06-07-2021, 10:16 AM
(06-06-2021, 10:15 AM)deftdawg Wrote: Alas, pine's email support said if the device DFUs it's "working", so my only course of action was to attempt to DFU firmware on and hope that somehow fixed it...
I know Pine is 'community driven', but it really feels like their customer support needs some work. The device getting crazy hot is not something you've done from just plugging the thing in. There are a few people that have managed to get their Pinecils to internally short too.
I think a reasonable response would be for one of their electrical engineers to ask you to do as I've done, and if you have a voltmeter to probe out some test points from the schematic and check the supply rails.
(06-06-2021, 10:15 AM)deftdawg Wrote: Prior to it dying, I tried to turn it on without a tip and the screen just shows a "no tip" inserted icon and won't heat. No that it's dead with the tip inserted the tip still won't heat up; so that's good I think (fail safe).
Disassemble it and run it till it gets hot, lets see what is getting hot. There is some good news that you haven't blown the controller and the controller is getting powered. I suspect the issue could be the USB circuitry in negotiating power increase or the power circuitry towards the tip. Both of these could be solved for a few dollars or so.
Also ensure you have a proper power supply that can deliver the voltage and current required to drive the tip. Don't be plugging it into your laptop!
(06-06-2021, 10:15 AM)deftdawg Wrote: I agree, I'm going to have a go at disassembling it... Maybe the folks at Pine can see something that could be fixed for future batches.
This is exactly why I expect them to pay more interest in the issue - better to catch a small issue now than produce 100k of these devices with defects.
Bare in mind also, that this device is likely a minimal viable product (MVP) for adding faster charging to their more expensive products, such as the Pinebook line and Pinephone. *Any* power supply issue should be really getting their attention.
