Forum Advice Needed

[The_Doctor]

"Mount Lasermore".
Nice. Rushmore, or Livermore? DIY NIF... At least, I think NIF is Livermore, no?

[chad]

I am not buyer #2 but I am the person responsible for the testing and integrating of the aforementioned used flex mods.
Unit 1 DOA, replaced fet, still flakey operation.
Unit 2 Was working, promptly died, Took $250 worth of diodes with it. Replaced fet, flakey operation.
Unit 3 Solder pads are mangled beyond use. (this unit is un-touched from delivery). See pictures.

These were ordered during the great driver dry up for emergency use. They were also slated for a project that was months away. I should have gone through them on arrival but were purchased from a well known and trustworthy member. Had no reason to suspect dodgy units.

Pics: Close up of pads.


As for my experience level: Advanced




Chad.

[absolom7691]

I open items and test them right away. Manufacturers who give 90 day warranties base their warranties off of the day of sale. If I don't open the box for 91 days and it turns out to be faulty, no matter the condition in which it was received, that is my fault because I didn't check. Andy, it is your responsibility to make sure the item works when you ship it, not when the customer gets it. I would honestly tell them "tough shit, pal".

I should have gone through them on arrival but were purchased from a well known and trustworthy member. Had no reason to suspect dodgy units.

I do it no matter what. Shipping can kill items and sometimes, shit just happens. Just sayin...

[SaltyRobot]

With all the equipment on your shelf and the self proclaimed "Advanced" I was hoping for a better explanation than flakey operation. Can you please explain, provide voltages and wave form pictures.

All electronics can be fixed if you know the right parts to replace. In your picture of the board it almost looks like the pads are coming off from excessive heat. Usually this is attributed to someone trying to rework a board but has very little experience. Take this with a grain of salt though. I never saw the boards when they were shipped and there are only two pictures that I am looking at.

I am not buyer #2 but I am the person responsible for the testing and integrating of the aforementioned used flex mods.
Unit 1 DOA, replaced fet, still flakey operation.
Unit 2 Was working, promptly died, Took $250 worth of diodes with it. Replaced fet, flakey operation.
Unit 3 Solder pads are mangled beyond use. (this unit is un-touched from delivery). See pictures.

These were ordered during the great driver dry up for emergency use. They were also slated for a project that was months away. I should have gone through them on arrival but were purchased from a well known and trustworthy member. Had no reason to suspect dodgy units.

Pics: Close up of pads.


As for my experience level: Advanced




Chad.

[dnar]

Pics: Close up of pads.


Chad.

Farq! Me thinks Chop needs a new "soddering" iron!!! Lets start a whip around.



Come to think about it, I recall a Chop thread many moons ago (18 months?) complaining of "flakey" P3's and they took out his diodes too... Sounds like these drivers. Just sayin, not taking sides.

[chad]

"With all the equipment on your shelf and the self proclaimed "Advanced" I was hoping for a better explanation than flakey operation."
Flakey in this case usually presents itself as a unneeded self protection (light coming on). I can switch it for my test flexmod set the same and it preforms just fine. In other words there is no problem with the diode string or powersupply.
Soldering, I have a nice JBC soldering station and several tips. I have been soldering for 25 years I know how to solder. I can also do smd with my hot air rework station.
The pics of the pads are how I received that driver. Most of the other soldering on the wires that were clipped weren't much better.

As for your snarky post, I don't know what I did to piss in your Wheaties. My post was just a statment of fact. We paid new price for 5 used drivers 3 of which have problems. Should I have fired them up immediately, yes, my mistake but that doesn't negate the poorly functioning drivers.

As for my experience level I don't have to justify anything to you. That second pic with the blue is a 32W 445 knife edge prototype that I designed, machined, tested and constructed. If that is amateur level then I would like to see your advanced stuff.
I am a long standing member here who has made and sold a bunch of stuff. As far as I know I have no complaints or out standing issues. I have no interest in getting into a "Mr. swinging big dick contest" I was simply trying to express the problems I had with merchandise purchased. If you note I wan't the one that brought this to the forum, but because it is here I am going to express my opinion.

chad

[The_Doctor]

Check. And it's a good one. Going to be an interesting end game.

[dnar]

All electronics can be fixed if you know the right parts to replace. In your picture of the board it almost looks like the pads are coming off from excessive heat. Usually this is attributed to someone trying to rework a board but has very little experience. Take this with a grain of salt though. I never saw the boards when they were shipped and there are only two pictures that I am looking at.

Agreed. PCB's with intermittent pad "vias" between layers are kind of outside of the scope of reasonable fault however. Not sure of these are just 2 layer boards, if more then good luck fixing them!

The real question comes down to what was reasonably expected of these purchased items, and I think it's probably best to depersonalize the vendor/purchaser and also the goods. It's looking to me like some of the goods sold are not functioning as advertised, so I would expect the vendor to be amicable and assist re a resolution.

[Laser Electronics Ltd]

Hi All
Only a suggestion but why not just offer to repair the faulty drivers, at no charge provided they pay the shipping.
That way everyone is happy.

[SaltyRobot]

LOL that got you all fired up didn't it.

I have no clue who screwed those pads up but I stand by my statment that whom ever did it probably had their heat up too high and that is why the pads came up. If you reread my post you will see I never blamed you.

As for my snarky remarks. You got that right they were snarky. You wanted to show off all your equipment to prove that you are "advanced" just because you own something doesn't make you an expert. We are all trying to help you out. You choose to supply pictures of your work bench rather than wave forms or voltage measurements of the boards in question. I am sorry you and your friend feel they got screwed but crying about isn't going to get you anything. If you want help you have to supply information to us so we can help determine if these can be fixed or if they are FUBAR. But honestly at this point I am done helping.

As for what you paid for these drivers whether they were used or new has no relevance on the price. Its simple economics you purchased these during a time of low supply and you paid for it.

"With all the equipment on your shelf and the self proclaimed "Advanced" I was hoping for a better explanation than flakey operation."
Flakey in this case usually presents itself as a unneeded self protection (light coming on). I can switch it for my test flexmod set the same and it preforms just fine. In other words there is no problem with the diode string or powersupply.
Soldering, I have a nice JBC soldering station and several tips. I have been soldering for 25 years I know how to solder. I can also do smd with my hot air rework station.
The pics of the pads are how I received that driver. Most of the other soldering on the wires that were clipped weren't much better.

As for your snarky post, I don't know what I did to piss in your Wheaties. My post was just a statment of fact. We paid new price for 5 used drivers 3 of which have problems. Should I have fired them up immediately, yes, my mistake but that doesn't negate the poorly functioning drivers.

As for my experience level I don't have to justify anything to you. That second pic with the blue is a 32W 445 knife edge prototype that I designed, machined, tested and constructed. If that is amateur level then I would like to see your advanced stuff.
I am a long standing member here who has made and sold a bunch of stuff. As far as I know I have no complaints or out standing issues. I have no interest in getting into a "Mr. swinging big dick contest" I was simply trying to express the problems I had with merchandise purchased. If you note I wan't the one that brought this to the forum, but because it is here I am going to express my opinion.

chad