USB Boarduino and the Magic of Blue Smoke

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Strate
 
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USB Boarduino and the Magic of Blue Smoke

Post by Strate »

In my haste and enthusiasm I forgot to lower the adjustable power supply down to 5 volts before powering up my project sans USB cable and released blue smoke from what I think is a surface mount capacitor. Of course, I plan to order another USB Boarduino ASAP, but would also like to try my hand at some surface mount soldering repair. After consulting the schematics and the board file (though both for version 1, when what I've got is version 2) I think the component I burned is a 100uf 6v Tantalum capacitor. When looking at the pictures in either the tutorial or the item page there is a small black rectangular component with a gray bar on the south end directly below the d7 solder pad. The markings look like 100-6L. Is this a capacitor? If so, is there any problem replacing it with a higher voltage -- say 15v -- capacitor? Also, is there a max voltage one can safely apply to VCC. I can say with confidence it's definitely under 15 volts. :oops:

I did make the assumption that if the USB cable is not connected you can power the Boarduino with 5 volts at VCC without cutting the PWR trace. Is this a valid assumption?

Any and all information will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: USB Boarduino and the Magic of Blue Smoke

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

You can replace that cap with one rated for a higher voltage. It is also OK to feed regulated 5v via the VCC pin if you are not connected to USB. I'm not sure about the max voltage rating on the FTDI chip, but the Atmega 328 has a max voltage rating of 5.5v.

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