My best friend is a flashlight killer

A few weeks ago, my friend's ProPoly had a cell leak. Several days ago, his E0 just mysteriously stopped working. We tried other cells, DMM testing, etc., and couldn't get it to work. He managed to pop out the pill and expose the board, and he noticed a loose connection. In the first pic, you can see that the coil of copper wire is not connected to the board on the left side, simply sticking out into the air. A few minutes with a soldering iron, and I actually managed to fix it! The E0 works again now!

Here are some pics.

Before:


After:


After, different perspective:

very nicely done. Bravo!

Question:

Is is just me, or does that inductor look like it has been subjected to enough heat to cause the form it is on to distort (partially melt), or is this just a by-product of the assembly/manufacturing process and it won't get any worse??

It looks like it had a hard bump

It also appears that there is a small piece broken off. Maybe subjected to a really hard bump.

Kill a flashlight, go to jail. That's my opinion. Let the punishment fit the crime.

frank777 said:

Kill a flashlight, go to jail. That's my opinion. Let the punishment fit the crime.

Click to expand...

LOL

Touch a highly polished reflector and face the gallows

frank777 said:

Kill a flashlight, go to jail. That's my opinion. Let the punishment fit the crime.

Click to expand...

well....if the board was somehow wedged in during assembly....your friend might have "tapped" it out....which could result in the inductor shattering if say, right under the point of contact was the inductor.

mysteriously "stopped working" sounds like either a bad solder joint or the E0 fell a couple stories down

:kewlpics:
my camera doesnt have THAT kinda capabilities...not in terms of micro no

frank777 said:

Kill a flashlight, go to jail. That's my opinion. Let the punishment fit the crime.

Click to expand...

Nah, Kill a flashlight, curse the darkness.
Sometimes justice is karmic.

Hey all, thanks for the compliments. The heat damage you noticed is actually the result of the soldering iron. The solder didn't want to stick, so I had to hold it there and mess with it a lot longer than I wanted to, i.e. several seconds. Anyhow, the thing works now, so that's enough for me.

My friend doesn't baby his E0 at all. It's gotten bumped around a lot by now.

As far as I'm aware of, the flat edges on the board are natural and not a result of damage.

You guys are funny - I guess he's not really a flashlight killer per se, more of a lightslaughter or negligence type. Heh heh.