Faulty Ring Smart Battery Charger | Can I fix It?
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- Опубліковано 1 вер 2023
- In this video we're going to be taking a look at a Ring Smart Battery Charger.
It was advertised on eBay as faulty, and the previous owner said in the listing that one day it just stopped working.
Let's take it apart, see if we can find the problem and hopefully repair it.
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#electronicsrepair #electronics #repair
Ring Battery Charger repair
Smart battery charger teardown
Ring Smart charger not working
Ring Smart charger faulty
Faulty Ring Smart Charger - Навчання та стиль
We're all waiting with baited breath for the final "Yes".. Very addictive repairs you do..
😂😂😂😂😂👍
Excellent repair! Recently discovered your channel and I've binged pretty much all of your videos. Subbed and looking forward to the next one!
Awesome, thank you!
I wouldn’t mind betting that the unit was left out in the rain.
Damp garages are always a possibility.
Could well be, or something was spilled into it.
Yes, looked a slightly bit more than damp perhaps? 😂😂😂
Exactly what it looks like
Great repair as usual. Thanks Mick 😀
Thanks Mike 👍
Great job. For fixing vias you should just drill hole and solder both sides with wire inside. Drills down to 0.1mm are easy available.
Thanks 👍I'll have to get myself some.
Another great fix, very informative Thx, keep 'em coming Mick
Thanks Ian 👍
You can press the yellow button on your Fluke to wake it up from slumber, you dont need to turn it off and back on again. ;-) Love your videos by the way.
Thanks for the tip! I'll give that I try. I used to use my trusty fluke 77 until I upgraded to this meter. You only had to move the switch one position and it would wake back up which I preferred.
Great Fix, I guess the charger had been stored in a damp basement ot got wet outside when charging a battery still inside a car
I had been thinking the exact same, I just emailed the seller and sent him a link to the video. I did get a reply " It wasn’t left out in the rain - it was charging my van battery under a closed bonnet overnight and I suppose it may have been exposed to some moisture there? " so 🤷♂️
@@BuyitFixit yea also these chargers should be able to withstand some moisture and prevent ingress. I didn't see a gasket besides the rubbery outer shell.
Yes, and it seems the buttons don't have any moisture ot water protection either.
The auto subtitles said you were trying to 'pork' something through the holes 😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂
Good work! Also great camera work. Video is clear and easy to follow on what's happening.
Awesome, thank you 👍
Another lovely fix though Mick, well done once again 🙂
Thank you! It was a bit of a OMG moment when I first saw inside 😂😂😂
Love your videos. Greetings from Brazil.
Thanks so much 👍and greetings to you too from the UK 🙂
keep them comin pal ove watching u fix them as a engginer myself i love it,
Thanks Lee 🙂👍
Wow! Never seen something that bad, that seems like someone either 1. Dunked it in water or 2. Was left out in the rain. Nice that you managed to fix it in that worse shape!
Yes I did thing OMG when I saw inside. I just emailed the seller and sent him a link to the video. I did get a reply " It wasn’t left out in the rain - it was charging my van battery under a closed bonnet overnight and I suppose it may have been exposed to some moisture there? " so 🤷♂️
Excellent work, as always. For a second there I thought that fan, at the end, was going to just keep speeding up, sounded like a jet engine...🤣🤣
Thanks, yes do did I. I guess it must rev up full until it works out the load required or something and then throttle back.
Excellent fix Mick, looked a mess at first but all fixed thanks 😊
Thanks Cucumber Man, yes I wasn't sure on this one when I first saw it, it did look an awful mess..
Nice fix.
Thanks 👍
Excellent work as usual
Thanks again! 👍
All I can say! Is you are an absolute wizard, loving the videos, also the variety of things you repair
Thanks Neil, yes I'll pretty much have a go at fixing anything! I've also had to delve into the software side of things too such as on the RGB laser, or when I repaired a solar inverter and then needed to adjust a setting. I emailed the company and got a reply like 'it's and old model, buy a new one' so I reverse engineered their software and generated my own passwords 😂😂😂all those videos are on here too 🙂👍
I've watched all you videos, I find it really incredible, that someone can still repair things in this throwaway world we seem to be living in, like I said in my last correspondence with yourself wish I found your channel before I sold my mum's Pfaff tiptronic 1029 sewing machine as I'm sure as eggs are eggs you would have been able to fix it
Thanks Neil, I've got around 120 repair videos so far on here 👍
@@BuyitFixit yes I think I've watched about 85 of them
@neilgorman5025 Wow! Thanks so much! Hopefully I've got a new one out later today.
worth knowing the “start/stop” is for an agm battery like the one you had, as opposed to normal wet battery.
