How to burn out your extruder board
Well, there's your problem...
I think of blogging in the most literal sense – a web log. A log of events, both positive and negative. That means I feel obligated to post the embarrassing stuff along with the stuff of which I’m proud. 1
This was just equal parts sheer arrogance, ignorance, lack of respect for robots, and stupidity on my part. 2 I’ve become so comfortable with my MakerBot that I don’t didn’t feel any compunction about hotswapping anything on the robot. Well, I’m here to tell you that’s just not a good idea at all.
I pulled the motor out of my new MK5 plastruder to fiddle with it a bit and tried to plug it back in – when I heard a little black thingie on the extruder board pop, emit a small white mushroom cloud, bubble, grow an orange firey ring which dimmed to red, cool and bubble. It’s not anywhere on the wiki, but this is NOT a good sign.
It’s a sign you just fried some tiny fiddley bit on your extruder board and you cannot print anything until you get and install a new fiddley bit or a new extruder board. If you’re going to pull wires out and put wires back in, definitely shut off power to the robot using the switch on the power supply unit.
Let’s just say the design of the MakerBot Cupcake CNC is really great, just not foolproof. Exhibit A: MakerBlock. 3
The only “silver lining” to this is that I tend to jot down more ideas and design more things when my ‘bot is out of commission.
| Tagged with | burned board, burned extruder board, don't do this, what not to do | 13 comments |
13 Comments so far
=ml=
Bummer.
Here’s the part you need: http://parts.reprap.org/part/component/A3949+SOIC
I wish my dead EC was as easy to diagnose as yours.
Go!
=ml=
Ethan
That is the link to the part, but notice the “quantity available” is zero. Digikey lists them as restocking in *Feb 2011*!
Time to use the other channel.
-ethan
tmo
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=620-1131-6-ND&cshift_ck=2093207456cs501692882&client_id=5042
i think that is the same non bulk part.
Twotimes
I have some spare h bridges if you want to take a soldering iron to your board. email me if you’re interested.
Azdle
I’ve been there. You might want to replace the micro just to be safe. When that happened to me it caused the micro to randomly have very random problems. Usually foobaring the comms.
Richard K
Well, I can definitely feel your pain, in more ways than one.. My makerbot is still bricked because of a fried extruder board (has been for a month or so now). Hopefully this new BIG announcement is new electronics, one can only hope.
cyrozap
Well, to get it fixed immediately, you can either swap the dead chip with the unused one right next to it, or if you’re better at reading and editing C++ than you are at hot-air reflow, you can just change the pins in the Extruder’s code to use the other chip and ports.
tmo
you can dremel off the leads and then desolder them. (on the busted chip) thats the easiest way to get the old one off.
soldering in a new chip shouldnt be too hard. just be careful that you dont rip off the individual pads. that would suck.
t
MakerBlock
@Everyone: Holy-moly! Thanks everyone! I ordered a new chip and board and am hoping to try out at least one or two of those suggestions.
Charley Jones, Dataman
Actually, you might want to order some chip quick,
Easiest and safest way to get the chip off without reheat.
Chip quick is low metling point solder and flux.
You glop it around all the pins, then pull the old one off.
Cleans up well, and does not mar the board.
Dremel, Meh!
No, I don’t work for Chip Quick,
But a firm believer in quick SMT fixes.
Charley Jones, MCSE, MCDBA, et al
Creator of SMTBoards.Com
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