DiyLightAnimation

Hardware => Lynx Express => Topic started by: kidcole on October 07, 2017,

Title: Lynx Express Version 5.1 - Bad Drilling on Raw Card
Post by: kidcole on October 07, 2017,
I built 13 LE kits over the past month.  Nine were Ver 5.0 kits and 4 were Ver 5.1.  I had no problems with the 5.0 kits.  But the 3rd 5.1 was a nightmare.  More than half of the holes on the entire board were drilled too small.  So nothing would fit.  I had to use a pin vise for hours to rout them out.  Particularly the holes for the opto sockets and the holes for the channel outputs. 

I carefully tried multiple pin vise drill bits moving up only 1000th at a time until I could find the size that just let the component wires to pass through.  But with many of the holes, the through-hole-plating was gone after the drilling.  I had to use a meter to ring out all the connections to make sure the loss of plating inside the holes did not cause a bad connection on the top side.  I found bunch of bad connections, particularly with the 6 pin chip socket under the transformer.  That one was so bad I had to raise up the chip socket, and solder it in place with a 1/8" gap underneath .. in order to get the solder tip under it. 

I've never had any kit give me these problems.  It tested fine but now the data link light comes on after I run the self test.  If I poke a screwdriver into the DMX In jack, then when I touch approximately the 3rd and 4th wires (inside the jack), then data link light goes out.  If I use a wooden stick (with a sharp point) to poke the wires, I cannot get the data link light to go out.
Title: Re: Lynx Express Version 5.1 - Bad Drilling on Raw Card
Post by: cody33rd on October 12, 2017,
The data light has been a discussion before.  I have had data lights do things similar to what you are describing.  On with no incoming cable or data and off with cable and data coming through.  Most seem to work fine, but some just don't. In past threads it has been mentioned that this is an issue with some of the rs485 chips.  I have just learned to ignore the data light on some of my expresses, and everything else works  just fine.  The only time it is a real problem is the lack of help the light offers during trouble shooting. 
Title: Re: Lynx Express Version 5.1 - Bad Drilling on Raw Card
Post by: kidcole on October 12, 2017,
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The data light has been a discussion before.  I have had data lights do things similar to what you are describing.  On with no incoming cable or data and off with cable and data coming through.  Most seem to work fine, but some just don't. In past threads it has been mentioned that this is an issue with some of the rs485 chips.  I have just learned to ignore the data light on some of my expresses, and everything else works  just fine.  The only time it is a real problem is the lack of help the light offers during trouble shooting.

I appreciate the help.  There are so many posts, it's hard to find "meat" in the discussions.