9X Repair

Cant get your radio to work? General Hardware issues?
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redline
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9X Repair

Post by redline »

some of you might have seen my progress in trying to repair a 9x over at RCGroups but I though i might continue the project over on these forums since you lot are more likely to be helpful.
Basically a friend put the battery in the wrong way as many seem to do so im having a crack at repairing it. Following CX2Mikes guide here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1415356
So far I replace the capacitor that was blown to bits (with an equivalent electrolitic one but should do the trick) (see the attached pic)
And I have just got the replacement VRs and tried to replace the one that sits just above the blown cap on the main board.
Slight problem is in the process of pulling the old VR off it appears like an idiot i have ripped off the track for the leg on the right (see the attached of someone elses with the arrow pointing to the pad that is missing)
According to other pics ive seen that the battery voltage?? Is there another track nearby i can get battery voltage nearby from and put a small wire in there?
Also wondering what signal should i see on the legs of the cap i replaced?
Attachments
Ground Zero arrow (Custom).jpg
IMG_5745 (Custom).JPG

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GrootWitbaas
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by GrootWitbaas »

I posted a reply for you on RCG also but from the pictures here I can point out, the pin in question connects to the small cap and the one you replaced. I marked for you the track next to the cable plug where you can also jump to. Before you add a wire, just measure with a meter if the track is really broken
IMG_5745 %28Custom%29.jpeg
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redline
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by redline »

hmm will see how i go .. i could not see any battery voltage on the caps there poking around last night but will check it out soon
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redline
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by redline »

It works!!!!. got an alternate battery source for the VR, replaced a burned track across the back and it came to life.
Seemed to bind ok but that was about it so then i replace the VR in the module and it all seems to work fine .. yay!!
I will post a more detailed list of what I did to add to the wealth of information on here soon.
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wheelspinner20
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by wheelspinner20 »

very nice ... yes please pictures.... I've read of fried and back to life, but never details.

Pat
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redline
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by redline »

Ok here is the longer version of the mission it was to repair after a mate plugged a battery in with the wrong polarity.
I opened it up and this is what I found:
Image
Image
It was fairly obvious that this little orange capacitor there was broken.
So after a bit of research i found a more common and easier to work with electrolitic capacitor will dothe job fine so I cleaned up the broken one like so:
Image
And soldered on the replacement cap. Just had to put some tape underneath it to make sure no metal touches the mainboard:
Image
I thought it was a long shot that it would be this simple to fix and I was right as the radio still did nothing when i turned it on.
Next i spent a few weeks researching before buying 3 different type voltage regulators to replace around the place(i bought a few of each in case i stuffed it up).
I also bought a 'third hand' holder thingy while i was at it (very handy):
Image
So i got to work replacing the Voltage Regulator directly above the capacitor I replaced since it seemed a good place to start. In the process of pulling the old VR off I was a bit too rough and ripped the track where the right leg of the VR attaches to the mainboard right off which meant there was nowhere for the right leg to make contact with the mainboard.
So when I soldered on the replacement VR, the right leg didnt make contact to anything (notice my dodgy soldering skills)
Image
So found at that the right leg should be the voltage strait from the battery so off again to do some research and find out where else on the mainboard I could get a battery voltage feed. Ended up soldering a small wire like so from the right leg of the capacitor:
Image
Slight issue though, None of the places on the mainboard that should have battery voltage did at all so something else was broken. On examination of circuit diagrams etc i realised something I thought was simply cosmetic damage was actually a whole burned track on the top of the mainboard (across the top of the board underneath the brown ribbon cable that connects to the LCD screen)
You can see it in some of the earlier pictures and here:
Image
So next i had to work out what this burned track was supposed to do and luckily it was very easy to replace by soldering a small wire in its place on the reverse side of the mainboard: The wire joins the the 10th pin on the large connecter on the left to the 5th pin on the connector on the right. If you experiment with a multimeter its fairly easy to work out this is what the burned track was joining
Image
When I did this it all came to life! the radio turned on and beeped at me! Huraah! However since this was one of the major things stopping it from working to start with I have no way of knowing if the VR i replaced already was actually faulty in the first place BUT since the other 2 Voltage Regulators I replaced next were broken then its an educated guess that the one I replaced already was in fact broken.
So Now the radio was working but the beeper was sounding a bit wierd and it seemed to bind to receivers but not do anything after being bound so id made sense that the other 2 VR's to replace were on the beeper and the 2.4ghz module.
So i opened up the RF module on the back of the radio and replaced the VR on the back of that board pictured here:
Image
That one was considerable easier as it was a bit bigger than the one I replaced on the mainboard
Once it was done then the radio would bind and stay bound just fine. Huraaah!
Finally I replaced the other VR on the small PCB that the power switch is mounted on. There I dont have any pics of this one but the VR is the one that is closest the power switch. There is another device that looks similar to the VR closer to the buzzer but it is apparently a transistor.
So it all works now and I tested it in the air and so far have had no further issues.
Here are the links to the parts I used in the repair
78L05 in SOT-89 package - This is the one on the mainboard:
http://au.element14.com/jsp/search/prod ... KU=1538526
78M05 in TO-220 package - This is the one in the RF module
http://au.element14.com/jsp/search/prod ... KU=1013836
78L05 in TO-92 package - This is the one on the switch PCB
http://au.element14.com/jsp/search/prod ... KU=1467763

