#PyGamer hw thread

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

sick sedge
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starting a thread

lime falcon
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Sure

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This way we keep the main chat clean, right?

sick sedge
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yes, this is getting into details

lime falcon
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So yeah, I do have a multimeter

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Actually, thank you so much that you help with this

sick sedge
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with both 1 and 2

lime falcon
sick sedge
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also measure VBAT and VBUS voltages with both 1 and 2

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if something gets hot when it's on, don't leave it on for long

lime falcon
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You were right! I can power it straight with usb, and turn it on. I played 15 seconds and checked that bulged component with my finger, and... it's so hot, it burns your skin 😬

sick sedge
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i am eating lunch but will comment afterwards

lime falcon
lime falcon
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These?
What do you mean by "1 and 2"?

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sick sedge
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I meant the "only ..." this and that.. Not pin numbers. just refer to the diagram fo the pin numbers. does the screen light up even when the AP2112 gets hot? What voltages do you measure (only do for long enough to measure)?

lime falcon
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So I tried to call the pins on that component (voltage regulator, right?)

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1 pin is connected to all of them

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When I try some pins, "CHG" led start to glow yellow

sick sedge
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I meant:

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lime falcon
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Powering from USB

sick sedge
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ok, I don't need battery for that one, but I'm interested in VBAT and VBUS

lime falcon
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VBAT = 5-8, some crazy movement

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VBUS exaclty stable 4.99

sick sedge
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what battery are you using?

lime falcon
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No battery at the moment

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When I connect battery it's getting hot

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Original battery that came with the kit

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All original

sick sedge
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so it gets hot no matter how it's powered: just USB, just battery, battery and USB both conencted, right?

lime falcon
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VBAT is also 5

lime falcon
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Any source of power turns it hot

sick sedge
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Could you take closeup pictures of both sides, with everything disconnected?

lime falcon
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Even if I don't start it with on/off switch

lime falcon
sick sedge
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I am instersted in still closeups so I can inspect the board. Video not necessary

lime falcon
sick sedge
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what is going on in these areas? It looks like there's some stuff on the board between the soldered areas

image.png
lime falcon
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I will make a better picture of that area now

sick sedge
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can you scrape that off, or is it a change in color in the board?

lime falcon
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Some weird white stuff

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And also probably remelted flux

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That yellowy puddle in the bottom

sick sedge
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anything like that on the other side?

lime falcon
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There is a joystick on the other side

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So I guess it's the joystick pins

sick sedge
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go ahead with a full picture of a the top

lime falcon
sick sedge
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top looks fine

lime falcon
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joystick pins also look clean

sick sedge
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the only other question I have is if the plastic wrap on the battery somehow got breached and the foil underneath was touching things, like those messy-looking places on the bottom

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can you scrape the white stuff away? If so do as much as possible and see if the regulator still heats up.

lime falcon
lime falcon
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What should I use to scrape the white stuff off?

sick sedge
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I am afraid the regulator is fried, but I don't know why. There could have been a short somewhere, but normally that shouldn't fry the regulator, since it has protection. If the regulator's output somehow got connected to a higher voltage, that could fry it.

lime falcon
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I have an old teeth brush lol

sick sedge
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try a toothpick or a small screwdriver

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not many similar complaints, but this person had a short out of the box on the display cable

lime falcon
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Scratched it too much, feel bad

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Hope it's not critical

sick sedge
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no that's fine, just cosmetic

lime falcon
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I think that touches, and it probably shouldn't

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Yeah it's still getting hot

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Probably should be replaced

lime falcon
lime falcon
sick sedge
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so you got this as a gift from someone -- had that person already used it before? how long did ou have it?

lime falcon
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It was maybe few years ago, I turned it on to play the game that was installed on it, and wrote my own simple accelerometer test with ball that bounces on the screen.
And then I almost didn't touch it, it always was i that purple case from PyGamer kit.

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And now I have programming of microcontrolers in college, + I know python, + wrote my python platformer game for pc, so I wanted to port it on my PyGamer with some changes to have a nice game on it.

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So last few weeks I was busy with exactly that)

sick sedge
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i will ask about this, it's been a long time

lime falcon
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I would like to replace that voltage regulator, since it burned and overheating

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Do you know exact model? What do I have to buy?\

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AP2112-3.3v SOT23-5

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Looks just like what I need, right?

sick sedge
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I can't see that, for some reason. Are you in NL?

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You might consider Farnell or some other reputable distributor.

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Also, if there is a short on the board, then replacing the regulator will just cause you to burn up the new regulator. The link above suggested there was a short on the display cable (in that case). You could remove the regulator and then measure the resistance of the 3.3v-gnd line. You'll be measuring the resistance of all the components connected to it, like the microcontroller, but the measure resistance shold still be something reasonable (not extremely low). If you measure the resistance and it's very low, then there's a short somewhere.

lime falcon
lime falcon
sick sedge
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it converts either the battery voltage or the USB voltage to 3.3V

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there is switching going on to choose between the two.

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Another thing to try is that you could remove the AP2112, and then hook 3.3V from some other source to the 3.3V pin, for instance from another board. Do this only very briefly, and have the multimeter set up to measure the voltage. If the voltage goes way down, then there is still a short on the board. If the board runs fine and the other 3.3V regulator remains cool, then it was the regular that went bad (why, we may never know).

lime falcon
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Will try to change voltage regulator and see what happens.

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Do you agree upon this idea?

sick sedge
# lime falcon Do you agree upon this idea?

Yes, but I would also first try removing the regulator and powering from another 3.3V source first as I mentioned above. If there is a short, then that will not work because the problem is not the AP2112, which failed because of something else.
You can do this testing before the new regulators arrive.

lime falcon
sick sedge
lime falcon
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Alright, maybe my Arduino Uno or Nano has that

sick sedge
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they don't but any ESP32-nn or Pi Pico, etc. would

lime falcon
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I will get my ESP32 soon

sick sedge
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almost all our boards would. The 5v arduino or nano won't

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you could also try two fresh alkaline batteries, which will be 1.5-1.6v each. They will be able to supply a lot of cvurrent, so I would connect them up with a multimeter as an ammeter to check the current.

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My Pygamer is drawing about 100mA with the screen on.