FONA 800 shield LEDs not working

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jimk123
 
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FONA 800 shield LEDs not working

Post by jimk123 »

I just purchased the fona 800 shield, part #2468 and the only led that light are the network light and the charging light. According to the doc the power light blue should be lit when it is running but never comes on. The network light flashes as described, this one is OK. The charging light is orange and after several hours goes out but the done green LED never comes on. I have the switch set to charging. Is there a setting in the software or hardware I need to make to enable the LEDs to function? I downloaded the sample code and the device seems to be working fine, it is just the LEDs that never come on.

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tnts
 
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Re: FONA 800 shield LEDs not working

Post by tnts »

maybe just check the power led terminals voltage?

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jimk123
 
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Re: FONA 800 shield LEDs not working

Post by jimk123 »

Voltage on the PWR LED is zero. Also the green DONE led never lights after the CHRG ORANGE LED goes out

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tnts
 
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Re: FONA 800 shield LEDs not working

Post by tnts »

did you have a small incident with battery polarity? ;)

what was the position of a switch when you measured the fona?

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jimk123
 
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Re: FONA 800 shield LEDs not working

Post by jimk123 »

The Lipo battery connector can only go in one way so I don't think that is an issue. The switch is set to the charge position

Like I said the board seems to be functioning OK it is just some of the LEDs that do not operate

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tnts
 
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Re: FONA 800 shield LEDs not working

Post by tnts »

according to this:
https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/a ... 1431721020
in line with power led, there is a 1k smd resistor - can you verify the voltage between pins of this resistor and gnd (1 probe to the ground, second to the resistor contact pad1 and after a moment to contact pad2)?
can you verify the resistance value of this resistor?

Lipo charger 'ok' led that never goes on sounds like fried lipo charger ic that is on this board. How long did you charge the battery? Did you buy this battery at adafruit? If not, can you make a picture of it's plug?

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jimk123
 
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Re: FONA 800 shield LEDs not working

Post by jimk123 »

I used a multimeter set to volts D.C. with one probe on ground and touched one side of the resister next to the power led and get 4.1 v and on the other 3.5 v . I could not get a reading on the ohms setting of the resistor itself but the pads are so close together it may be me. I bought all the parts from adafruit , battery number 1578 lipo 3.7v 500mah, recommended in the tutorial. The charge light came on orange for 12-16 hours or so and went off. If I unplug the battery it comes back on orange for awhile but the done light never comes on. Hardware defect ? Can you tell me how to return it for a replacement or can you test a similar board and confirm the leds work according to the tutorial ?

Thanks

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tnts
 
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Re: FONA 800 shield LEDs not working

Post by tnts »

my fona808 was doing the same thing because of faulty solder under mcp charger. But it was my mistake and I did repair it myself.
Reading from your led resistor says it should be fine - you are getting power to charge the led, so if I were you I would just replace the led with new one. But that's .... delicate :)

Ask ada about the replacement maybe? Or if you are able, try to remove the original led and replace it with any led you have?

edit: check the led connection to ground to be sure

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jimk123
 
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Re: FONA 800 shield LEDs not working

Post by jimk123 »

Thanks for all your suggestions and tips. I know I do not have the skills or tools to attempt remove SMD components so will contact Adafruit and see if I can get a replacement board.

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tnts
 
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Re: FONA 800 shield LEDs not working

Post by tnts »

try to check if "the other end" of led has got contact with ground (black battery pin) - check the resistance of led pad and battery -
I replaced smd led's with regular iron, nothing special - it's not a beauty but it works

edit:
on the other hand :) I removed this all power leds from my fona and adruino. LEDs are consuming a lot of my battery power - so....

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Re: FONA 800 shield LEDs not working

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

Please email [email protected] with a link to this post for a replacement Fona shield

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