blew a transistor, what now?

[Kennan]

I have a Pixie 16, and when plugging in a connector to port 3, there was a spark, some smoke, then nothing.

the 5209 transistor right about the Rama in the Light-O-Rama text on the board was burning to the touch, but nothing else was hot to the touch.

Is it possible to replace this transistor with some soldering, or must I buy an entire new controller for $300?

--Kennan

Edited November 8, 2018 by Kennan

[k6ccc]

If you are a capable tech with a soldering iron, then yes, you can do it yourself.  I don’t know if LOR will send you the transistor, but they do for TRIACs on the AC controllers.  If not you should be able to obtain a replacement from any of the online parts houses.

an important step, figure out what is wrong with the strip or string you were connecting.  My guess is that either the connector is wired wrong or there is a short in the wiring.

[Kennan]

11 minutes ago, k6ccc said:

If you are a capable tech with a soldering iron, then yes, you can do it yourself.  I don’t know if LOR will send you the transistor, but they do for TRIACs on the AC controllers.  If not you should be able to obtain a replacement from any of the online parts houses.

an important step, figure out what is wrong with the strip or string you were connecting.  My guess is that either the connector is wired wrong or there is a short in the wiring.

Thanks for clarifying! Sigh of relief I dont need to wait a month for a new controller to come in.

Just to be sure, would there be anything else that shorted/blew on the board that I cannot physically see?

--Kennan

[dibblejr]

1 hour ago, Kennan said:

Thanks for clarifying! Sigh of relief I dont need to wait a month for a new controller to come in.

Just to be sure, would there be anything else that shorted/blew on the board that I cannot physically see?

--Kennan

I am sure you did but must ask.

Did you check the fuse?

I shorted my first pixie16 out while leaning against my matrix. Seen a flash and a small smoke. Only fuse blew. I was in the middle of cutting the extra pi wires when it happened.

Also if you needed to buy the pixie, you already have everything else, just buy the pixie pcb and canabilize all the wires/ cables from the original. No need to purchase the entire controller.

JR

Edited November 8, 2018 by dibblejr

[Kennan]

2 minutes ago, dibblejr said:

I am sure you did but must ask.

Did you check the fuse?

I shorted my first pixie16 out while leaning against my matrix. Seen a flash and a small smoke. Only fuse blew. I was in the middle of cutting the extra pi wires when it happened.

JR

There was oddly enough not a single fuse blown, kind of ironic.

[dibblejr]

Just now, Kennan said:

There was oddly enough not a single fuse blown, kind of ironic.

Did you look very, very close. I used my magnifying glass. Or did your entire prop stop working? Did you try to change the fuse with at least one other to eliminate that option?

JR

[Kennan]

1 minute ago, dibblejr said:

Did you look very, very close. I used my magnifying glass. Or did your entire prop stop working? Did you try to change the fuse with at least one other to eliminate that option?

JR

I will double-check just to be completely sure. The status LED is stuck on solid, even when unplugged from the computer, and my computer doesn't receive input from the board in the Hardware Utility.

Edited November 8, 2018 by Kennan

[dibblejr]

Just now, Kennan said:

I will double-check just to be completely sure. The status LED is stuck on solid, and my computer doesn't receive input from the board in the Hardware Utility.

You are probably correct since its not only the string mentioned in your opening post. But I wouldn't buy a prebuilt replacement when you have everything to enable you to buy just the pcb.

JR