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PCB troubleshooting

Work in Progress
These docs are still a work-in-progress and may not be fully baked just yet! Please contact me if any of it seems very wrong or needs extra clarification.

Any of these problems can cause a variety of "just not working right" errors in a circuit. Familiarize yourself with these troubleshooting checks and do them regularly.

  • Is the battery installed and wired to the board correctly? Make sure the "+" and "-" wires are going to the right places: red is + and black is -.
  • Turn the PCB over and check all solder joints. A majority of problems are caused by insufficient or errant soldering. Familiarize yourself with what a good joint looks like in the Adafruit Guide To Excellent Soldering.
  • Are any solder joints unintentionally touching their neighbors? It's easy to accidentally short connections on assembly.
  • Are the chips all the way in and in the right orientation? Their dimples should match the footprint outlines on the PCB.
  • Does the battery have enough power? Try a fresh 9v battery.
  • If there’s buzzing, check for any metal scraps stuck to the speaker.