Programming Micro-USB connector failure

[jkabat 0]

All,

 

Last night I was finishing up on the indoor part of my weather station when the Micro-USb connector for programming stated to come loose.  I felt it wiggle and immediatley stopped work. I had the connector come off on another board so I was very wary.  Tonight I will attempt to fix it as I drag out my SMD soldering iron tip and magnifier.  Wish Me luck. I already know how to programm by using another board, but this was my last one. The other had the connector come all the way off and ripped up some lands. I was able to piggyback and use it.

 

Upon looking it seems to me that the shell of the connector is badly soldered to the board.  This is either due to a cold sorldering or that the shell is plated with something that the solder used will not bond to. Sine the shell being soldered to the board is the only mounting holding the connector on (I won't count the pins/lands as they are tiny SMD) this connection must be strong. Well it isn't.  The supplied USB cable was always tight.

 

Has anyone else had a problem with this connector on early boards (or later for that matter)?

 

Does anyone have a solution for keeping this on well?

 

I may hack in a standard USB-B connector in parallel. You can't break those suckers!

 

Thanks in Advance

John Kabat

 

PS:I have had several other devices also have the micro-usb come off. One of them was a micro-usb3 hub that I used here at work.

 

 

[dellwoodbu 1]

John,

 

This was a known problem with the REV A boards.  On REV B the connector moved out closer to the edge of the board.  The problem was that with the connector mounted in the flare of the SMD connector would float and cause the whole connector to lift in re-flow.  By moving the connector out the whole connector sits more flat to the board and makes a stronger bond.

 

Even on REV B it is not a super strong solder joint care and gentleness encouraged.

 

If you have solder equipment a bit of extra solder on the outside of the SMD housing could be a good idea.  Don't use too much or it will flow into the area where the cable goes and then you are out of luck (experience talking).

 

 

dellwood

[jkabat 0]

dellwoodbu

Thanks for the confirmation that it is a board problem and not my heavy hands!

 

I will try to fix tonight and let everyone know .I have soldering equipment, .5mm tips and magnifiers up to 10x. (Maybe I can MIG weld it? )

 

 

Thanks

John

[jkabat 0]

Well,

 

Last night I managed to solder wires to the DM- and DM+ on the back of the board.  Due to the fact that the traces are thin and fragile I covered them with a laer of Gorrilla Glue to pot them.  I then glued a old style USB Type B connector to the bottom of the board.  I then connected DM- to pin 2, DM+ to pin3, Vin to pin 1 and Gnd to Pin 4 of the USB Type-B connector.

I then tested it and everything worked!

I then potted the back of the USB connector for insulation and strength.

 

Here is a picture while working on it:

 

[jkabat 0]

A special thanks to dellwoodbu for his help.

 

 

 

[grahamf72 169]

I just discovered that one of my boards stopped working, and on close inspection I discovered the pins from the microusb socket had come loose from the board. I went to unplug the cable to resolder, and the whole socket came away from the board, with the lands that it uses for mechanical connection

 

Ultimately I think I'll hook up a mini-usb connector or usb-b socket like in your photo, but in the meantime can someone help me how to program them using another board?

[jkabat 0]

grahamf72

See this thread: http://forum.stellarisiti.com/topic/495-programming-lm4f-when-idc-usb-connector-destroyed/

 

This is from when I 1st had problems.

[grahamf72 169]

many thanks @@jkabat

[jkabat 0]

@@grahamf72,

 

 If was @@dellwoodbu who provided this information.

 

Thanks to @@dellwoodbu again.

 

JohnK