Welcome to Synthiam!

The easiest way to program the most powerful robots. Use technologies by leading industry experts. ARC is a free-to-use robot programming software that makes servo automation, computer vision, autonomous navigation, and artificial intelligence easy.

Get Started
Australia
Asked — Edited

Ruined A Ezb4 Before I Even Started

Has anyone had this happen to them?
User-inserted image

Tried installing the comm upgrade board onto the EZB today, noticed once plugged in there was no power except for a very faint red led.

I noticed the pins weren't making contact to get power, they were bent from me not being careful enough, but trust me i did this slowly, but not slow and careful enough it seems..
User-inserted image

Anyway i broke a pin trying to straighten it. Sad thing is i had everything ready to start my build this weekend and i now have no brain.
User-inserted image


Is there anyway it can be fixed?

Im sure its dead now, hard lesson learnt, will just make sure i buy an ezb4 that doesn't need the comm upgrade.
If anyone else has to this please be careful, its not as straight forward as it looks...damn those tiny little pins...


ARC Pro

Upgrade to ARC Pro

Get access to the latest features and updates with ARC Early Access edition. You'll have everything that's needed to unleash your robot's potential!

AI Support Bot
Related Content
Synthiam
Based on your post activity, we found some content that may be interesting to you. Explore these other tutorials and community conversations.
#1  
I have upgraded 6 of my old ezb4 boards will no issues... Pretty straight forward
#2  
I separate my ez-b a fair amount and have no issues. Possibly the pins were bent Turing packaging or shipping slightly which knocked the alignment out.
#3  
Thanks for the replies guys, going to get my soldering iron out to see if i can get another pin in there, if not then will just order another one.
PRO
USA
#4  
The board can be fixed, You will have to carefully with a razor knife or dremel, cut the pin strip on each side, then on solder the pin. Then solder a new pin in place. you will have to be real careful not to over heat the board. I do this sort of stuff all the time. The repair not the pin breaking.

Richard Z
PRO
USA
#6  
Good luck, Take your time.
I would not try to remove the old solder, Use some Alcohol to clean the board first, then heat up the solder and pull the pin out (after you cut the strip apart). If you find that the solder does not melt, add a little fresh solder to help the heat transfer. Use a well cleaned and tined iron tip.
PRO
Canada
#7  
@NEWAGETOMY The pin that is missing in the picture won't effect the overall operation of the EZ-Bv4. The pin that is missing is D20 and everything should be operational besides a missing digital pin.

@rz90208 is absolutley correct, if you can't go without D20 I would also remove and repair the single pin itself just as he mentioned.

We've implemented a solution to prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future, it will just take time for the newest production runs to work their way into circulation.
Canada
#8  
Oh wow, i did notice it was difficult to open mine as well, i was very careful too but all the pins on one side slightly bent after taking apart,lucky when i put back together they all still fit in place.I had to order a new bottom board (blown from my own mistake earlier) which should arrive in a few days,now I am worried about taking it apart again to fit the new bottom board. I will be so paranoid,LOL!
PRO
Synthiam
#9  
As Jeremie said, it's only d20 that's affected. Do not attempt to repair or perform "fixes" on the ezb and avoid further damage.

Use it as is and merely do not use pin d20
#10  
I am going to agree with @DJ... Unless you are very experienced de-soldering/soldering stuff like this I would just sacrifice pin 20... You are probably not going to use all 24 ports anyway so it's not worth risking any further damage... Just my opinion, though...
#12  
New comm board arrived, but i noticed this one, the whole top row of pins are bent out of alignment from shipping, and there is a little solder stuck to one of the pins.
User-inserted image

After what happened last time due to my clumsiness, im a little nervous about trying to install this one now seeing as the pins are quite bent before i even start...
User-inserted image


Can these pins be moved a bit before they break?

If i can't install this, i'll have to shelve this project and move onto the next one which has the Lol Tiny ready to go.
PRO
Synthiam
#13  
No problem - gently align the pins. It's expected they will be a little out of alignment after shipping around the world. Such a minor amount like that won't be any trouble :). You could very gently align them as you insert into ez-b, or gently use fine tipped pliers.
#14  
Hi Dj and thanks, ive been trying since i posted and it just doesn't want to go in.

If the pins break then i will have to move on and forget about this for awhile, its proving a little difficult right now..
Login to post a comment