fixing the ppkb mainboard rather than replacing...

[Jite]

Dear all, 

I was hoping to brain storm the community on how to fix the pinephone keyboard mainboard rather than just replacing it when the charging chip overheats and gets fried as it seems to do every 4-9 months for me. 

I must have at least 6-7 mainboards in my possession now (only one of which is working sadly). 

I have never soldered before, but would be willing to learn, particularly if the replacement charging chip could be bought for very cheap and it just needed desoldering the old one and soldering on the new one. This would be a good reason to start my soldering journey...

Glad for anyone's tips on this. 

BW

[zetabeta]

Dear all, 

I was hoping to brain storm the community on how to fix the pinephone keyboard mainboard rather than just replacing it when the charging chip overheats and gets fried as it seems to do every 4-9 months for me. 

I must have at least 6-7 mainboards in my possession now (only one of which is working sadly). 

I have never soldered before, but would be willing to learn, particularly if the replacement charging chip could be bought for very cheap and it just needed desoldering the old one and soldering on the new one. This would be a good reason to start my soldering journey...

Glad for anyone's tips on this. 

BW

this won't hep you.

i have two keyboard cases, and both of them are broken in mainboards. other one has issue with battery, but keyboard works. other one is broken by communiaction link but, battery works.

one which is broken by battery, battery controller chip heats inside, so i think it is partial short circuit.

advises what to do these might be a good idea. i think soldering is out, too small pins. what i manage to find out, mainboards are broken in both.

[Jite]

I see that I am not the only one having issues, hence why they discontinued the product. I did think that perhaps the person who did the ideal diode solution so both usb-c ports could be used might be up to something, as perhaps the charging chip had a reverse current or something that it couldn't handle. I haven't heard from too many people though who have done that mod to confirm if that makes the ppkb usable over the long term. That may be my next step though, as ideally my keyboard will still be working in a couple of years and it seems that pine64 can't be relieved on to keep providing parts for the really long term as they have only guaranteed another couple of years for parts, and you can only buy one ppkb mainboard at a time...