So there you go ... in retrospect is wasn't that hard but it took me a fair while to work out all that stuff so hopefully this info will help others.
Finally, I am by no means an expert, My knowledge of electronics pretty much quadrupled during this project, So if you notice any mistakes in the info please let me know.
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jhsa
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by jhsa »

Perfect.. Congratulations.. EXCELLENT JOB....

Rob, I think this should go to the wiki..
My er9x/Ersky9x/eepskye Video Tutorials
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by Westy »

Good On ya mate! great work and perseverence... Solder Wicks work wonders when tryin to remove small (well any) components.

Thanks for sharing and I am sure it will assist people out there with that issue. Hope you have wired in a connector that cannot be reversed now so that it cannot occur again? XT-60 or T-connectors.... just a couple of simple suggestions. You could even use a couple of insulated bullet connector .... one a male on one and female on the other ..
Cheers
Westy
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jhsa
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by jhsa »

No more bullet connectors for me since one made my easystar bite the dust.. only XT60 now.. they're good..
Last edited by jhsa on Sat Feb 25, 2012 11:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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redline
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by redline »

naa my 9x is all fine. this was a mates and I am guessing he tried to put a lipo in it. In mine i stayed with the stock connector on a LiFe battery and havent had any troubles.
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jhsa
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by jhsa »

my stock connector was very loose. replaced it with a servo connector
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ShowMaster
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by ShowMaster »

Best repair "how to" I've seen to date! A keeper.
SM
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by Westy »

Wiki ..... wiki .... Wiki!!!!!
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redline
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by redline »

thanks guys. Should be a good reference for some peoples so feel free to wiki it somewhere.
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by Westy »

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redline
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by redline »

awesome ... i think the repair has given me the confidence with a soldering iron to have a go at installing a programmer where as up till now i was just thinking of getting the smartie parts board.
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by Westy »

Awesome...... see my vid series on how I did it if you like?

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYDN6vUN8O4

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqJcDi9vFeU

Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE_tyzhTR4Y

I am no pro ... by any means ... but pretty good with the soldering iron .... remember .... quick .... steady remove and blow! .... keep the heat down by not sitting on the component for very long, a couple of seconds should be sweet!.

Recheck each joint to make sure you do not have any bubbles in it (potential dry joints in the making)

Hope this helps.... cheers.... Westy
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by Shambler »

Hi,
I just wanted to sign up and say thankyou for this guide, I've read through many of them and they didn't have the same issues as me.
When I plugged my battery in backwards (stupid!) I didn't hear anything, see anything, but could certainly smell something!
When I opened it up I couldn't see anything at all wrong with it, no burnt out components, nothing.
I decided to just try replace the cap, and did so (mangling a trace in the process, but fixed that ;) )
After finding that it hadn't worked, I was about to replace the regulator, then I read this page. Your picture of the trace underneath the LCD connector was perfect, that was EXACTLY what happened to mine. Infact I'm almost certain that the cap I replaced was probably fine. I too was looking for a 5v signal on the regulator when I realised there NO power flowing to that section of the board at all.

