DiyLightAnimation
Hardware => Lynx EtherDongle => Lynx Conductor => Topic started by: deplanche on November 06, 2012,
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Based on Rick's post (http://diylightanimation.com/index.php?topic=9984.0), I thought it might be a good idea to check the connectivity between the CF card adapter pins and on PCB on mine before I started assembling them, and I am certainly glad I did.
There are a total of 50 pins between the adapter and the PCB, and I checked each with a digital volt meter to measure the resistance between the tip of the pin and the solder point on the PCB. I checked each of these on the 5 conductor/slave boards I received (they appear to be the same for either).
On 2 of my boards, all 50 pins had connectivity. Woohoo!! :)
On 2 others, less than half of the pins had connectivity. :(
On the final board, not a single pin was connected to the PCB. :(
What I did notice in checking this is that the flatter the solder was on the PCB, the more likely there was a good connection. If it was raised at all, there likely wasn't a connection. I tried to take a photo of this, but I can't get my camera to focus that close, and show the subtle difference in height. On the ones that had some working and some not, if I ran the lead from digital volt meter over the solder points (making sure not to touch the pins), I could feel the difference and even hear it... sort of like hitting a rumble strip on a highway. Of course, don't push too hard or you'll damage your board, but even a light touch indicated a problem.
I am posting this for 2 reasons...
1 - To urge everyone to check there adapters before you start assembling it. I am guessing this is going to be easiest to fix before you have lots of other things mounted on the board.
2 - To ask how we fix something like this? These are surface mounted solder points, which I am guessing is why they were pre-made. Putting a hot iron on it just seems like it is going to create a bridge between pins and still might not be enough to make the connection at some point.
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Excellent point on checking the pins before you start assembling the Conductor. Once the MP3 board is mounted on the Conductor PCB, there's not much room between it and the pins on the reader.
Denny
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You can easily tell which pins are soldered and which are not by using the tip of a small screwdriver and gently pushing on the pin. If it moves around on the pad easily, then it is not soldered. If it is solid and doesn't move, then it should be OK. Just don't push the pin hard enough to bend it out of alignment or move it off the pad. It just takes a very light touch to tell if it moves.
You can fix any pins that aren't soldered by adding some flux to the joint. Then, get a small amount of solder on the tip of your iron and touch it between the pin and the pad. It should easily flow onto the pin. If you don't get too much solder on your tip, you shouldn't create a bridge even if you touch two pins at the same time. If you do create a bridge, you should be able to easily remove it with some solder braid. A small tip and a magnifying lens will probably be helpful.
If you don't feel comfortable doing this, I would suggest getting some help from someone.
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I wish i had check it before I put all the parts on my board. About 1/4 of my pins were not soldered. Luckily I was able to fix it with a smaller tip I had for my iron.
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May be time for the COOP person to send a message to all the Conductor owners.
Many of them have probably not started to assemble yet.
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Ill just say it again, do check the reader before hand. Not a single pin on mine is soldered to the pad, I can pull mine all the way off.
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It appears to me the several pins in the photos below are not soldered - take a look and tell me what you think.
It appears like Conductor2.jpg(the unbuilt one) has more unsoldered connections than the first. I was gonna quickly build it to replace #1 which was not working.
When connected via router to the Conductor Control Panel, I got the "Card Error" spoken about.
Just prior to flashing the Etherdongle to the Conductor firmware, it was working with the DMX firmware.
I dunno if my soldering skills are up to tackling something this small - I'm skeert.
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Photo 2
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From your pictures it kind of looks like some of the pins may not soldered. The best why is to take a small screw driver or tooth pick (with the power off) and gently push on the side of the pin. If it moves you have a problem.
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On your 2nd photo, counting left to right, pins 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, etc., don't look to be soldered. Anything that is rounded like that, likely has a problem. The flatter looking locations (2, 3, 5, etc), are likely good.
If you are worried about bending pins using a screwdriver, put a DVM meter on it.
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From your pictures it kind of looks like some of the pins may not soldered. The best why is to take a small screw driver or tooth pick (with the power off) and gently push on the side of the pin. If it moves you have a problem.