They are very good chargers but I had a couple die, blowing the internal fuse which I couldn’t troubleshoot past the simple things like caps - I binned them unfortunately.
Thanks for that,👍Yes I figured that out after a while (I think it says on the back of the unit). Pity you binned them I might have been able to have a look for you.
Cool! I have bought such a grinding pen as well, and found out that it fits great in the plastic casing of an epi-pen.
Good to know!
If you're looking for something to clear very small via's, buy a selection of acupuncture needles, cheap, strong and work a treat, keep up the good work. (Electronics engineer in Teesside)
Hey, great idea! I never thought of acupuncture needles. Thanks for the tip!👍
Gotta love it when people say "just stopped working" when it's obvious it's has liquid ingress.
Yes. "just stopped working after being in a bucket of water for a couple of weeks.." 😂😂😂
those buttons are CRISP even dirty, love those clicks
Yes, but not as crispy as the rest of it was 😂😂😂😂👍
If you want something to clean the corrosion and solder mask off tracks, try a coarse fiberglass pen. Just be aware of the dust it generates and don't inhale it. I vacuum it away. It works really well at just not damaging the copper trace itself. You can get different refills for these pens. Fiberglass, brass, etc. I think I got mine from RS or Farnell (E14) years ago.
Thanks I'll see if I can pick one up.
Use gloves...itchy buggers but very good!
I always watch My mate Vince Channel and your channel pop up on my recommendation and you have a new subscriber👍
Awesome, thank you!
Good luck sir 🎉
I must have the luck of the Irish 😂😂😂😂
You are inspirational I wouldn’t normally try to repair something as badly corroded as this
Thank you 👍I am usually quite tenacious at trying to repair things. There was a Cricut maker I looked at on here, but that one was pretty much beyond saving due to what seemed to be a coke spillage that had eaten through a lot of the PCB.
It's not uncommon to realize that once cleaned the board has very little actual damage. IPA + toothbrush, *then* assess the situation.
Nice 👍😊
Thanks 😊
Great video - thanks for sharing. A suggestion for via repairs is to just drill out the hole (you can do it by hand with a small drill bit). You can then pass your repair wire directly through the hole and just solder it on both sides. Makes for a quick and easy job.
Thanks Steve, I did think if drilling it, but I don't think I've got any small drill bits. I used to have some 1mm "somewhere" from when I made my own PCB's but that was some time ago...
Little ranting follows...
Have had couple of lead-acid battery smart chargers, including one of Ring brand (which died with a nice bang, not going to repair that junk). After having headaches using them and getting to know their quirks and pickiness, I've mostly back to using oldschool "dumb" chargers. Only few components, therefore not much that could go wrong with them.
One of the last smart chargers I recently tested out - the thing forgets its settings every time it loses mains power even thou it is still connected to the battery. When mains power is back on, it won't resume charging but waits for settings again. It's charging cycle is also questionable because it seems to stop when charging current drops below 500mA, not even trickle/small current pulses after that. Only after battery voltage drops below 12V will it activate again. So much for a "smart thing" that is supposed (going by description and spec) to keep battery charged/topped up for all the time. And yes, it does have warm/cold temp, charge current, 12/6V voltage selectors on it. All those have to be set too.
No problem with a little rant 😂😂 The thing I don't like about them is if a battery has been run completely flat or below a certain voltage, the charger just doesn't detect them and I usually have to connect a jump pack or such to even get the charger to recognise that a battery is connected. I also agree that there's a lot more to go wrong with them than an old transformer and rectifier with an amp meter as in the old school battery chargers. The main advantage I see is that these do seem to have a lot more output capacity than the old dumb chargers I remember, which most of them seemed to be about 4A. Thanks for sharing your experience. Best wishes. Mick
A perfect wire to use when you have both traces broken, and vias messed up, is insulated wire wrap wire. It is thin and flexible enough to make trace runs, and usually can fit through vias and easily soldered on both sides making solid connections... I've done more than my share of such repairs...
