My Ez-board Just Went Pop :(

Question

Man,

I just though I'd have a play with my ez-b having not played with it for a while, but when I connected the battery, nothing happened. Removed the power and re attached it a few times when it decided to just go pop

Anyone any idea what happened? And whether its repairable? Really can't afford another one at the moment

Matt

mattbrailsford · Answer

Would this happen if power was applied backwards? I used a jack cut off of and old omni battery connected to a new one, but I'm wondering whether the colours were backwards? Do you think replacing the blown component should make it work again? Anyone know what the details of the component was? So gutted

charleybot · Answer

Matt LOL! Basically same thing happened to me last year with my EZ-B, I replaced the regulator and it works fine, however I didn't have a cap pop. That cap is 220uf 6.3v cap if that helps. The regulator i'm trying to find the info on now...

charleybot · Answer

That regulator is a 5v 5amp regulator, look for LM1084IT-5.0

DJ Sures · Answer

That would happen if you applied power backward It has happened to me once or twice embarassed ... You don't really need that cap. It's redundant because there area 2 of each. Simply cut away the material and ensure the pins are cut down too. The board will still work

mattbrailsford · Answer

@dj you my friend are awesome! You are absolutely right, it still works. Woohoo! That'll teach me to trust the colour of wires without checking. It was indeed down to the adaptor I cut off the old omni battery having the colours backwards (see in the photo, red has to go to black and black goes to red)  Thank you, thank you, thank you for designing the board for fools like me Let the fun begin again Matt

DJ Sures · Answer

Excellent Use a pair of side cutters, little ones... and cut away the material from the old capicator. Also cut away the electrical leads so they don't short. You're EZ-B will look better without that capicator It's funny, when I blew up an EZ-B before - it was from the Omnibot connector also! I was super surprised to find that negative is Inside and positive is Outside. Totally backward!

Dave Schulpius · Answer

This is great! I love to know that EZ-B is over built! Just like the old days when things were built to last!

jstarne1 · Answer

Lol that's great. I have made the mistake of reversing power once when I used a spare dc jack where center pin pos was reversed! Woops. Letting it sit for about 5 min and putting juice to it the correct direction fixed that problem but wow did that heatsink get hot for a few seconds we have all done it Matt - Josh Starnes

jstarne1 · Answer

@ Matt yup Omnibot center pin was neg , when I did the accidental power reversal I used the omni power barrel connector too. Just goes to say, check that bad boy with a meter when in doubt lol

mattbrailsford · Answer

Hmm, what does a flashing blue led on the main board mean? Got power attached, and the led is flashing, but can't seem to connect to it.

Dave Schulpius · Answer

The blue flashing LED means it has power but not connected to your laptop through Bluetooth. Once it connects to ARC this LED will stay on steady. In the center of the board you should see a small red LED on top of the Bluetooth chip that is also flashing. Once connected that one should also stay on steady. Are you seeing the red LED?

mattbrailsford · Answer

Hmm, no, just the blue one. That mean my Bluetooth module is shot?

Dave Schulpius · Answer

I cant say for sure but it doesn't look good. Maybe a e-mail to EZ Robot support is in order. They may be able to sell you a new one if it is bad. I know there are other modules for sale that work well with EZ-B and have better range. This may be your chance to upgrade. Do a search on this forum to get those units and how to hook them up.

Bravia · Answer

Have you disconnected all servos ets

mattbrailsford · Answer

@Bravia, yea, there was nothing connected. @dschulpius thanks, I'll drop support an email and see what happens. I may convert it to wifi if it is shot.

robotmaker · Answer

That cap is mostly for filtering the power supply,if there is none it not filter right,really hard to tell unless i look at the circuit But without should be ok i would check the 5 volt line going to your bluetooth to see if its good Hevent had the time yet to reverse engineer it and draw the circuit up,i can tell you more about it Since designing and making battery power circuits is mainly what i do at work

robotmaker · Answer

They a common regulator circuit is made is a input cap mostly a large one 220 mfd or higher depending on the current of output and how much ripple,then on the output you have about 2.2 mfd to protect the regulator and .1 mfd to protect the IC

DJ Sures · Answer

If the blue led is pulsing, than the Bluetooth is indeed getting power. You will need to replace the Bluetooth module

mattbrailsford

My Ez-Board Just Went Pop :(

Upgrade to ARC Pro