Sounds like a problem since I can move several pins with a small probe.
I saw mention of this, and a solution, in the Conductor Coop thread - http://diylightanimation.com/index.php?topic=9443.240.
Thanks for lookin
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On your 2nd photo, counting left to right, pins 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, etc., don't look to be soldered. Anything that is rounded like that, likely has a problem. The flatter looking locations (2, 3, 5, etc), are likely good.
Thanks for that - I was thinking about it backward - I thought the rounded ones were the good ones.
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I use one of thesehttp://www.amazon.com/WELLER-ETS-Solder-Conical-0-015/dp/B0086A5790/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1352391780&sr=8-9&keywords=weller+conical+tip (http://www.amazon.com/WELLER-ETS-Solder-Conical-0-015/dp/B0086A5790/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1352391780&sr=8-9&keywords=weller+conical+tip) on my Weller Iron....that and a Helping hands vice with Magnifying glass......
Steady hand and take a breather if you get the "shakey hand".....
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Use a multitester, and check continuity from the pin coming from the socket, to the solder just after the end of the pin. That should give you a good idea as to which ones are connected.
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I used the nice photo that was posted to indicate what I think are likely to be bad connections so it is a bit more clear for everyone.
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It appears to me the several pins in the photos below are not soldered - take a look and tell me what you think.
It appears like Conductor2.jpg(the unbuilt one) has more unsoldered connections than the first. I was gonna quickly build it to replace #1 which was not working.
When connected via router to the Conductor Control Panel, I got the "Card Error" spoken about.
Just prior to flashing the Etherdongle to the Conductor firmware, it was working with the DMX firmware.
I dunno if my soldering skills are up to tackling something this small - I'm skeert.
Also wanted to say flip your screws over, you want the plastic nuts on the bottom (under the etherdongle) otherwise the screw head is close/on a trace on the etherdongle and could cause you problems also.
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Great catch folks - I unfortunately already soldered both of my boards but haven't attached them to the etherdongle. I'll take a look as soon as I get home.
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I got my conductor and put it together. I loaded the files to the CF card and tried the Control panel and I get "Card Error" in red letters. After checking here, I checked the adapter pins and at first glance they looked fine, but after closer examination and checking with a digital VOM, it looks like all but 3 or 4 are NOT connected. I don't think my soldering iron is small enough to solder them back and my eyes are not that good either. I was going to include a picture, but my camera wont focus that close. Anyway, I'm not sure what to do now to fix. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I don't suppose there is a way to exchange for a "good" one? Anyway, thanks in advance.
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Sorry to hear about all of these issues. I guess for once I was one of the lucky ones. My conductor and slaves all look good. Conductor is up and running.
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My conductor and slaves all look good. Conductor is up and running.
Show off ;)
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I checked mine last night, mine's all good to go and up and running 8)
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Most of my pins are not connected. I need to order a smaller tip for my soldering iron in order to attempt repair. For time sake I may just run show from scheduler this year.
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Show off ;)
Oh I've had my issues! <fp. Just read some of my posts! ;D
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Yup, one had 5 pads not connected. The other had most of it's pads not connected at all..... I need to get a bigger magnifying glass. Did folks recommend that we remove the existing solder for a really bad one before fluxing it and resoldering it? Man, I wish I had a hot air rework machine....
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Can I assume that a paint removal gun on low is not advisable?
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Can I assume that a paint removal gun on low is not advisable?
I would not use a paint removal gun. The hot air SMD rework stations are set up to prevent static discharge and also have a variety of small nozzles to direct the air only at the pins you are working on. A regular hot air gun you will have to much air going around not on the pins and will very likely melt the plastic on the socket by the time you get the pins hot enough for the solder to reflow.
