2.0: USB socket came off

[nikwest]

It seems like during flight I had some unfortunate landing which resulted in my micro USB port coming off. I guess this is really hard to solder. Has anybody done it already? Maybe with some reflow soldering? (Which I have never done before). It would be really, really sad to have to write the CrazyFlie off after only a couple of days using it.

[chad]

Get the Qi charger expansion board and you might not have any good reason to need the uUSB port anymore...

[nikwest]

Probably easier to use the two pins marked VUSB +- then. But without USB I only can do updates through Bluetooth. Will this be sufficient?

[chad]

Ahh! You don't have a Crazyradio. I recall reading that Bitcraze was planning to make firmware updating possible over Bluetooth LE but I'm not sure when that work is scheduled for. In any case, I guess you'll still need the uUSB socket.

I believe replacements are pretty easy to find (I'm only guessing these are the right ones). It'll take a steady hand and some soldering skills, but it's certainly fixable...

[tobias]

@nikwest
That is a very unlucky crash indeed! Can you take a detailed picture of the board and we can probably tell how hard it would be to fix. The exact part number of the uUSB connector used is ZX62-B-5PA(11).

[nikwest]

@nikwest
That is a very unlucky crash indeed! Can you take a detailed picture of the board and we can probably tell how hard it would be to fix. The exact part number of the uUSB connector used is ZX62-B-5PA(11).

Thanks for the information. Just saw it too late. Luckily I figured out the correct type I'll just give it a try.

Attached you'll find a picture. I already cleaned it up a bit.

[tobias]

With some soldering skills that shouldn't be to hard to fix. I would start by removing the old solder with soldering wick, then solder back one pad after another.

One capacitor has come of as well. It is C15, a 4.7uF 0603, decoupling capacitor. The board probably works without it but since it is there to filter/stabilize the VCC voltage it might be wise to solder one back as well. Good luck!

[nikwest]

With some soldering skills that shouldn't be to hard to fix. I would start by removing the old solder with soldering wick, then solder back one pad after another.

One capacitor has come of as well. It is C15, a 4.7uF 0603, decoupling capacitor. The board probably works without it but since it is there to filter/stabilize the VCC voltage it might be wise to solder one back as well. Good luck!

Thanks. I didn't see the C15 is missing. I should get a good magnifier glass first

Will let you know how it worked. Now ordering the material will take some time.

[nikwest]

Finally the usb port and the capacitor arrived today. I never done SMD soldering before. It's a bit scary how small this stuff really is

I think I managed the capacitor quite ok. Now for the USB port. It seems really impossible to solder it. One can hardly reach to the contact pins with a soldering iron as they are located really below the housing. I also have access to a hot air station. Is it easier to assemble the USB port with this? I just watched some videos and it looks not so difficult.

[tobias]

The capacitor should be OK, what worries me is the missing components beside it. I've have drawn them in the picture. They are 0402 so they are very small.

The 0R (R17) is just a bridge so you can just short the two pads with a piece of small wire (can be a bit tricky to solder). Without it the radio part wont get any power.

The other missing resistor (R19) is to set the ILIM input to the charge chip BQ24075:

Adjustable Current Limit Programming Input. Connect a 1100 Ω to 8 kΩ resistor from ILIM to VSS to program
the maximum input current (EN2=1, EN1=0). The input current includes the system load and the battery
charge current. Leaving ILIM unconnected disables all charging.

It should be 1k but it might work without it as it is used to set the high current charging limit (not normally used). The datasheet is a bit contradictive there as the text above says " Leaving ILIM unconnected disables all charging". I would try without soldering it first.

When soldering these small components a small solder tip is preferred.

As for soldering the uUSB connector it is easier with hot air but it is also easy to heat it too much so the connector get damaged. I would do it with a small solder tip instead. Start by removing the old solder with some solder wick. Then solder it in the correct place using the big pads on the side. When that is done solder the small pads. If you have solder flux that will help a lot. I would also recommend looking at some soldering videos on youtube. Good luck!