Soldering novice - Braveheart dead?
#1
Hi folks, 

I am a total noob when it comes to soldering, but after successfully removing the VCONN switches on my Braveheart edition, I got a little more confident. 

Alas the confidence was misplaced. I tried following @megous tutorial to avoid the battery drain when the phone is off. I managed to remove U1301 ok, but as I could not get the solder to cooperate to short R1309. To make matters worse, when I removed the paper tape protecting the other components, I noticed that the capacitor (C1307?) was gone. It came off with the tape. 

So my phone is in a bad state. My question is, is there any solution? Is it repairable? (Obviously we've learned that this tiny soldering jobs are not my forte). 

Should I try to turn it on as is? Any risk of major issue? Or just likely to fail?

Can I buy a new "brain" for the phone, or should I just plan to get a whole new phone down the road. 

Thanks for your advice. I've been enjoying my pinephone and I just wish I was more skilled so that my "repair" didn't cause more problems.
  Reply
#2
(10-04-2020, 02:54 PM)MonCon Wrote:
(10-04-2020, 12:45 PM)ConorIA Wrote: Hi folks, 

I am a total noob when it comes to soldering, but after successfully removing the VCONN switches on my Braveheart edition, I got a little more confident. 

Alas the confidence was misplaced. I tried following @megous tutorial to avoid the battery drain when the phone is off. I managed to remove U1301 ok, but as I could not get the solder to cooperate to short R1309. To make matters worse, when I removed the paper tape protecting the other components, I noticed that the capacitor (C1307?) was gone. It came off with the tape. 

So my phone is in a bad state. My question is, is there any solution? Is it repairable? (Obviously we've learned that this tiny soldering jobs are not my forte). 

Should I try to turn it on as is? Any risk of major issue? Or just likely to fail?

Can I buy a new "brain" for the phone, or should I just plan to get a whole new phone down the road. 

Thanks for your advice. I've been enjoying my pinephone and I just wish I was more skilled so that my "repair" didn't cause more problems.

fyi from another post: 
(09-30-2020, 11:25 PM)tllim Wrote:
(09-29-2020, 06:20 AM)--- Wrote: @tllim said "The PinePhone CE edition mainboard will be released as spare part once the software getting more mature and tested. Probably late Q4 or early 2021".

I have enthusiastically evaporated unreasonable quantities of time with a (possibly hardware related) issue that apparently has no domestic user solution.
Will a suitable replacement motherboard be available for the UBPorts edition phone or do I have to get back in the queue for a new one?

The PinePhone v1.2a spare mainboard will be available on end of Q4 (this quarter).

also: 
https://pine64.com/product-category/smar...are-parts/
https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-bra...mainboard/

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the tip! I think the 1.2a still has the issue with the VCONN switches. I wonder when the 1.2b will ship and whether it will be a drop-in replacement for the 1.1.
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#3
(10-04-2020, 03:29 PM)ConorIA Wrote: Thanks for the tip! I think the 1.2a still has the issue with the VCONN switches. I wonder when the 1.2b will ship and whether it will be a drop-in replacement for the 1.1.

You are wrong. 1.2a is the board with all fixes - there are currently no plans for a 1.2b board
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#4
(10-04-2020, 05:37 PM)Alho Wrote: You are wrong. 1.2a is the board with all fixes - there are currently no plans for a 1.2b board

Thanks for the correction. I don't know why I thought there was an a and b. Looking forward to seeing the 1.2a in the store soon!
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#5
> Should I try to turn it on as is? Any risk of major issue? Or just likely to fail?

So this is ** not ** proper advice and I have no formal electronics training...

But checking the schematics [1], C1307 seems to be a 4.7uF decoupler. On the 'PS' side you have another decoupler C1361. There shouldn't in theory be too much noise built up on the track...

EDIT: Do not bridge the capacitor, just leave it off.

Just make sure you have shorted across R1309 as the fix suggests, otherwise you'll be left unconnected.

By the way, to short, just place a small strand of copper wire across the pads and apply solder. Be careful not to de-pad the PCB by tearing it off.

If you have it, some electrical tape or even a dab of hot glue (once you've confirmed the fix) will prevent unwanted shorting and perhaps secure it in place.

Again: At your own risk.

[1] http://files.pine64.org/doc/PinePhone/Pi...191031.pdf
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#6
The Manjaro edition phone uses the 1.2b mainboard

Check the Pine 64 wiki.

This is the Mainboard being offered to previous Brave Heart and UBPorts edition phone purchasers Now to update/upgrade their phones.

It will be available for other purchasers sometime in December.

I believe Luke mentioned this in the "October Update"
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#7
Yes, bodged my board as well by damaging c1307 - now dead as a dodo.

Oh well, gives me an excuse to upgrade when the spare boards come back into stock.
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#8
Mainboard out of stock so had another go at this. As in the photo, it turns out the solder didn't stick thanks to oversized tip I was using. So shorted r1309 with a graphite pencil instead and it booted back to life.

Yes, it's a bodge which probably (definitely) won't last too long so going back in the drawer for now.

   
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#9
(01-05-2021, 03:20 PM)nas Wrote: Mainboard out of stock so had another go at this. As in the photo, it turns out the solder didn't stick thanks to oversized tip I was using. So shorted r1309 with a graphite pencil instead and it booted back to life.

Yes, it's a bodge which probably (definitely) won't last too long so going back in the drawer for now.
... definitely!

You should consult someone with an adequate soldering iron to solve this issue.
Maybe a mobile repair shop or repair cafe could help you out...

Good luck!
scholbert
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#10
(01-06-2021, 03:51 AM)scholbert Wrote: Maybe a mobile repair shop or repair cafe could help you out...

That's a good idea but decided to put money towards a new board rather than proper fix or tools.
  Reply


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