EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Electronics => Repair => Topic started by: mclien on November 24, 2024, 05:24:19 pm
-
I have a wireless keyboard, which I use for my Kodi mediaplayer.
(https://joy-it.net/en/products/TASTAMINI01)
I had to replace it (warranty) 2 times.
once because it wasn't charging the battery anymore
second because the usb socket broke off after the 5th time I plugged the cable in. I could literally feel, how it got loos and went into the casing.
So I got the replacement and since I don't want to keep me sending the defective one in every 2-4 weeks and wait for a replacement (took 3 weeks lat time), I looked into it (pics attached).
To me it looks like the through hole parts of the USB port should be soldered, too.
While this is voiding warranty, I'd rather have a keyboard that lasts longer than 2 weeks.
So I can think of 2 possibilities to fix this.
Soldering the missing part.
Attaching some resin (glue with fibers) as reinforcement behind the USB port.
Thoughts? (apart from buying a better keyboard, which I couldn't find in this size/ configuration)
-
Are they not soldered on the other side? If so, then it is not how this connector is supposed to be used. I've seen people put solder pads under the connector and solder the whole body, but I don't know how reliable that is. If there a way to solder the legs, I would do so.
Epoxy is a good solution for mechanical strength. Just be careful - those connectors have a lot of holes, so use high viscosity stuff. And it will make replacing a damaged connector next to impossible.
Another thing I would consider is scratching off some of the solder mask on the sides of the connector and soldering a wire bracket to the copper plane and the top of the connector. This at least will be reversible.
-
It is suppose to be soldered undearneath the connector. So soldering is not critical. But you can take it off and resolder properly if you wish. However, what really going to fix you is adding hot glue right on top and closing the case, so that it is pinched between case with hot glue.
-
Its not uncommon with cheap USB devices, like hubs, to be quite appallingly put together. The designs aren't usually too bad, but when you get trouble and open them up you find anything not in the signal path hasn't been soldered. This means all the mounting tabs are just wiggling around, and giving little or no mechanical support to the much smaller signal connexions.
-
I think I would be getting one of these and leaving it plugged into the keyboard :
https://www.amazon.co.uk/short-usb-extension-cable/s?k=short+usb+extension+cable (https://www.amazon.co.uk/short-usb-extension-cable/s?k=short+usb+extension+cable)
-
I think I would be getting one of these and leaving it plugged into the keyboard :
https://www.amazon.co.uk/short-usb-extension-cable/s?k=short+usb+extension+cable (https://www.amazon.co.uk/short-usb-extension-cable/s?k=short+usb+extension+cable)
How does that help? An extension lead has no impact on the strain experienced by the connector on keyboard, which is the cause of most problems.
-
Because you only plug it in once.
The OP says they repeatedly plug and unplug it.
-
Are they not soldered on the other side? If so, then it is not how this connector is supposed to be used. I've seen people put solder pads under the connector and solder the whole body, but I don't know how reliable that is. If there a way to solder the legs, I would do so.
Epoxy is a good solution for mechanical strength. Just be careful - those connectors have a lot of holes, so use high viscosity stuff. And it will make replacing a damaged connector next to impossible.
Another thing I would consider is scratching off some of the solder mask on the sides of the connector and soldering a wire bracket to the copper plane and the top of the connector. This at least will be reversible.
The legs aren't soldered at all (neither side). But the holes are copper-plated on both sides, that should work.
Thanks for the idea of the wire bracket on top of the connector, but I just checked: I need to remove parts of the casing for that (but since that are only some small ledges I might do so. But most likely finishing the soldering of the connector correctly should work.
As for Adapters, I would rather use this one: https://www.adafruit.com/product/5523 (https://www.adafruit.com/product/5523)
-
The OP says they repeatedly plug and unplug it.
If I keep it plugged in the purpose is kinda defeated. So connecting for charging is quite the correct use.
Problem in this case is "repeatedly" was about a whole of 5 times, till it broke.
Now I know why.
-
I think I would be getting one of these and leaving it plugged into the keyboard :
https://www.amazon.co.uk/short-usb-extension-cable/s?k=short+usb+extension+cable (https://www.amazon.co.uk/short-usb-extension-cable/s?k=short+usb+extension+cable)
Audiorepair, I love your suggestion. It is like a 'sacrificial USB port' :-+
-
It is suppose to be soldered undearneath the connector. So soldering is not critical. But you can take it off and resolder properly if you wish.
It's supposed to be soldered everywhere. All terminals and under the shell. Front side shell terminals are the most important as it's the place with the most of force applied. Not soldering them makes it very weak.
