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Offline rockchuck

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  • australia
check TCB visually before power up!!
« on: February 25, 2018, 10:25:43 PM »
Hello Tankers
thought I would share my experience with the five TCB boards I have purchased and the problem I have.
OK four of the TCB have operated correctly. I have flashed the latest firmware etc to them all -- loaded my custom functions settings etc and done a complete function test on a test setup board with the X45 esc motors , smoke unit , Taigen Sound card, recoil servo . turret motor , elevation motor, leds, airsoft -all the functions.

The fifth one however does not respond correctly and ends up with multiple functions all operating at once after a switch is thrown.
I get comms to it-- flash firmware ok -- I complete a snoop and it shows all my settings that I have loaded in-- exactly the same as the other four.
However when I reconnect comms and check what settings I have it shows the default values however I check snoop and it tells me my custom settings are in there the same as the other 4 TCB units.

So I finally get out the mag lamp and start checking the board for shorts/ dry joints etc. Of course at this stage I 'm silently kicking myself for not doing this before I put power on -- but there it is-- bridged pins on the big processor!! So using a fine bladed hobby knife I remove the fault however it did not change anything, looks like the damage was already done when I put power on the first time.

So this bridged pin fault I think occurred when HK did the mosfet repair by hand as the bridge was at the top of the pins and it was a small piece of solder that had lodged in there.

So 4 out of 5 is not bad I suppose. I did get the boards at the discounted rate so with this faulty unit means I have paid full rate for them. I can't really complain as we all want cheap things and HK does that very well.

So chaps check yer boards especially if they have the mosfet repair done. Good practice to do this also with the non repaired boards (if there are any?) 

cheers
rockchuck

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Offline LukeZ

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  • France
Re: check TCB visually before power up!!
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2018, 07:33:06 PM »
I'm sorry that happened to you Rock. Theoretically since it was defective you should be able to return it for a refund/exchange, and it wouldn't hurt to try, but we all know what HK's customer service is like and it might not be worth the hassle.

Since the processor does seem to be working at least partially it may not be completely broken. The hobby knife procedure you tried may not actually have been as effective as it looks, since looks can be deceiving on such small pins. A better thing to try is dab a fine-tipped soldering iron over the suspect pins - without extra solder, but with flux if you have any. This will re-melt any solder that might be shorting the pins and capillary action should cause the bridge to truly disconnect. At this point you can't really make it worse than it is so it might be worth a try even if you risk making it worse.

To the best of our knowledge those repaired boards are now all sold and Hobby King should only be selling new boards that are correct from the factory. Anyway that is what it sounds like based on recent customers reports, Hobby King themselves don't tell me anything...
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Offline rockchuck

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  • australia
Re: check TCB visually before power up!!
« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2018, 09:34:07 AM »
Hi Luke
I did try your method with the flux and the soldering iron and it worked!!
I got the unit working and was able to do the update etc and load my default settings and the unit operated perfectly so thanks again.

By the way I went and bought another 4 TCB boards from the Hobbyking Australian warehouse and they are still repaired boards, but I carefully checked them before I powered up and they all work fine .

cheers
rockchuck

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Offline LukeZ

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  • France
Re: check TCB visually before power up!!
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2018, 04:16:23 PM »
Good grief, I can't believe there are still some of those original boards out there. Perhaps they shipped some to every warehouse around the earth and the Australian one has not had enough sales yet to deplete the original supply.

At least they are working for you!
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Offline XRAD

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  • Ohio, USA
Re: check TCB visually before power up!!
« Reply #4 on: June 26, 2018, 04:31:38 PM »
Just purchased a TCB USA off ebay. Broken DIP switch #5.   Still able to use it so I kept it. 

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Offline Shorty54

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  • MN, USA
Re: check TCB visually before power up!!
« Reply #5 on: June 27, 2018, 10:27:34 PM »
Just purchased a TCB USA off ebay. Broken DIP switch #5.   Still able to use it so I kept it.

If you are good with a soldering iron it could be a cheap fix.

https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=CT2195MST-ND

Enjoy,
Shad

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Offline LukeZ

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Re: check TCB visually before power up!!
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2018, 01:32:04 PM »
I'm assuming dipswitch 5 must be "broken" in the on-position? Otherwise it would be difficult to communicate over USB.

It sounds like you have it worked out, but if you have issues let us know, there are workarounds. You can replace the entire switch as Shad says but there are other things you can do even more simple than that if necessary.
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