Melted Plastic on Raspberry Pi WiFi

[GibsonBrew]

Just tried to set-up my new Raspberry Pi (RPi) using the directions on the Adafruit Learning Syatems and was having trouble with the WiFi set-up. Shut down the RPi to try reseating USB adapter (OURLiNK) and noticed that the plastic had melted on the adapter and the RPi USB ports were hot to the touch. Not sure if it was a faulty WiFi or Raspberry Board. What should I do?

Bought all items from this store using the kit as the basis to decide what I needed to start.

[adafruit_support_bill]

Sounds like a short circuit somewhere. Can you post photos showing the damage & indicating the parts that were getting hot?

[GibsonBrew]

These are what I was able to snap before I ran out the door.

This picture shows where the board was getting hot (top of the USB ports):

Red Arrow points to the USB ports which was the only thing hot to touch.

photo 4e.JPG (859.09 KiB) Viewed 360 times

These two pictures show the damage to the USB WiFI plug:

Show the melted plastic between shielding and case/grip.

photo 1e.JPG (732.1 KiB) Viewed 360 times

Shows the melted plastic around connectors

photo 2e.JPG (771.26 KiB) Viewed 360 times

I tried plugging the RPi back in after a while and put my mouse into the same USB port the WiFi was in and I felt no noticeable heat gain after about 30 minutes of use. The WiFi adapter was only in for 5-10 minutes, based on this test (and the only visable damage) it seems that there is/was a short in the USB WiFi plug, but I would want to confirm with another test using a higher power requirement USB item.

[adafruit_support_bill]

I would agree. The Wi-Fi module appears to have been the source of the heat. You can try some other USB devices in the same socket, to be sure it is not the socket.

[GibsonBrew]

It seemed fine with a mouse plugged in. What's the exchange policy on the defective USB dongle?

[adafruit_support_rick]

Please contact support@adafruit.com to arrange a replacement. Include a link to this thread and your original order number