OK, first of all it’s not the manufacturers fault, it’s all mine. I was cleaning and rearranging in my garage yesterday when I knocked the package (power supply and dig-quad) to the floor. Both parts were housed in a lightweight plastic case and the dig-quad was in a 3d printed case tie wrapped to the power supply. This lives in may garage during the holiday lighting season so no exposure to the elements. The box dropped about 2 feet to the garage floor. At the time it was connected to mains power but the controller was off. That evening I noticed that the lights connected to that controller were off. I checked the mains power, then noticed the leds were off on the ESP32. Did some quick multimeter testing. Good mains, good 12V, but no power LED on controller. Checked the fuses - all good. Pulled the controller and connected to USB power. All good and could connect via WLED. Today I replaced the Dig_Quad board and all is good again.
So my question is: What could I possibly broken on the Dig Quad board to cause a complete failure. It was in 2 cases and really didn’t fall far. I take fully responsibility but Im very surprised by the fragility. I truly didn’t think the impact was that severe and never expected a complete failure.
Im glad I had a spare so my Christmas show can continue, but now I worry a bit on just how carefully I may need to handle all of my controllers.
Any thoughts or similar experiences out there?
If it powers up fine via USB, my first instinct would be to take a close look at all the soldered header pins on the ESP. Its possible the impact fractured some solder joints to some of those those pins.
The next place to look would be the 12V/5V power components on the main board. Again look for possible cracked solder joints. Big components (3-terminal regulators, buck converters, electrolytic capacitors) are the first suspects
You could try powering up the backboard without the ESP attached and see if you get 5V at appropriate places.
After a good look, I’d consider resoldering pins and parts. Reheating and applying fresh solder should suffice, go 1 pin at time and try to be methodical.
You might be able to get a schematic from Quindor to make the check over a little easier…
Thanks guys. A quick visual inspection didn’t reveal anything loose or obviously broken. To answer Jinx question, I didn’t check for power at the input side of the fuse, but did check at the power connector for the LED lights. It was my assumption that this point was after the fuses. I plan to sit down with my multimeter and some magnifying glasses for a closer inspection. I’ll post here if I find something. I appreciate the input.
Art aka kartcon