What I did was used a paste flux syringe and applied a small bead of flux across the pins. I then took a jeweler scope magnifying glass (10x) and held it to my eye with one hand and with a fine tip on soldering iron, I touched where the pin and pad meet and held for 3 to 5 seconds and could see the flux flowing and the solder wicking onto the pin and pad. I just went all the way down on each one to make sure that they were all touching. I then used some rubbing alcohol and a Kimwipe and cleaned up the excess flux. The flux paste I used was an electronic no clean flux but I wanted to clean up anyway so I could use my magnifier and carefully look at each pin and then used the probe to verify everything was in place. After doing 5 of these, I only had one pin on the end that still moved slightly so I touched again and it held.
It only took a minute or so for each board but using the magnifying glass with your face right down there to see whats going on (be careful not to burn your nose or anything...) Using the finest point on your soldering iron and the flux made sure that I did not get any solder bridges but you have to use a steady hand to make sure you only contact one pin at a time.
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The CF on my Slave bd was OK but on the Cond. bd CF, NONE of its pins were soldered!
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It's just as easy to use a soldering iron. All you are doing is supplying heat to the pins to reflow or flow the solder that is already there. It really isn't all that critical if you touch more than 1 pin at the same time. Unless there is excess solder on the pads or on your iron, the chance of a bridge is very small. Just get the iron HOT and make sure that the tip is clean. You do not want any excess solder on the tip at all. Make sure that the loose pins are still aligned with their pads and press down LIGHTLY with the clean tip of the iron for about 5 seconds to reflow the joint. It can be hard to see where the pin ends and the pad begins so I made sure that the tip was close to the body of the socket. My iron was set to 350C and I do have a small tip that rests on one pin at a time but even if it covered two, it would have still worked and I would have finished faster. The point being made about a steady hand here is critical. You want to reflow the solder, not scatter it to the other pins or form a cold solder joint due to movement. I also used the pins of an LED to check the pins both before and after the repair. They have enough strength to move the pins that are not properly soldered without bending them completely out of position and it caught a pin that I missed on the first attempt.
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3 of my 4 conductor pcbs had multiple pins not soldered. I used a flux pen and then ran a my find tipped soldering iron over the pads lightly touching the end of the pin and pad. I do not recommend adding solder, just reflow what's there.
Tom
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I spent the bulk of last night re-working the Conductor shown in my pic (above) as completed.
It had about 40 pins not soldered.
I used a loupe(8x), a very intense light and a probe to try and move the pins - there were plenty.
Using the loupe and light, I used a 0.02 tip I had for the soldering iron and touched those pins found loose. Most seemed to flow and take hold. After going through the pins, I re-checked and found a couple still loose and re-touched them. After 4 rounds of soldering and checking with the probe, I had no loose pins - yea! (I should have been a surgeon with hands so steady)
I also took the time to re-work my second conductor which had about 15 unsoldered pins.
I took my newly re-worked conductor upstairs for its big debut ...
Same result - can't recognize the Conductor(The CF card definitely has the required files on it 1 sequence, 1 mp3, 1 show, 1 password file, and the playlist file). My router intermittently tries to connect to no avail.
At lunch today, I said, let me try one more thing. With the spacers in place, I noticed there is a bit of a gap at the main connection and at the power header - like 1/16". I took out the spacer and tried with it flush to the connectors - nuttin'.
Not willing to accept defeat just yet, I went to the garage and very carefully soldered/assembled my second Conductor, since it had been re-worked the previous evening and was re-probed prior to my lunchtime assembly.
Pulled the non-working Conductor off the Etherdongle and put the new one in place. Went upstairs to see how nicely this one would work.
Network cable in, power on ... router port 2 lit ... then unlit, then lit, then unlit. Recycle power to router, Conductor, ad infinitum - Nuttin' again.
Earlier in the the day as I drove to work this morning, I thought to myself - I'd just like something that worked right the first time.
Hi, My name is John and I'm the proud owner of two inop Conductors - just gotta figure out what to do next to get the li'l SOBs to work.
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John,
- Are your files names 8 characters of less?
- Have you deleted or renamed any files on the CF card?
- The gap at the main and power connectors isn't a problem.
- Have you tested connectivity between each of the 50 pins and their corresponding pad on the CF card?
