Monochron Clock died

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rtedesco
 
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Monochron Clock died

Post by rtedesco »

I just finished the Monochron clock. I ran through the menu - set the date and time. 2 minutes later the system died. nothing. reseated power. nothing. any ideas?

just an afterthought - when I tested the beeps (at the test point in the instructions)...it took about 30 seconds for the first beeps to start. Also, I will test the power suppy with a multimeter when I get home from work tonight. thank you :)
Last edited by rtedesco on Thu Jan 23, 2014 7:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Monochron Clock died

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Post some photos of the front and back of your boards. We'll take a look for any problems.

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rtedesco
 
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Re: Monochron Clock died

Post by rtedesco »

power supple tests ok

attaching photos of board
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Re: Monochron Clock died

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Some larger closer photos would be good. From what I can see, there are a couple of solder joints in the voltage regulator area that have not flowed well onto the solder pad. There may be others. Have a look at this guide for tips on identifying and repairing soldering problems: http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guid ... n-problems

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rtedesco
 
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Re: Monochron Clock died

Post by rtedesco »

should I use flux?

and which area is the voltage regulator?

thank you :)

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Re: Monochron Clock died

Post by rtedesco »

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Re: Monochron Clock died

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The circled ones are all suspect. There may be others that don't show in the photo. Review the guide linked above and check over all the joints.

Flux can be helpful. But the main cause is not heating the pad enough. Make sure that your iron is clean and hot. And make sure that the tip is touching both the pad and the pin and that the solder melts and flows onto both. If you are using a low-wattage iron (25 watts or less), give it time to reheat between joints.
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rtedesco
 
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Re: Monochron Clock died

Post by rtedesco »

I am going to get a new soldering tool...do I look for wattage? or temperature? and what ranges would be best? I am planning to use it only for electronics soldering - similar to this .

thanks

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Re: Monochron Clock died

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Soldering irons are all rated for wattage. Some also have temperature control. Wattage determines how fast the iron will heat up, and how fast it will reheat after soldering a joint. Temperature control lets you tune the operating temperature for different types of work or different types of solder. Lead-free solder is getting to be more common these days and requires a higher temperature. I use mostly 60/40 solder when I can, but most commercial boards these days are lead-free, so you need a higher temperature iron to work on them.

There is a section on iron selection here: http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guid ... ring/tools

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