Eeek,

Yeah, that thing is toast. You could try to identify and replace those components, but, honestly, if it’s still under warranty, you’d be much better off sending it back for a replacement. If you don’t want to wait for it to arrive, then buy a replacement, and keep the one you get back as a spare.

You had a major short, a serious over voltage issue, or some sort of cascading failure.

(21-Mar-2023, 02:17 AM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: Eeek,

Yeah, that thing is toast. You could try to identify and replace those components, but, honestly, if it’s still under warranty, you’d be much better off sending it back for a replacement. If you don’t want to wait for it to arrive, then buy a replacement, and keep the one you get back as a spare.

You had a major short, a serious over voltage issue, or some sort of cascading failure.

Yep I already ordered my new one (not the same one). Haven't heard anything from AKK. Doesn't seem like their customer service is that great but I'm sure it's gonna be a long while before I can get this one replaced. I still don't know how that could have happened, it's wired to VBAT and a normal ground pad. Only thing I can think is like Suros said and a random little solder bead rolled in between them and shorted it. Let me know if theres anything you think I can do to prevent this from happening to another VTX. 

I should mention I ordered the iflight blitz 1.6W VTX, seems like a nice option in my opinion. Also it was one I could order that would be here before my spring break in which I am travelling and would like to do some long range in the mountains.

You can’t do anything about manufacturing defects- but it’s always a good idea to thoroughly inspect all boards and wiring after doing any soldering. Ideally under magnification- if you don’t have a digital microscope, a good magnifying glass will work just fine.

It also doesn’t hurt to give them a good scrub down with an old toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol to remove any flux or random stray solder balls or wire whiskers.

(21-Mar-2023, 02:45 AM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: You can’t do anything about manufacturing defects- but it’s always a good idea to thoroughly inspect all boards and wiring after doing any soldering. Ideally under magnification- if you don’t have a digital microscope, a good magnifying glass will work just fine.

It also doesn’t hurt to give them a good scrub down with an old toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol to remove any flux or random stray solder balls or wire whiskers.

Yup I'll do that one last time before I put the new one on. I had the connector all soldered up, I'll just move the pins accordingly and plug and play with the new one when it gets here!

Thank you for your help!!

(21-Mar-2023, 12:43 AM)Donovan_Gavito Wrote: I took it apart, and two things are obviously smoked. Not really sure what I'm looking at.
I attached it to this reply

That's about what I was expecting when you described it. 6S voltage going where it doesn't belong is usually going to produce toast.

Bottom yellow one is probably filter capacitor.

Top square one is 99% a sync switch regulator, because of the big ass inductor next to it.
It takes some big voltage and switches transistor to bring it down to 3.3V or whatever that big chip on left is using.

Usually, they have VERY big voltage range. Unlike LDO, which gets hotter the greater the input voltage difference.

(21-Mar-2023, 06:23 AM)Suros Wrote: That's about what I was expecting when you described it. 6S voltage going where it doesn't belong is usually going to produce toast.

Is there a better way for me to wire the new one when it gets here? I have it wired to VBAT and a normal ground pad, with the camera also wired to that ground pad. I don't see any problem with that, already have a cap on at the xt60.

I tend to use a regulator on my most expensive video transmitters. The little regulators in quad shops have like 3 amps tops, so catastrophic failure tends to be a lot less catastrophic. A battery has next to unlimited output when considering those tiny parts, so a catastrophic failure just vaporizes something.

The switching regulator ic on that thing is toast, as well as that large ceramic capacitor. I gather from the questions asked, you won’t be able to repair it yourself. I would get a warranty replacement if it is still covered. How does that work when dealing with the slow boat from China? Say you buy something with a 1mi month warranty, it arrives 4weeks later, and dies on its own after 2weeks after arriving? Usually it’s “from time of purchase” from what I’ve seen… which in the above case is effectively just a 1week warranty.