NB component question

[Tomahawk]

I have been having issues with my NB almost from day one. I finally took it out to troubleshoot. My job a work entails troubleshooting pcb's and fine point soldering on occasion. I usually have a schematic, though. On this NB, two of the caps are touching on one end. Without a schematic, I cannot tell if this was on purpose or not.
Hopefully you can tell from the pic.
*edited to omit my opinion with out all the facts.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e198/aaalexander/IMAG0333_1_zps7noszypf.jpg (http://s39.photobucket.com/user/aaalexander/media/IMAG0333_1_zps7noszypf.jpg.html)

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

What kind of issues were you having specifically??

I'll have Zook stop by and check this picture out, and see what he thinks - as he does the repair work.

In the meantime, you might want to keep the design/production commentary to yourself.

[Tomahawk]

The problem that I am having is the sound is very quiet with a lot of static/white noise. The speaker works on a different, apparently unmentionable, board and a known-good speaker does the same on the NB. When I first installed it, it worked fine, but after the first battery (18650) charge it started flaking out. I charge the battery outside of the loop.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

Are they 8 Ohm speakers?

[Tomahawk]

It is the Premium MHS speaker.

[Zook]

I gotta say I am a little offended that you throw out the word shoddy especially when you admitted you do not have a schematic.

I have produced over 1000 of these boards and I have had exactly 2 that were defective (not user error) and those were because of the way I shipped them (on the panel so a solder joint broke when they were broken from the panel) and even because of just those 2 I am changing the way I ship and will be bagging them myself after testing. I test each and every board that goes out. That takes a LOT of time but it makes certain that they are all working before they go out to TCSS.

The boards are reflowed not hand soldered. The reflow process sometimes allows the components to move together when they share a pad (yes they share a pad mechanically) because the heat draws them to each other. It doesn't always happen but it does sometimes. When it does it is not a problem because they share the same connection anyway. Sure I guess you can fuss that the component is a little crooked but again functionality is not harmed.

Now on your problem. Once again it is user error. Why can I say that for certainty? Well because there is a bubble on the top of the amp. Amps can fail but they do not blow like that unless there is something that causes it. Either the speaker leads were shorted somehow or to me it looks like maybe too much voltage was put to it, or since you posted you charge it out of the loop it could have been inserted backward (the v reg looks swollen as well). They are designed for a single cell. If you put more than that on it you will have an issue.

You can contact me for repair if you like but I would appreciate you not saying my work is shoddy when you do not know what goes into the boards.

[Tomahawk]

I apologize, Zook. I had no idea that it was one person assembling and testing all of these boards.
Thanks for the explanation on my problem and the board. After talking with my wife, she indeed, put the battery in backward after charging.

[Zook]

no problem. PM incoming for repair instructions.