBoostShield B.jpg
PowerBoostShield B.jpg (225.75 KiB) Viewed 641 times
The test arrangement without current from the PB500 still works very well, drawing max.70mA from the UNO-R3 USB-connector.


As the PB500 (maybe the TPS61030?) obviously is defective, I tried to gather additional info:

Connecting the LiPo with PB500-USB input power absent results in a short illumination of the Blue and Red LEDs if the Switch is ON. This effect is reproduceable.

Connecting the LiPo for about two seconds with PB500-USB input power present resulted in MCP7831 getting HOT immediately!! This effect is no more reproduceable, so I suspect this test caused additional damage to the shield :-(

With nothing connected to the shield, the resistance between JST-PH, pins 1/2 is 3.5Ohm (independent of DMM polarity).

With only the LiPo connected to the shield, the voltage between JST-PH, pins 1/2 is 0.0mV, regardless of the Switch-state.

With PB500-USB input power present, with or without LiPo, the Yellow and Green LEDs are On and the voltage between JST-PH, pins 1/2 is 0.7mV, regardless of the state of the Switch.

The LiPo itself seems to be OK:
- Unconnected voltage: 4.03V
- Connected to a 22Ohm resistor: 3.99V (0.18A)
- Connected to a 10Ohm resistor: 3.94V (0.39A)

Could you please tell me, what has gone wrong and what to do now?

Sorry for my poor english :-(

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 shield surrendered working

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Sounds like the PB500 has failed. Our replacement period is 30 days from purchase.

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khw18
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 shield surrendered working

Post by khw18 »

Yes, of course! The PB500 has failed, it's defective as aforementioned.

But I still dont know, what has gone wrong.

Nothing has been said about the cause of the damage and how to avoid it in similar cases.

Would you please give a more specific answer?

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 shield surrendered working

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

I really don't know what caused it to fail. Perhaps a short-circuit somewhere.

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minitechnicus
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 shield surrendered working

Post by minitechnicus »

I have the same problem but I am out of 30 days warranty. You probably will suggest buy a new one and my question is: the one that you have now in stock fixes the problem? (I don't want to pay another $20 for something that will broken in short time).

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 shield surrendered working

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

The OP simply had a defective shield. It's not a problem with the design or manufacture.

What exactly are your symptoms? The PB used to work and now it doesn't? What are the LEDs doing - are they lit?
Are you sure your battery is working? Do any of the chips get hot?

Can you post clear, detailed pictures of both sides of the shield, showing your soldering?

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minitechnicus
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 shield surrendered working

Post by minitechnicus »

The shield worked for awhile (blue LED was lit) and suddenly the whole circuit was out of power. No smell, no other indicators the shield got burned. No visible signs of broken components also. I didn't check if anything got hot.
I connected the USB for recharging and the amber LED lits. It stayed like that for couple of hours. However, I couldn't power the circuit board during the charging process.
Later I thought there is a problem so I connected the 'doctor' that showed me no amperage is present (so my conclusion was no charging). I took the battery off and measure it and power the circuit independent of the shield. The whole board was working. Connected the battery through the shield, no power to the board.
In short: the PB stopped working after awhile, no LED lit. When the USB is connected for charging, the amber LED lights up but no sign of charging (no amperage sucked by PB). PB doesn't offer power out during the charging too. No chip gets hot right now.
The picture of the board does not relieve any visible problem, so I didn't attach any.
Any advice/idea? Thanks!

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 shield surrendered working

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Please post pictures of your soldering anyway.

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minitechnicus
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 shield surrendered working

Post by minitechnicus »

20160109_182914.jpg
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20160109_182833.jpg
20160109_182833.jpg (956.19 KiB) Viewed 499 times
I am very curious about what you are looking for. If he PB was working for a long period of time and crashed suddenly, I think cold soldering is less likely.
Please let me know if I can fix it or how can I bypass the charging circuit. It would be awesome if I would have this failure in warranty...

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 shield surrendered working

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Thanks for the pictures. Cold solders can work for a while, then break.

Please email [email protected] with a link to this thread for a replacement power boost shield

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wyojustin
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 shield surrendered working

Post by wyojustin »

My power boost stopped working.

Worked fine for less than ten minutes use after a full charge. Now only the amber charge led comes on, but power led remains off regardless of switch status. Also fails to power arduino.
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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 shield surrendered working

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Please email [email protected] with a link to this thread for a replacement

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