-
Of course the USB connector should be fully soldered to the board, but on the other hand if it is, there may be more stress on the PCB too.
Connectors used to be mounted to the chassis and attached via a short cable to the board, but in pursuit of cost-saving and planned obsolescence they got rid of that.
-
Of course the USB connector should be fully soldered to the board, but on the other hand if it is, there may be more stress on the PCB too.
Connectors used to be mounted to the chassis and attached via a short cable to the board, but in pursuit of cost-saving and planned obsolescence they got rid of that.
Connectors on a separate board was a more recent trend, and mostly to reduce main PCB size. Nearly all Nokia phones (when it was actual Nokia) had micro USB soldered to main PCB. Most of them has connectors with no TH terminals, and they were torn off PCB (usually together with SMT pads) if you look on them funny. A few models which used connectors with TH shell terminals were rock solid and USB barely ever was an issue.
-
It's supposed to be soldered everywhere. All terminals and under the shell. Front side shell terminals are the most important as it's the place with the most of force applied. Not soldering them makes it very weak.
Circa 2013 - 2016 there was bunch of cheap phones with micro usb. Yea, they'd bring them to you, you replace connector and it absolutely does not matter how you solder the damn thing. Some designs would come back to you. Hot glue trick helps a lot. Think of it as holding connector down in place while they go ahead and insert the cable in, drop the phone, wiggle the cable side to side, to make sure it is inserted properly.
Sometimes they'd bring the phone with detached connector and piece of motherboard still soldered to that connector.
-
It's supposed to be soldered everywhere. All terminals and under the shell. Front side shell terminals are the most important as it's the place with the most of force applied. Not soldering them makes it very weak.
Circa 2013 - 2016 there was bunch of cheap phones with micro usb. Yea, they'd bring them to you, you replace connector and it absolutely does not matter how you solder the damn thing. Some designs would come back to you.
Because they did not have TH terminals. You cannot solder TH terminals if there are none. Having TH terminals and not soldering them is even dumber than using connectors without them.
-
It's supposed to be soldered everywhere. All terminals and under the shell. Front side shell terminals are the most important as it's the place with the most of force applied. Not soldering them makes it very weak.
Circa 2013 - 2016 there was bunch of cheap phones with micro usb. Yea, they'd bring them to you, you replace connector and it absolutely does not matter how you solder the damn thing. Some designs would come back to you.
Because they did not have TH terminals. You cannot solder TH terminals if there are none. Having TH terminals and not soldering them is even dumber than using connectors without them.
Connectors which are purely surface mount are almost always a disaster. Quite a lot of designs, especially USB C connectors, have moved from surface mount to being mounted in a recess at the edge of the board, soldered to plating running across the edges of the board. At first sight some of those look reasonably robust, but I wonder how their robustness compares with connectors that have the traditional through hole anchoring.
-
Quite a lot of designs, especially USB C connectors, have moved from surface mount to being mounted in a recess at the edge of the board, soldered to plating running across the edges of the board. At first sight some of those look reasonably robust, but I wonder how their robustness compares with connectors that have the traditional through hole anchoring.
IME the most robust are connectors like what you described but with terminals bent 90o on the ends and soldered TH.
-
To me it looks like the through hole parts of the USB port should be soldered, too.
While this is voiding warranty, I'd rather have a keyboard that lasts longer than 2 weeks.
Consider to contact the seller about the issue. They might allow you to solder the connector properly without voiding the warranty. Or propose to send the unit back once more so they can do the soldering. After all, getting the problem fixed properly is also in their interest.
-
Consider to contact the seller about the issue. They might allow you to solder the connector properly without voiding the warranty. Or propose to send the unit back once more so they can do the soldering. After all, getting the problem fixed properly is also in their interest.
Well, that would be a very tedious task.
I got this one from a reseller. And as I see it the brand selling it most are producing in china.
And there are 2 problems: the missing solder (which might be solvable with the right abound of solder paste in production
The other is the hole in the PCB are only half connected to the actual copper plane (like half the circle is "sticking out " of the ground copper. )
So you would need to get a contact, which is willing to change the design a bit, do provide better connection to the copper-ground and the carry the information through to the production facility plus correcting the adjusting the process of applying and processing the solder process.
Side not, as I loo on the new pics, I seems the solder stop flowing directly at the actual copper at the hole... (I'll let you know if me additionmal soldering had work)
-
Looks like design was correct and it's a production screw up. Just solder those terminals and it should be fine.