Disclaimer: If you choose to make these fixes yourself, I am not to be held responsible for any damages you make. If you do not feel comfortable making these fixes, you have the option to send the parts (I would recommend sending everything so we can test it all) to Helder or myself and we will make sure everything is in working order. If you do ship it to one of us, PLEASE use a protective box (Like the one the kit came in) to mail it. Please do not use a padded envelope! Package carriers do not care about your stuff and will throw things around. A padded envelope will not protect your stuff as well as a box. If you want to send Helder or myself something to be fixed, please contact us via PM on here, on Discord, or you can email Helder and we will give you the info you need to send your stuff to us.
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Screen Issues: IF YOU GOT YOUR KIT BEFORE APRIL 2019!
Instagram Posts: Post 1, Post 2.
If your screen is not showing anything, showing up white, or has dark spots on the screen, you need to reflow the ribbon cable.
Cause: The PCB maker that Helder used didn't set up their machines correctly and the ribbon cable of the screen is not making full contact with the pads on the screen PCB. This is causing dark spots on the bottom of the screen and possibly even the screen not working at all.
Fix: It is actually pretty easy to fix this issue, All you need to do is very carefully separate the screen from the board while leaving the ribbon cable attached, and reflow the ribbon with flux. It would be easiest to get a flux pen if you do not have one already. Just add a little bit of flux and run your tip over each of the ribbon connections.
My recommendations are as follows:
1. Use something thin like a guitar pick to separate the screen from the PCB. TAKE YOUR TIME! Use the pick on the 3 sides that do not have the ribbon.
2. Use lots of flux. Flux is your friend.
3. Put some fresh solder on the tip of your iron every couple of pins. You don't need much.
4. Work from the pad of the PCB and SLOWLY work your way up to the pin of the ribbon cable.
5. TAKE YOUR TIME!
If you need a video tutorial, there is one on the 3rd slide of this Instagram post.
If you do not feel comfortable fixing any of these issues, get in touch with Helder or myself and send the parts to one of us and we will fix the problem(s).
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Power Issues: IF YOU GOT YOUR KIT BEFORE APRIL 2019!
Instagram Post: https://www.instagram.com/p/BvFTK6OFfga/
If your screen is starting normally and then just goes white while the sound is still working. There may be other symptoms that I may not know of. If you plug the microUSB cable directly in to the pi, it should start up as normal. (This is also assuming that you have flashed the MintyPi image and have the microSD card plugged in to the pi)
Cause: The dualfet chip that has been put on the power boards is the wrong chip. It is cutting out when the battery reaches 4.3-4v instead of the voltage that we want it to cut off at.
Fix: This is a tricky fix and not for someone with minimal soldering skills. If you do not have any SMD work under your belt, I would highly suggest you send the power board to either Helder or myself or wait for Helder to send out fixed power boards. If you would like to fix it yourself or have Helder or I fix it for you, send one of us a PM in here or in Discord and one of us will send you info to have it taken care of.
I can't stress this enough: If you do not feel comfortable doing this, PLEASE SEND IT TO ONE OF US TO FIX IT FOR YOU OR WAIT FOR THE FIXED BOARD TO BE SHIPPED TO YOU! We will not be responsible if you mess the board up beyond repair.
If you would like to tackle this fix yourself, I admire you! Get in contact with Helder on here, discord, or by email and tell him that you would like a replacement dualfet chip. When you get it, you need to remove the old one. The dualfet is the one labeled "U2" on the power PCB close to the wire harness connector. It is best to use a hot air rework station for something like this but is doable by iron as well. I very carefully cut the leads of one side of the dualfet leads with flush cutters and lifted it just enough to know that the 4 pins are cut. Then I use my hot air station to heat up the other side and tweezers to lift it off the PCB. If you are using an iron, you can either try to heat all the pins at once, or use a glob of solder that is bridging all 4 pins to remove the dualfet. Just be sure you use something like solder wick to remove the extra solder. Take your iron and flick away the 4 legs from the other side.
If you are using an iron for the whole process, remove the solder on the pads using solder wick. Place a little bit of solder on one of the pads. Place the dualfet in its proper position. MAKE SURE THAT THE DOT ON THE DUALFET IS CORRECTLY ORIENTED! It should be closest to R6 above the wire harness connector. Click on the spoiler for an image.
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The charging LED does not work: IF YOU GOT YOUR KIT BEFORE APRIL 2019!
Instagram Post: post 1, post 2.
Cause: The PCB fabricators put the wrong LED on the board.
Fix: You need to take a wire (Helder used magnet wire; I used 30 gauge hookup wire) and solder it to pin 2 of the chip next to the LED and to the pin right next to the USB-C port like shown in the picture in post 1. You also need to remove the resistor labeled "R2" to avoid burning out your TX GPIO pin. You can see a video of how to do that here.
And of course, if you do not feel comfortable making this fix, please contact either Helder or myself for information on how to send it to one of us to fix it for you.