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Author Topic: Red LEDs are dead in CS 3.0  (Read 2033 times)

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Offline Falcon79

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Red LEDs are dead in CS 3.0
« on: March 28, 2019, 03:47:46 PM »
Hi!

The 2 red LEDs are dead in two of my VV sabers :cry: Before I send them for repair, I would like to know if somebody has seen this issue before, and if there is a potential way to solve it by myself.

I will describe the sequence of events:

1. I fully charged the trustfire 18650 batteries (at 4.2V) of both sabers at the end of January 2019.
2. I didn’t use them until March 26th, 2019.
3. On that date, when I turned on the Rev-N on a sithy font, the red LED was not working at all. I cycled through all of the colors, and could only see the blue and green LEDs being turned on.
4. I downloaded the original SD setup which I got from VV and got the same result. Everything was working except for the red LED. Then, I reverted back to my own setup.
5. I thought the red LED just died! Things get broken.
6. The Havoc was fully working. That is, everything including the red LED.
7. I decided to fully charge the batteries (at 4.2V) of both sabers. One took 2 hrs spot on, and the other one 2:15 hrs.
8. I placed the batteries back in the sabers. It’s important to mention that I don’t assign batteries to each saber; that means, I use them randomly.
9. I turned the Rev-N and the same behavior persists. This is expected.
10. I turned on the Havoc and now it has the exact same behavior as the Rev-N!!! The red LED is not working, but everything else is!!! So, is it one bad battery or is the charger damaging the PCB protection of the batteries? Or, something else?

I don't blame CS3.0 soundboards because they have been working great for 2.5+ years. What should I check?

Regards.

Offline K-2SO

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Re: Red LEDs are dead in CS 3.0
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2019, 04:12:07 PM »
Offhand, I’d say that there probably is a bad connection betweent he board and the Red Die in each saber. If they still don’t work with the default VV packages. I would contact VV, they’re really good about taking care of their stuff. They’ll be at Celebration next week or whenever it is, so they may be hard to get a hold of for the weekend.



I find your arguments vague and unconvincing.

Quiet! *Slap* And there’s a fresh one if you mouth off again.

Offline Falcon79

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Re: Red LEDs are dead in CS 3.0
« Reply #2 on: March 28, 2019, 04:49:52 PM »
Hi K-2SO,

Thanks for your input. I didn't want to get rid of them, but it looks like, I will have to.

Regards.

Offline K-2SO

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Re: Red LEDs are dead in CS 3.0
« Reply #3 on: March 28, 2019, 05:31:24 PM »
Hi K-2SO,

Thanks for your input. I didn't want to get rid of them, but it looks like, I will have to.

Regards.

If you get a hold of VV I’m sure they’d repair these for you. You could even get them upgraded (your finances permitting, of course).



I find your arguments vague and unconvincing.

Quiet! *Slap* And there’s a fresh one if you mouth off again.

Offline Falcon79

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Re: Red LEDs are dead in CS 3.0
« Reply #4 on: March 28, 2019, 05:49:48 PM »
Hi K-2SO,

I know VV will repair them. I have no doubts about it. However, If you read my original message closely, you will realize that the Havoc was working fine, and it was 2 hours later after charging the battery and placing it back that the red LED stopped working on that saber, too. I don't believe it's just a connection issue. It's something else, in the charger or battery itself. That's the input I would like to have.

Regards.

Offline K-2SO

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Re: Red LEDs are dead in CS 3.0
« Reply #5 on: March 28, 2019, 08:10:43 PM »
Those batteries need at least 8 hours to charge, depending on what type of charger you’re using. You must also make sure it’s set properly, if it a selectable voltage charger.



I find your arguments vague and unconvincing.

Quiet! *Slap* And there’s a fresh one if you mouth off again.

Offline erv

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Re: Red LEDs are dead in CS 3.0
« Reply #6 on: March 28, 2019, 11:22:40 PM »
I would definitely test the red die with just a small battery or bench PSU. Also have a look on the board, the driver right next to red die L- output, see if there's a visual clue that this channel is defective.
Just a though but, following your (excellent) debug process : as it happens after charging the only thing I can think of is a over voltage. As you mentioned, either a problematic PCB in the battery, or the charger not ending at proper time could lead to a battery charged over 4.2V.
The red die has the lowest Vf and that's the one which needs a special attention for its resistor, since the current increases exponentially once you pass the Vf. With a cell a bit "high", the led might just have burnt of over current

Offline Falcon79

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Re: Red LEDs are dead in CS 3.0
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2019, 08:23:41 AM »
I would definitely test the red die with just a small battery or bench PSU. Also have a look on the board, the driver right next to red die L- output, see if there's a visual clue that this channel is defective.
Just a though but, following your (excellent) debug process : as it happens after charging the only thing I can think of is a over voltage. As you mentioned, either a problematic PCB in the battery, or the charger not ending at proper time could lead to a battery charged over 4.2V.
The red die has the lowest Vf and that's the one which needs a special attention for its resistor, since the current increases exponentially once you pass the Vf. With a cell a bit "high", the led might just have burnt of over current

Hi Erv,

Thanks for your reply. I fully agree with your statement: "as it happens after charging the only thing I can think of is a over voltage. As you mentioned, either a problematic PCB in the battery, or the charger not ending at proper time could lead to a battery charged over 4.2V." I don't believe it's the red die L- output. The sabers have been working great for a long time. Specially, one saber was working and the red LED suddenly stopped working after placing a fully charged battery.

I checked the batteries after 10+ minutes of use with a multimeter and a 100-ohm resistor and got 4.15 V and 4.16 V, respectively. I didn't know what resistor I should use. It was just an experiment.

I plan to use the sabers a bit, then charge the batteries, and check the battery voltages with a DMM before placing them back in. Do you have a suggestion how to do this better?

Regards.

Offline erv

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Re: Red LEDs are dead in CS 3.0
« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2019, 12:38:58 AM »
Your battery seems ok. I would check the board channel on which the former red dice died with simply an accent led and a resistor in place of the HB led to find out if that is broken or not. Then if it (still) works, check the resistor used on those 2 fried dice and see if the resistor is ok.

Offline Falcon79

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Re: Red LEDs are dead in CS 3.0
« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2019, 01:45:39 PM »
Hi erv,

Thanks for your suggestion, but this one goes beyond my abilities.

Fortunately, I could get hold of Deanna Johson, and VV will take a look into this. However, I will do a simple experiment to rule out the charger or batteries before I send them in.

Regards.

 

retrousse