digger1950
Newbie
- Jul 8, 2024
- 1
- 5
My V3i is 13 years old. It has given me no problems until yesterday. When turning on, screen would flicker once then go dark, or show weak backlight but blank screen. After aligning battery contact points, checking battery voltage and attempting to reset (reset couldn’t happen because the unit would not come on) I finally opened the case and removed the circuit board. I wiggled wires, flexed the PCB and reseated all plugs—no change. I was resigning myself to sending it in for repair. But before I reassembled it I inspected the positive and negative lugs where the battery contacts send DC power to the circuit board. These lugs are on the opposite side of the board from the contacts that make connection with the battery pack. They are tiny. As I took a close look, I discovered that the negative lug was soldered to the PCB but the positive lug was not soldered! I could barely see this with the naked eye-it is so tiny. Apparently during the manufacturing process, this circuit board (which was produced by robotic means and not hand soldered) omitted the solder process for the positive lug. This could have been a software omission or malfunction that might have affected hundreds of units as they were being manufactured. I assume the connection on my functioning board had been making a simple friction contact only for these 13 years and had finally broken contact. I used a 25-Watt pencil soldering iron to solder the positive lug to the PCB and my V3i initiated and booted up as it always has! Hope this will help some sad V3i owners whose machine may have a similar problem. Good hunting, Everyone! (I will try to post a pic of the PCB)
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