How not to fry a board

gamerjr · Post by **gamerjr** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 11:05 pm

Ok i just want some tips as i will be starting the SNESp next week and i want to know what to advoid so i dont fry my board. (i already know the evils of static electricity because my graphics card blew last week because of it)

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:30 am

the SNES is pretty sturdy, you should not have any problems really.

Turbo Tax 1.0 · Post by **Turbo Tax 1.0** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 11:17 am

Kyo wrote:the SNES is pretty sturdy, you should not have any problems really.

damn straight. the snes is pretty solid except for one fuse (a huge white one)

you really dont need to worry about frying it, just dont leave it on carpet or anything like that

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 11:20 am

Don't put power in backwards (It IS a polarity sensitive circuit)

Don't bridge components unless they are supposed to be (IE: You CAN bridge a switch so its always on, but you CANT bridge a capacitor, CPU, etc etc etc.(You can also bridge a fuse, but its not exactly recommended))

I know you already know this, but be VERY careful of static. Its Satan in disguise.

Don't overheat (With your soldering iron) chips, traces, the PCBoard itself (It can cause traces to lift. I've done it.), transistors...Better yet...Just don't over heat ANYTHING. Solder carefully.

Careful of dripping solder. If you drip solder on the board, make sure you remember to get it back off before you plug it in. You make have accidentally bridged two points.

Careful with hot glue. As nice as it is, its an insulator. It keeps heat in. To put it this way; A transistor will produce heat. A small transistor will producing heat too, but mush smaller amounts. Smaller amounts to US. But to the transistor, its still a massive amount of heat. And if you cover it in hot glue, that heat isn't being released. So your over heating it. Granted, it may not get any hotter than 90 degrees F. But to the transistor...Its a sun. I may be hard to comprehend, but thats the most laymen way I can put it.

Hope I was of some help.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:08 am

Most important thing of all, not mentioned so far - before opening the console, and after disconnecting the power from the mains; YOU MUST turn the system on for a couple of seconds and off again. You will probably see the LED shine for a moment and then go off. If you don't do this, there will be residual voltage in the capacitors which will fry your board as soon as you open it up and handle the board / solder to it. Turning the system on and then off stops this happening as the residual voltage will have gone.

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:40 am

bacteria wrote:Most important thing of all, not mentioned so far - before opening the console, and after disconnecting the power from the mains; YOU MUST turn the system on for a couple of seconds and off again. You will probably see the LED shine for a moment and then go off. If you don't do this, there will be residual voltage in the capacitors which will fry your board as soon as you open it up and handle the board / solder to it. Turning the system on and then off stops this happening as the residual voltage will have gone.

I forgot to mention this. Yes. Its true.

But be careful; Making sure you turn the switch off when plugging in batteries. Double check your polarity before turning it on. Think of it as a failsafe. One more safeguard on frying the board.

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 3:34 am

You know I soldered to running boards already, just to see what would happen... everything stayed alive.

Also, if you input power to the SNES through the adaptor, it is not polarity sensitive.

Mario · Post by **Mario** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:18 pm

That's because it has an AC rectifier, which turns AC current to DC. It's really simple, just 4 diodes, I'll post a diagram if I can find one.

EDIT: Found one:

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:26 pm

Yeah. We had this in this class once. I'll draw it. I need one for that tutorial I'm writing anyway

that, except prettier

edit:
btw, that "bumping" on marios diagram only occurs with Alternating current. if you put in DC, it's a line. Then it just makes - and + be always the same way.