I got my uConsole yesterday and assembled it according to the instructions. It all went together very well but when I inserted one of the Samsung batteries, the green led came on and there was a pop and smoke from the main board. I immediately removed the battery and checked all the connections. I then tried plugging in my usb-c charger and there was a smaller crackle and more smoke and the green led was lit. I think I got a bad mainboard. All this waiting and then up in smoke. I’m kinda disappointed. I hope those of you who just got theirs don’t have this issue. I decided to check a few components and found that my Sandisk High Endurance 256GB card is dead. I plugged the keyboard into my computer using the micro-usb port and it still works. I ordered a CM4 carrier board from Amazon and it will be here tomorrow so I won’t know if my 8Gb CM4 survived until the carrier boards comes . Seeing as the sd card got fried I don’t have high hopes. I won’t have a way to test the screen or battery board since those connectors are proprietary. I didn’t get the 4G option. I emailed Alex and explained what happened so all I can do is wait now.
Update: I heard from back from Alex. He said sorry about that and he would send a replacement. I don’t know what he is exactly sending or when but if I get a new mainboard that should get me most of the way there. I can always ask later for a screen if it turns out to be fried.
Sorry to hear that. This was my biggest fear when ordering and receiving mine. =/
Got any pictures? Did it short to the case?anything that you can see that we might do to prevent this from happening to ours or was this something with the circuit board itself?
I didn’t take any photos because I couldn’t see anything wrong with any of the components when I inspected it under my loupe. There are a couple small pit marks on the AXP228 chip but I don’t know if this was from manufacturing or are burn marks. After reviewing the schematic I believe this is where the issue is and the source of the smoke. I didn’t see any burned traces anywhere. As for shorting to the case, I guess that’s possible but I used the screws from the kit and it all seemed to fit correctly. The only issue I had was with the CM4 adapter not clicking in when pushed down and I had to slight bend those metal retainer clips to lock it in. It did fry my new SD card and I’m waiting on a CM4 carrier board to arrive today to test my CM4 to see if it survived. I don’t have any way to test the screen or battery board though since those connections are proprietary. I would assume the battery board would be okay since it only has diodes and fuses on it. I could throw it on my oscilloscope and see what is still alive on the mainboard but I haven’t had time. When I get my replacement, I will probably plug in my usb-c charger first to make sure no magic smoke gets released before connecting anything else. I even checked my batteries to make sure there wasn’t anything weird going on. They both measured 4.11v as they should fully charged. Someone on Reddit suggested that I might have placed the cells in the holder backwards but that’s not the case here. My Samsung cells are button tops so it’s pretty clear which side is positive. I also noticed very large blocking diodes on the battery board to protect from reverse polarity so Clockwork were very thorough with the design. When I got my package it was in rough shape and the parts were all jostled around not where they should have been. My only guess is that maybe the main board got damaged in shipping or I was just unlucky enough to get a kit with a bad AXP228 chip that self destructed when I applied power. I’d be happy to take any pics you want to see but the only thing I see amiss are the pit marks on the AXP228 chip itself.
Update… Two different CM4 carrier boards came in today and I tried my CM4 module in both. Confirmed kill. It’s dead. No video and the CPU gets too hot to even touch it. I will try to see if Newark will accept a warranty return but I may just be out an 8GB CM4. This is a real bummer! I’m going to assume the screen is dead as well.
Ouch! That’s not good.
Maybe I should buy a carrier board for my Pi and check it while I’m waiting.
You know, I thought about doing that just to be sure my CM4 worked okay before my 60 days were up but didn’t. I doubt it was the CM4 that caused the issue but who knows, it could have been. I bought it through Newark which I have used in the past for various components and they are known to be reputable. I’m fairly certain it was the uConsole mainboard and specifically the AXP228 chip as it handles all power and charging duties. I am out of my 60 day return period with Newark so I just purchased another 8GB CM4 for $100. That really stinks. I will be powering up my replacement board with a usb-c charger before popping in another expensive CM4.
I just bought an io board, probably still two months away from my uConsole and the adapter for my Devterm, I’ve had the pi for a few months now.