The MOSFET and the driver in general, look OK. Neither signs nor smell of burnt components.
I will take a picture under good lighting conditions tomorrow and I’ll upload it.
Ramping, but it should exit the lock-out mode whenever I unscrew the head and this is not the case.
Something is wrong either with the driver or with the switch board.
Very strange issue that it would die completely like that. The switch LED should at least light up if the MCU is getting power.
The most likely candidates would be the LDO, R5 resistor or the MCU itself dying.
If you can, check for V+ at both sides of the R5 resistor, if that checks out, then check the voltage at the first “Test” pad above the yellow wire. It should be 5v.
If all of that checks out then the voltage is making it to the MCU so either it is a ground issue or the MCU died somehow. Very strange if that happened, only had an MCU randomly die a few times over the years in a working light.
Hi. It was ridiculous.
After detaching the board to test it, I realised that the spring was not making contact.
Now I have another issue.
While soldering the cables back, the switch V+ metal contact was detached from the board.
It is still connected to the thin, onboard, wire.
Can I take switch V+ from somewhere else on the driver?
I used some two-ingredient epoxy glue (180 Celsius max) to reattach the pad.
When it dries, I will try to solder the cable very quickly. If this fails I’ll use pin 7.
I will also lower the iron heat.
The first attempt was a fail and the pad was completely detached.
The second attempt (pin 7) was also a fail and now I know why.
The third attempt was a success. I removed the coating right after the pad and soldered it there.
I also used a small amount of epoxy resin to stick the cable to the board, right after the connection, in order to secure it.
Finally, I have contacted Lexel for a replacement driver to have it as a spare.
By the way, can someone suggest me a good budget adjustable temperature soldering iron/station?
It’s like going from an Ultrafire 10$ light to a Convoy C8. A nice difference for not so much money.
While going from the one you have to a TS100 will be like going from that Ultrafire 10$ light to a Emisar D1S. A completely different level.
Both are great soldering irons though. The PX-988 is a very nice iron, and the TS100 is a step up from that, having better firmware, faster heat up time, better handling.
Get the TS-100 if your future budget allows it, along with a flat fat tip. Otherwise, just go with the PX-988.
I honestly get confused with that dot as well and kinda gave up keeping track of the pin numbers using it some time ago. Now I just look at the schematic to see which pin goes where and use the technical pin names for figuring out the connections.
The TS100 iron has been superceded by the TS80. This looks great for portability as it can run on a battery pack.
Another one that looks good is the KSGER STM32 T12. This uses the Hakko 951 style of tip (or T12 style), but in a cheaper format ($40-$60 instead of $230). I paid $77 for a kit with 8 tips. These Chinese version T12 tips are pretty cheap at $3 ea. Genuine Hakko T12 tips are about $23 ea.
Those slip on Banggood/Amazon tips are junk (IMO). The new Hakko 888 style tips (T18 style) I recently bought are working much better. They make soldering easier. Plus I’m using a thicker flux that I put on with a toothpick instead of an applicator pen and that upped the results another notch. I’m soldering so much better now. :partying_face: