Dear sirs i purchased a servo trigger board the other day. After 8days it arrived i have wired it up as per the pdf on your site.
Checked and double checked. Installed 3 1.5v batteries and switched on. After a few seconds the batteries began to smoke i removed stright away i am petrified know to use help needed. If you can provide an email adress i can send photos.
Hi Chris,
If the batteries smoked, you must have a short in your wiring somewhere.
You might want to remove wiring to the Servo Trigger board and test the voltage out (with the batteries in) at the wires. You can also test conductivity between VCC and GND for a short.
Hi many thank for getti g ba k to me.voltage out from batt box is just under 5.5 volt. I can find no shorts. The batteries heat up with servo pluged in or not. I can find no shorts and have checked with a high power magnification glass.
I have just tried feeding the board from tbe oposite side feed. I check no short and installed the batteries
After 30 seconds the board heated up and began to smoke. I can only assume the board is faulty. If you can give me an adress i am happy to return the board as is inc my parts. If you would be good enough to replace and wire as good will. I am very urgent as this is a lift unit for a kylo ren costume needed very soon. I was told few days in post wbich took 8 days so i am behund already. I await your response in due course.
Regards
Chris
Hi Chris,
Both sides which feature “GND” and “VCC” are connected together on the board so it make no differences to connect on either sides.
This is made to chain multiple boards with the same power system.
Have you check your battery polarity before applying the voltage to the board ? Maybe the Red wire is in fact GND not positive.
If you want a replacement board you will have to submit a Support Ticket.
Thanks,
Hi yes I have checked the polarity of the battery pack also.
I fully understand the power connection is a through one I read the instructions fully.
I just tried the other side to eliminate possible issues.
As I said when I connected to that side the board smoked. As the supply voltage is only 3 x 1.5V batteries its well with the 5.5v max. This is why I feel the board to be faulty.
I will open a support ticket I assume this takes yet more time ?
Chris,
The only reason to smoke the batteries would be to have a short on the power either on the PCB / Battery Holder / Wires.
Or of course, a defective product.
Which part actually smoked on the PCB ?
To be honest I didn’t wait to see exactly. I saw smoke and removed the batteries as fast
as I could. I really don’t fancy trying it again when I am that close to it. I had the board on my lap while I held the battery box to see if they were getting warm when I noticed the board smoking. I am happy to get a fresh battery box tonight and change it. But if it does harm to the board trying again I don’t want to be held responsible.
I have no issues trying anything as I have done all along as you have suggested.
If smoke came from the board, it is indeed dead or really close to it.
Again, the only thing that could “smoke” a battery would be a short. Have you check the conductivity between VCC and GND as asked earlier ? (with a volt-meter)
Have you open your ticket yet ?
Yes on both counts.
Hi Chris,
We’ve pushed your support ticket to the RMA department.
If they replace the board, it’s very important to follow the steps one by one on the new board as we could not confirm if it was a board or setup issue.
We suggest you try your servo on another device first to be sure it’s working properly.
Best regards,
Hi I thought to check if the servo could be faulty but I tried three.
A different one each time one of which was brand new.
But at least we are thinking along the same path.
Thank you for pushing along my ticket.
Having tried 3 servos might not be of any help as you could have burned the circuit the first time.
Any other try will result in fail since the board is broken.
I see your point however I disagree that I have
in your words “burned the circuit the first time” I maintain the board is faulty.
This is not the first soldering I have done and I check for shorts etc.
I am capable of telling the difference between positive and negative and am not colour blind,
While I appreciate you have put forward a number of options to try I have done so on every occasion
what you have asked. This does not alter the fact I don’t have a functioning board.
The postal speed was horrendous and I am in a difficult situation with a costume.
Also we have not resolved the matter other than passing on to another department who as its know 5pm in the UK
I will have to wait until next week to even hear from as I assume they have a big work load ?.
I will take this opportunity however to thank you for all your help and assistance.
Hi Chris,
Since we do not know what is the actual cause, anything is possible so we maintain that you should be testing your servo(s) on another device before wiring them to the new board when you received it. To make sure not to burn the new board, if that is the cause, when connecting it.
It is possible that the board was defective, we never discarded this from the possibilities.
Our RMA team will reach you today (Eastern Canadian time) and will guide you.
We usually reply within 3h sometimes a little more.
All the best,