Just wanted to say thanks, I'm not really sure I would have noticed this without your pictures!
I'm going to repair the trace tonight, I'll post back if it works :)

Sam
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by Shambler »

Hmmm.
I repaired the trace, powered it up and it did the switch error! :D
Turned it off, flicked all the switches back the correct way, and it beeped, but it kept doing quick short beeps.... nothing on the screen either!
Anyone know what that means?

I was poking around with a multimeter, I was testing for a while, then the beeping stopped completely! No idea why it stopped, but I couldn't get it to do anything else from this point. I thought I saw a weird reading on the 5v side of the main board regulator. I couldn't get an accurate reading, so I was moving around then poof! Smoke!

Looked around to try and work out what happened, and found another burnt trace! I got a bit lazy at this point and just put a blob of solder bridging the gap, I know it's c**p but I wanted to get it going. Continuity tested it, all good, so I powered back up. Nothing.
Tested the regulator again, and I get 11.57 v (3s lipo) on the 12v side, so I know ground and power are connected up to this point at least. On the 5v side however, nothing!
I'm fairly sure this is the regulator, so I'll have to replace it. Does anyone else think the same thing?
I guess I'm just concerned that I'll blow something else up once I've replaced the regulator :P
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MikeB
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by MikeB »

If the battery was connected the wrong way round originally, there is a good chance the regulator is damaged anyway. It sounds like it definitely needs replacing now.

Mike.
erskyTx/er9x developer
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The impossible takes a little longer!
Shambler
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by Shambler »

I was thinking that :P
I couldn't be bothered tonight, I'll give it a go tomorrow after work, I couldn't find the SMD version of the chip so I just grabbed an equivalent through hole part, I'll make it fit ;)
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by redline »

glad my guide is doing its job ... helping others with the same issue :)
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by alithetech »

Hi there can anyone tell me what rating the little surface mount cap is above the big one that burns and bellow the VR as i have reversed polarity and burned this as well as the big one.

Thanx :)
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by Westy »

If you are talking about this one.....

Image

CAP TANT 22UF 16V 10%
Image
Extracted off ..... http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1415356


(3) The parts themselves.
For this, you'll have to pick your best source depending on where you live, but in my area Digi-Key is by far my best bet.
The following are the parts you're likely to need. I suggest getting a couple of each, because they're super cheap and you'll feel dumb if you have to place another order because you dropped the tiny SMD Cap or broke a leg off a VR.

http://www.digikey.com/ Digikey

1x This Cap (Part # 478-1682-1-ND)
1x This VR (Part # LM78L05ACZNS-ND)
1x This VR (Part # 296-11118-1-ND)
1x This VR (Part # NJM78M05FA-ND)
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by alithetech »

Hi no not sure if its a capacitor just above that there is a little surface mount component looks like it bridges the two pins if the VR.
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by Westy »

take a photo and circle what you mean
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MikeB
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by MikeB »

That will be a 0.1 uF ceramic capacitor, probably 50V rating although it only has 5 V across it. Looks like an 0605 package to me.

Mike.
erskyTx/er9x developer
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by alithetech »

Thanx for the info guys, tryed to fix but think I've made a mess of the board now, think it will be easier to get new board or tx. if only id paid more attention when installing the battery :)

Im really annoyed I love my 9X :(
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GrootWitbaas
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by GrootWitbaas »

send it to me, I'll try and fix it for you, pm me for details if you want to take up the offer. Else sell it to me for spares and get a new one like you said.

Groot
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alithetech
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Re: 9X Repair

Post by alithetech »

Got a new one but with my luck on upgrading think ill keep the old one for spares.
will see if i can practice flashing old Atmeg and get settings of that chip, not sure if it will work with the damage to mainboard, anyone know ? and is there anywhere we can get settings for a 450 clone as a starting point for er9x??

Thanks again for your help guys would be lost without this forum.

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