2024-03-19, 06:27 AM
(2024-03-19, 06:02 AM)Adrian Wrote: That's what I feared when we switched the RJ45 from a through-hole to an SMD part. The reason for the last minute change was that the metal shielding of the Raspberry Pi 5's USB port potentially touches the HAT's circuit board at this location.
As several points failed, I'm not sure whether bad solder joints can be blamed. I wonder if vibration could cause this failure mode.
If the pads are still intact, touching them up with a soldering iron and some fresh solder should fix it (for now).
Vibration shouldn't be the issue at least with mine - it has literally been mounted to the back of a touchscreen, sitting on my workbench, and basically hasn't moved from there since the day I received it. It won't be installed in the boat for several months. Especially with the large pads that secure the jack, the amount of force needed to make a good solder joint of that size fail would probably rip the pads right off the PCB. The contacts at the rear are quite small, and they haven't been bent or distorted hardly at all - they are completely intact.
I will see if I can get some close-up pics of the contact areas that failed tomorrow.