Thanks Gary 👍I'm not sure if that's similar to what I've got. I got a load of stuff from someone I know and there was a roll of kynar awg30 I think it is, which is what I used on this.
I agree with @daShare, use a fiberglass pen to remove the coating on the trace, it dont destroy the copper trace, and it cleans it better than the tool you use.
Thanks I've not used one before, I'll see if I can pick one up.
“Someone let the cake out in the rain .. it took too long to ‘bake” it” 😮
great vid as usual. Just for information, keep an eye on your incoming voltage as you shouldn't be getting any more than than 253V max (10% on 230V is the absolute permitted limit). You may need to contact your Dno & let them know. Over voltage will shorten the life span of your appliances.
Thanks I was speaking to one of the guys who volunteers at our local repair cafe along with myself, and he was saying he had a similar issue and at the time his incandescent lights were only lasting a short time. They put his property on a lower tap of the transformer. Thanks for commenting I might speak to them.
I use micro drill bits to get through the vias.
Thanks👍I need to get some 🙂
Like your videos. We actually use the same model of the Fluke 179 multimeter.
When it goes off you can just hit the "light" button to start it again. Just wanted you to know that. :)
Thanks for all the repairs!
Keep it up!
Kind regards from a fellow electornics repairer from Sweden.
Thank you👍 I didn't know that. I upgraded from my old trusty fluke 77 a few months back. On the 77 you could just move the selector onto a different mode and it would just spring back into life. I thought it was a bit of a backward step that you had to turn it off and back on, so I'll give that a go.
@@BuyitFixit another useful trick is that you can disable sleep mode altogether by holding the yellow button when turning it on.
@@stevelupton2533 I should download and RTFM 😂😂😂😂 Thanks again 👍
You said you didn't have anything to unclog the vias but given the board seems to be only two layers, it didn't sound unrealistic to *drill* them with a 1.5 or 2.0 mm drill bit and put a bit of wire inside soldered on each side
I'd have to try and find my 1mm drill bits, from when I made my own PCB's 😂😂😂
@@BuyitFixitThat was my first thought but handheld, you take less risk with a 2mm drill bit. It doesn't matter if it's larger than the trace since you do that to bridge it anyway
Surely a good repair, but i would have dissasembled the screen also to check for moisture damage.
I did have a quick look at it but it seemed fine, just seems the board with the buttons and MCU got the majority of it.
You could use a set of welding tip cleaners to poke thru the vias if the hole is large enough.
Good Idea, I don't actually have any. I'll have to order some 👍
As Alex from Northridge fix would say
" And look at this ,we have Hiroshima "
Nice work again John,who doesn't go nuts like Vince when he discovers that his repair actually worked.
You are much more sedate John,so when i am listening through bluetooth headphones i don't have a heart attack when you are victorious.😂
Thanks Bob, yes it did look like a Hiroshima! It all came good in the end though 🙂
love ,love love love your channel..ihave learned so much....can you link me to the flux you are using. Have an awesome day.
Thanks 👍 I just bought it off eBay. I find it a little thick, as I've got to push quite a bit on the syringe to make it come out. Here's a link to what I bought. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124233027434 I know a few others recommend Amtech flux.
@@BuyitFixit thank you.... i have a volkswagen van ecu where i need to reflow some joints...
Hope you manage to repair it 👍
Thanks for the video mate, I bought the exact same charger brand new from Halfords and it's set up & charging (well the % has just moved from 70 to 80 so I would assume so), however as the numbers are alternating between V and A on the screen, I'm getting a reading of 0.00 for the A, surely this isn't normal (?)
I know mine sometimes switches backward and forward showing 0 Amps but that's usually when it's pretty much fully charged.
Great repair, but you mucked up screwing in the main board. You had one screw left on the blue mat.
Very observant, I did.. I did put it back in after I finished the video, so all good 😂😂
If I may suggest, sometimes, better than an IPA is to use zippo petrol for cleaning boards, especially with conformal coating on the surface of the board.
