Is my cube dead?

[orangeziggy84]

So I tried cutting my cube and sanded it. When I wired it up to my regulator, I connected the 1.9 volt line to the parts in this diagram:

The cube smoked a little and didn't show any video. After I turned the power off, I tested the continuity on the power lines, and now the 1.9v line on the lower point relocation is connected to the ground. Any ideas?

 

[hailrazer]

The 1.9 line shows continuity all the time. If you put your meter on ohms you will see that there is really not continuity just a low ohms around 28 or so.

 

[Blargaman91]

I don't even know how to make a GameCube smoke, but I would say by all means it's dead. You didn't accidentally connect the 12v line to 1.9v, did you...? Do you know what part of the board was smoking?

 

[zack]

Yeeeaaa.... smoke is generally a bad sign. At the very least, you know you fried SOMETHING. If you know where the smoke came from, that can help, but most likely your cube is dead. It'd be helpful to figure out how this happened... then at least you can learn from your mistakes.

 

[brentphx]

Just to lighten your mood a bit in case it has you down... here's some car humor for anyone that's ever inadvertently let the smoke out of a wire.

You can always try putting the smoke back inside the wires with this kit!!

http://www3.telus.net/bc_triumph_registry/smoke.htm

 

[orangeziggy84]

Don't worry, I have another one. But how can I make sure the other one doesn't break this time?

 

[zack]

Don't worry, I have another one. But how can I make sure the other one doesn't break this time?

- Treat the board like your wife.
- Visually double check all connections before powering on, especially power lines.
- Also double check all connections with a multimeter, doing a continuity test to make sure everything is connected that should, and nothing is connected that shouldn't.
- Never work or solder with anything powered on or plugged in.
- Insulate everything as much as you can.
- Make sure your workspace is clean and free of anything that could short out your board, like bits of solder, wire strippings, de-soldered pins, screws, or basically anything metal.
- Be aware of static electricity. Use some type of anti-static material to work on top of, like an anti-static bag or mat, and discharge yourself often by touching something grounded.
- In general, don't be rough with the board, particularly while removing ports. Take your time and be careful and patient. If you rush things and have to start over, that just takes longer.
- Make sure your power source is outputting correct voltages before connecting it. This has happened often to me, where for some reason my regulator is outputting higher voltages than it should, and I fry my project.
- Don't do something stupid like reverse the polarity.
- Believe in yourself.