pic: Sidecar problem

[JohnBoucher]

[cdm-description=photo]32662[/cdm-description]

[Eldarion]

Technically that would be a solder reflow problem, not a wave-flow problem. ;) Wave soldering is used to solder through-hole parts, whereas reflow soldering is used for surface-mount parts.

Looks like they may have a problem with their paste mask?

[Joe Ross]

See http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=10621

[Russ Beavis]

I don't think that FIRST wants you to return your sidecars if that missing/loose capacitor is the only issue. The conformal coating on the board should keep any loose parts or metal filings (within reason) of causing any issues.

Did you have any other issues with the sidecar? Did it work fine otherwise?

Russ

[JohnBoucher]

It appears to be the only issue. Is C6 necessary and does removing it affect anything?

[synth3tk]

It appears to be the only issue. Is C6 necessary and does removing it affect anything?
Kate from FIRST stated in the aforementioned Q&A link:
It's confirmed. The C6 capacitor is essentially redundant and therefore unnecessary. The remaining C4 capacitor has sufficient specifications to provide filtering for the 6V servo power supply. It may provide a slight reduction in noise in the 6V servo power supply but we have been unable to detect any negative effects via testing at FIRST HQ.

Fortunately, the Digital Sidecar has conformal coat and, as a result, a loose C6 capacitor will NOT result in any electrical shorts within the module.

We do recommend that teams open the case and remove the loose component.
http://forums.usfirst.org/showpost.php?p=21004&postcount=8

[falconmaster]

Between two teams and ourselves we have 4 side cars that do not work. We were a beta test team and we are on our spare side car. We have made no wiring changes and the second car is working fine. The first side car worked fine for 4 weeks. We suspect a quality control or faulty design. We are going to buy two more because we are expecting them to go out. We are watching all the threads about this