Sure, Thanks for the suggestion. I was thinking hmm quite flammable, but then I thought hmm so is IPA 😂😂😂
Could not believe you didn't connect up the TX and RX lines to see what was going on there. I expect it is serial protocol, normal serial port. I would give anything to see what it has there
I can't remember on this device. I think at the time I was just more trying to get it fixed so I had a video to put out for the weekend. I have connected up the serial lines on quite a few devices to have a look. A couple that spring to mind were the AVerMedia video capture device, and the RS41 Weather balloon videos I did on here.
Well done. You may want to build a dim bulb tester (or modern equivalent), much as an almighty bang would be entertaining for some viewers, it may shorten your battery life.
Good idea but as you say a loud bang and a flash would be way more entertaining 😂😂😂😂
I am surprised that you put the whole thing together before testing it. I don't have enough confidence in myself to do that, because the chances are too high that I'll have to take it to pieces again! So: Either you have supreme confidence in your ability to fix things the first time (which you justifiably should have); or: you've tested it off camera already and you know it is going to work 🙂 Either way - well done! Clearly a liquid spill through the front of the charger with something corrosive - ? battery acid (unlikely) or Coca Cola, or what?
Thanks for commenting 🙂 It was actually the 2nd time I assembled it. I do usually have good confidence in things I repair, and it was a bit awkward to connect all of the boards together for testing without assembly (it was only 4 screws to put the back on anyway). It seemed the chip wasn't sitting quite right the first time I re-assembled it so I re-flowed it. I cut that bit from the video otherwise it would have been a lot longer and it would have been a bit boring seeing it be assembled 2x (I try to keep them to around half an hour) and end result was still the same.
I understand completely, and commend you on your ability to home in precisely on the fault so quickly. I try so hard to persuade myself that "common things occur commonly" and therefore I should look for the simple faults before I try tackling the difficult ones. Unfortunately I am only right about half the time! so half of my fault-finding proves successful!
@@BuyitFixit
dried cocacola looks "sticky", and water is the best solvent in this case... ofc, dry it a lot before next batch of checkings...
nice! :D
you whirled that control board so much, i lost the position, so, i was sure you "welded", as a chinese will say, wrongly that MCU... and i was expecting some nice pyrotechnical effects! :P
but it wasn't wrong, so.. good job! :D
that MCU i think is a Holtek... so much domestic appliances use a MCU from them, so... educated guess...
Thanks 👍😂😂😂
Its a Haier microcontroller, it was somehwere in the video where it showed the name "haier"
I have the same charger & it keeps clicking on & off & does not charge, have you any idea what it could be, sounds like a relay. Love your fixit videos 😊
Thanks 👍not 100% on that fault. I wouldn't think the relay, probably something on the power supply or current sensing perhaps?
Nice work ! Didn't look sticky or anything do you think it's just water that got in ?....cheers.
Thanks mate 👍Yeah I'm not 100% it seemed more corroded than I'd have expected from just water 🤷♂️
I would reopen the unit en coat the controller pcb with lacquer, just to protect it more.
Thanks! Good Idea, I think I'll do that 👍
For clearing those via's, have you tried pulling a bristle from your workshop wire brush and using that?
No but good tip, I'll try and remember that.
The main IC seems to be Haier ASIC or pre-programmed (OTP) processor, probably based on 6502. It's odd that they chose that processor, since that seems to be really obscure.
Yes Indeed! I guess they must have got a good deal with them or something. I would have expected an Atmel chip or PIC chip.
It is odd, thanks for cleaning the package! I assume that the Haier marking represents the world's largest appliance maker. I assume they are working their way up the food chain, getting into more sophisticated markets. I assume somebody other than Haier actually fans the die.
What grinding pen are you usinf
If you check my last few videos I've put links to a lot of the tools I use, including the grinding pen 👍
You have mentioned your voltage being rather high lately. The actual voltage in the UK is 230 volts and the frequency is 50 Hz. Note, however, that British energy regulator Ofgem permits a tolerance of -6% to +10%, which gives an allowable voltage range of 216 V to 253 V in the UK within official limits. But, in MHO that upper limit must be putting quite a strain on electronic equipment designed to be supplied with 230Volts.
I think as we have solar on the roof it also ups the voltage slightly so it may well be just under the upper limit.
