I dropped my Pine64

[DukeJustice]

Hi everyone.

Out of stupidity, I accidentally dropped my Pine64 to the floor. It's got the acrylic case and fell flat on the bolts from about 5 feet in the air.

Now, when I plug it in, I have the battery logo. The red led lights for about 10 seconds, flashes once, hold on for about another 5 and shuts down.

I've tried another SD with another OS. Nothing. The battery logo is all I got now.

Is my Pine64 dead?

[Luke]

In short, it's going to be very difficult for us to tell. Was it powered on when it fell ? (if yes, then perhaps power cord / microUSB plug was damaged). Are there any visible cracks in the soldering or any other obvious damage?

[DukeJustice]

Hi Luke.

You're right. Missing lots of details. 

Yes it was powered. But the usb cord was 4 feet shorter then the drop and it disconnected while falling. Did try several cords/blocks.

As I was using a cheap clone SD, I have replaced it. And since tested the original in another SBC to see it works fine.

Upon dismounting and close inspection under a magnifying glass, there does not appear to be any damage. I suspect a solder has given way.

I have thought to reflow the board. It's otherwise useless anyways.

Any advice before I cook the board?

[MarkHaysHarris777]

If you have the equpment reflow is your best option; from the sound of things you've managed to pop a chip loose ( more likely than not ).

If the shock cracked a lan pattern you're toast.

<sorry to hear>

[Luke]

Just to let you know, fire219 and I tried reflowing pines before in regular household ovens - all we were left with were (still not working) pines with molten bits of plastic and a terrible smell (I thought my wife would kill me).

Hope it works out better for you *fingers crossed*

[MarkHaysHarris777]

Just to let you know, fire219 and I tried reflowing pines before in regular household ovens - all we were left with were (still not working)  pines with molten bits of plastic and a terrible smell (I thought my wife would kill me).

Hope it works out better for you *fingers crossed*

The only way to reflow the board is with the proper equipment ;  and there are a couple of ways:

1)  use a professional oven that is essentially a hot-air gun(s) and a conveyor that precisely directs the air-flow and moves the board robotically past the gun(s) to limit the time the heat is directed at any given component.  (most spec sheets will tell you how long and at what temperature you may direct hot air towards the component in question.

2)  manually use a hot-air gun  ( professional solder station ) where you can select the temperature and air-force to be used.  Again, this requires great skill and understanding;  many people burn things up with this strategy, but it works for some talented , patient , and highly skilled technicians.

[DukeJustice]

OK, after much research and chips specs, it's been decided that the Pine64 will be cooked at 340 deg F for 6 minutes in a conventional oven that has a very powerful fan that will circulate the air.

I'm praying for it to work. I'm also praying I make the Nov 11th ship with my new order of 2 more Pines as I can't be left without a TV in the lounge as my children will KILL me.

Will keep you posted.

[MarkHaysHarris777]

OK, after much research and chips specs, it's been decided that the Pine64 will be cooked at 340 deg F for 6 minutes in a conventional oven that has a very powerful fan that will circulate the air.

I'm praying for it to work. I'm also praying I make the Nov 11th ship with my new order of 2 more Pines as I can't be left without a TV in the lounge as my children will KILL me.

Will keep you posted.

ok everybody, hold on to your butts !

[DukeJustice]

HI.

After flooding the board with flux... It half worked: It didn't worsen the condition.

The battery logo that only showed for a couple of seconds now stays on permanently until I unplug the Pine64.

I put in an unproperly formatted SD, no battery logo. Put in an SD for a banana pi... no logo. Put back the Remix OS SD I had... battery logo.

Any ideas for next step?

[MarkHaysHarris777]

HI.

After flooding the board with flux... It half worked: It didn't worsen the condition.

The battery logo that only showed for a couple of seconds now stays on permanently until I unplug the Pine64.

I put in an unproperly formatted SD, no battery logo. Put in an SD for a banana pi... no logo. Put back the Remix OS SD I had... battery logo.

Any ideas for next step?

try it one more time....

... but again, if the shock broke a lan pattern, you're going to have to find it a solder around the break... and that could be tough to find!