What am I doing wrong?

[Jedi-Elf]

Ok, so I just got my brand new premium speaker in the mail yesterday. I ordered it because I was sure that the old speaker was bad and that was why I couldn't get any sound out of my hasbro 2010 econo board(s). So today I hooked the new speaker up to the board and then connected the battery to test the speaker. The way I understand it, since I only had the speaker and battery connected to the board, I should have heard the power-up sound as soon as the + terminal of the battery made contact with the wire from the BA+ on the board. (I connected the GND from the board to the - battery terminal first) Instead I got no reaction at all. I'm pretty sure that the battery is charged, but to be sure I took one of the other batteries that I ordered (Trustfire 14500 3.7V same as the one I tried to test the speaker with) and I am charging it to try next since I think these batteries come with no charge. If the freshly charged battery doesn't work then I have no idea what is wrong. The board is new, just taken out of the toy saber, and I know it works because I tested it before I opened up the toy. Any ideas what the problem could be? I'm stumped.

[Loachri MacTalabh]

If the Trustfire 14500 3.7V doesn't come charged, try using the regular batteries in the same voltage that the board came with. I am not an expert by no means, some one may have a better idea. Thats what I would do.

[cardcollector]

The board does not turn on automatically when power is given to it. You have to use the momentary switch to turn the board on or off.

[Rhyen Skytracker]

CC is correct, you must touch the switch wires together for it to power up. The econo boards use a momentary switch, so all you would have to do is touch the wires and it will come on.

[Jedi-Elf]

The board does not turn on automatically when power is given to it. You have to use the momentary switch to turn the board on or off.


CC is correct, you much touch the switch wires together for it to power up. The econo boards use a momentary switch, so all you would have to do is touch the wires and it will come on.

Yeah, someone gave me that bit of info in the shoutbox, and I tried it. Still nothing. I am forced to assume that, unlikely as it sounds, I have somehow damaged all three of these soundboards. I can't think of any other reason why I can't get sound out of them. Looks like I am going to have invest in another soundboard. I'm tempted to just shoot the wad and try to find a MR or Hasbro FX board somewhere since I've already spent about $75 on speakers and cheap sabers trying to get this working.

[Azmaria Dei]

how about you mail the whole mess to me and i'll check it all out and wire it up for you? if you do though, i would ask that you be patient since the USPS here takes about a week each way for Japan. but shipping costs are the same as if you were mailing it to California. ^_^

[cardcollector]

Yeah, someone gave me that bit of info in the shoutbox, and I tried it. Still nothing. I am forced to assume that, unlikely as it sounds, I have somehow damaged all three of these soundboards. I can't think of any other reason why I can't get sound out of them. Looks like I am going to have invest in another soundboard. I'm tempted to just shoot the wad and try to find a MR or Hasbro FX board somewhere since I've already spent about $75 on speakers and cheap sabers trying to get this working.

I would do some more testing to make sure...

get a 4.5V AA battery holder and try the board with that.

make sure your wires are going where they are supposed to. I don't know how many times I thought a board was dead until I found a wire out of place.

get a multimeter out, see if you are even getting power to the speaker to the led or the speaker. if you aren't and you are SURE your batteries are brand new and in the holder the correct way, you may need a new board.

I am pretty sure you didn't kill all three boards, pics would be IMMENSLY helpful in trouble shooting this... if you still want to tackle it that is... which I encourage you to do. ;)

[Jedi-Elf]

how about you mail the whole mess to me and i'll check it all out and wire it up for you? if you do though, i would ask that you be patient since the USPS here takes about a week each way for Japan. but shipping costs are the same as if you were mailing it to California. ^_^

Thanks for the offer Az, but I'm not ready to give up quite yet although the thought of having a more experienced sabersmith wire this thing up has crossed my mind!


I would do some more testing to make sure...

get a 4.5V AA battery holder and try the board with that.

make sure your wires are going where they are supposed to. I don't know how many times I thought a board was dead until I found a wire out of place.

get a multimeter out, see if you are even getting power to the speaker to the led or the speaker. if you aren't and you are SURE your batteries are brand new and in the holder the correct way, you may need a new board.

I am pretty sure you didn't kill all three boards, pics would be IMMENSLY helpful in trouble shooting this... if you still want to tackle it that is... which I encourage you to do. ;)

I am sure the wires are connected correctly. I don't have a 3AA battery holder right now that I could use, but I might be able to scrounge one somewhere. And pics will be forthcoming of the 2 boards that I am not sure are bad. One I know is because of a mishap when I was getting it out of the toy saber. This is a good test for the macro function on my new camera!

Edit: Ok, here are the pics of the two boards I think I ruined. First is an Obi-wan and the second is an Anakin.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5290/5349869749_235a75148c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/myrddin_emrys2003/5349869749/)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5006/5349861771_504c8469b4.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/myrddin_emrys2003/5349861771/)

[Jedi-Elf]

Sorry for the double post, but I just wanted to let those who asked know that the pics are up now.

[cardcollector]

Ouch yeah... Those are toast. You have your soldering iron waaaay to hot to be damaging the board traces that bad... Sorry man.

[Azmaria Dei]

yep - pulled and melted traces, rippling, and likely chip heat damage. totally toast. toss some cinnamon and butter on them and chow down.

what soldering iron/settings are you using?

[Jedi-Elf]

I have a radio shack soldering iron which has variable settings from 20 to 50 watts. I usually use it on the 40 W setting.

[Azmaria Dei]

and how long are you leaving it on the board when you're soldering?

[Sunrider]

That board is still usable. Follow the traces to the resistor pads and quickly solder very small wires directly to the smt components. Then glue the wires to the board.

[Jedi-Elf]

Az: I try not to leave the iron on the board for more than a couple of seconds, but I may have gone over that on the Obi-wan board.

Sunrider: Which board do you mean?

[Sunrider]

The Obi idk that looks bad. The Anakin looks totally savable tho.

[Skottsaber]

I'm not so sure that soldering to the SMDs is a very good idea.
They are around 0402 size, and therefore heat up the solerpads on both sides of the component very easily with a 40w iron like Jedi-Elf's.
So he might end up bridging, moving, burning the component, not to mention putting stress on the small pads/components themselves.

However, you could always try. If it saves your board it saves your board, but definitelyglue the wires after you solder them to the components for support.

[Takanis]

I agree with the glue suggestion. It helps A LOT! I would bump down your iron a little if I were you, too.