Denny
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John,
- Are your files names 8 characters of less?
- Have you deleted or renamed any files on the CF card?
- The gap at the main and power connectors isn't a problem.
- Have you tested connectivity between each of the 50 pins and their corresponding pad on the CF card?
Denny
- yes, files are 8.3
- no, I have not deleted or renamed files on the CF card
- N/A
- I have tested a few connections, just feel like I'm missing quite a few(missing , as in, I can't see what I'm hitting with the DMM) - it's hard to tell since I'll have to do it with a magnifier.
Guess that's the next step - the probes seem so big on the DMM (I feel like I'm threading a needle with a rope)
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At lunch today, I said, let me try one more thing. With the spacers in place, I noticed there is a bit of a gap at the main connection and at the power header - like 1/16". I took out the spacer and tried with it flush to the connectors - nuttin'.
The conductor was designed to have a space between the header and the socket. This is so that you can get a screwdriver in there to help pry it up evenly if you want to remove it.
The best way to do the initial test on the conductor is to connect the ethernet port directly to the computer. This will eliminate any potential issues that may be caused by a router, switch or your network. If it works this way and then you connect it to your router, you know the problem is in the router and not the conductor. Or if it doesn't work, you know the problem is most likely in the conductor.
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At lunch today, I said, let me try one more thing. With the spacers in place, I noticed there is a bit of a gap at the main connection and at the power header - like 1/16". I took out the spacer and tried with it flush to the connectors - nuttin'.
The best way to do the initial test on the conductor is to connect the ethernet port directly to the computer. This will eliminate any potential issues that may be caused by a router, switch or your network. If it works this way and then you connect it to your router, you know the problem is in the router and not the conductor. Or if it doesn't work, you know the problem is most likely in the conductor.
At one point, I did connect directly to the computer - my assumption was since the Etherdongle worked through the same router, same port, same cable immediately prior to trying it with the Conductor, it should work afterward.
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From your previous posts, I could not tell if you were having issues with the ethernet connection since you mentioned the lights being on then off and possibly loss of connection. This is why I suggested connecting directly to the EtherDongle until you get it working. The etherdongle should connect to the network even if the CF card has an issue. You will simply have a card error.
If you have several pins on the CF card not connected, the best thing to do is resolder them all. Then you don't have to worry about missing one. Just make sure you have enough solder there to make a good joint.
At one point during the beta, I had a similar issue where the ED would not do anything. I believe I ended up reflashing the PIC with the ED power cord disconnected and everything started working, but I can't remember if that is the only thing I did.
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I was using a continuity tester to try to find any of the tabs with solder bridges and I found continuity between several of the tabs in the middle of the socket. I can't see any bridges in the solder but since I don't have a schematic I don't know if the pins are tied together on the board or not.
So the question is, are any of the tabs tied together either in the socket or on the board?
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Here is a sample pinout for the CF card (This may not be the actual pinout on the conductor). Several of the pins are tied to ground or 5v. So, yes many of them will be tied together.
(http://blizzard.cs.uwaterloo.ca/tetherless/images/4/45/Cf_pinout.gif)
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Two CF card adapters, one totally unsoldered, the other half unsoldered. Created a few solder bridges on both and I can't get rid of them. Going to take a break before frustration makes the problem worse. Heh.
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From your previous posts, I could not tell if you were having issues with the ethernet connection since you mentioned the lights being on then off and possibly loss of connection. This is why I suggested connecting directly to the EtherDongle until you get it working. The etherdongle should connect to the network even if the CF card has an issue. You will simply have a card error.
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At one point during the beta, I had a similar issue where the ED would not do anything. I believe I ended up reflashing the PIC with the ED power cord disconnected and everything started working, but I can't remember if that is the only thing I did.
The light I was referring to was on the router, just a simple connection light like the green light on the magjack(is also flashes on and off trying to connect).
I was thinking of re-flashing the PIC as well - I'll try that
Thanks for the help.
Somethin's gonna happen soon - I hung a gutterline with lights today. :) I just want the Conductor to be part of it.