DOA Fona 3G - Probable Replacement Required

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EPD
 
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DOA Fona 3G - Probable Replacement Required

Post by EPD »

Hi Forum,

Ive posted here in the past with code for the Fona 3G, so i presume i know what im doing with the boards. i ordered a Fona 3G from The Pi Hut (in the UK to avoid import tax...). when it arrived, i plugged it into my circuit, as shown in the picture, and it seems to be DOA. The green power led hasnt turned on, and the red cell service flashing led hasnt turned on yet. Ive checked the battery and its polarity, currently 4.13v - i know the battery is fine as ive used it in my other fona with no problems for months now. the orange charge LED is off, which id expect from a reasonably fully charged battery, and the full charge indicator is on but very faintly (so much so you can barely see it in the photo if you're lucky).

To check my own sanity ive ensured that there is 5v reaching the board from the arduino (its measuring 5.03v at the SIL header, and although its not very clear in the photo, the connections are all done as described in the Fona 3G support/tutorial guide.

having looked at viewtopic.php?f=54&t=159254&p=784846&hilit=dead#p784846 , the SIM5320's GPIO40 pin is measuring low, as suggested the SIM5320E chip is dead.

i have already contacted The Pi Hut when i discovered the issue, and have said to ask here (as they dont provide support for adafruit products) to get adafruit support to issue a replacement or ask Pi Hut to issue a replacement unit.

Thanks in advance
fona which has no status or pwr leds
fona which has no status or pwr leds
fona2.jpg (482.26 KiB) Viewed 2449 times

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: DOA Fona 3G - Probable Replacement Required

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

As a sanity check, measure the voltage of the 5V, BAT, and Vio pins relative to the GND pin, making all the connections to the solder joints of the FONA's pins.

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EPD
 
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Re: DOA Fona 3G - Probable Replacement Required

Post by EPD »

Hi,

Ive checked the vbatt voltage on pins 62/63 of the SIM5320E and its reading 4.09v, which id expect as the pins are tied to the JST header for the lipo. i measured 5v on vbus of the micro usb header (as theyre tied together) and read 5.03v; i couldnt find an alternative measure point for Vio, however the header is at 5.03v.

i then reheated the joints to try and eliminate the possibility of a dry joint on the SIL header, and repeated my voltage measurements, which were exactly the same afterwards.

Thanks

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: DOA Fona 3G - Probable Replacement Required

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

Thanks. That rules out connection and power problems.

Let the folks at Pi Hut know we've appoved the replacement. They can use a link to this thread and contact our business team at [email protected] to settle up.

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