Heck yeah , you got a great lil charger for less than 20 bux........
Thanks Cajun 👍
You need an ultrasonic cleaner to put these things in. Worth the investment.
What liquid would you put in it?I've got one that I repaired a few videos before this one.
@@BuyitFixit evaporust works well (don’t know effect on electronics though) but I would start maybe with deionized water, and rinse with isopropyl alcohol after.
@@LM-wq4fe Thanks for the suggestion 👍
Not so smart chargers, bought one, never another. Its ok for it to offer an opinion, but not to decide whether it's going to output or not
Yes, they don't like it when the battery is too flat. Agree there should be an override option 👍
Hi, what Kind of microscope do you use? Link?
I bought it used, search on Aliexpress for trinocular 48mp the one I have is white with a blue camera with red buttons on it.
Hi , I have the same battery charger and mine is only working on battery test mode I am unable to use it on charge mode ? Would I be able to send it to you to check the charger for me?
Can I learn the knowledge of electronic from u❤😊
Hopefully, I'm no expert but I've fixed a lot of stuff. One of the reasons I make videos is to help others and encourage them to try and repair their own equipment.
@@BuyitFixit please provide any basic course..... because repairing like this saves a lot of e waste and i like it also....i like to open stuff and repair them I don't have much knowledge about electronic... please teach me basics
@bhaviksolanki6405 I did do a four part video series on testing basic things with a multimeter if that helps, it's on a playlist on the channel.
@@BuyitFixit thank you so much...for such a quick response.....i will surely watch them ... Please provide more videos like this ...u are a Real Earth hero
@bhaviksolanki6405 you're welcome 👍🙂
Haier microcontroller
is it possible to stick a wire thru these vias and connect both sides that way?
That's what I intended to do. I've done this before, but I couldn't seem to get the holes cleared. All in all it seemed there was only a couple that needed patched anyway as the other's weren't needed for normal operation.
Possible reenactment:
*charges car outside garage
Client: *accidentally slept
and then it rained
OR he lives near a beach those salty vapors can screw everything up
Yes, very plausible👍Yes salt water / vapour and electronics definitely don't mix well!
@@BuyitFixit I had fixed a laptop that was not working, when i opened it it was a hell of a corrosion crime scene all of the traces were eaten away and all the components rotted, I ask where he worked and when he said he worked as a lifeguard and always brought it there i was not suprised by the carnage anymorr
I had similar with a Cricut vinyl cutter I looked at on here, that seemed to have had coke spilled inside, loads of traces and vias had turned to black mush. I did try patching some of the damaged traces but it was just too badly damaged.
May i suggest a fibreglass pencil for removing solder mask.
Thanks 👍I've since got one, but it didn't seem to work too good when I tried it.
Takes a few good rubs but it doesnt do the damage the grinder does and its far less likely to slip. But if you're happy with the grinder then fair play to you...Enjoy your vids.@@BuyitFixit
Thanks for letting me know 🙂👍
Please use some kind of fume extraction 🙏✌️
Probably a bit late, I've been soldering all my life without any and I'm getting on a bit now...
It was working fine until I charged batteries under water. 😊
😂😂😂😂😂👍
Hi I have a small Pcb caravan door latch closing board that is no longer available
I have tried 4 3 days to fix it I would pay for you to fix if possible
Desperate for help Nick
Hi Nick, I don't really take on repairs. If you like you could send me some pictures of the board perhaps and I could advise what to check if you can tell me what it's doing or not doing? Email is on the channel about page under 'for business enquiries ' I don't think it shows this button on mobile but it does on a laptop.
how much would you charge to fix mine? i hate the thought of wasting the money on it. I dont have a proper solder heat gun or a micrscope with good enough zoom to make this sort of fix unfortunately.
Hi Peter, it's not possible to calculate a cost without knowing what the problem is, or what parts are required or even if it is beyond economical repair...
@@BuyitFixit thanks for the reply. I appreciate it's a bit of a 'how long's a piece of string' type question. I'll get another look at it myself under the microscope and see if I can spot any obvious damage first. it was being used inside a car boot to charge a battery long term but seems to have just stopped working. the boards dont have any obvious issues but I think the microscope will reveal the same issues with the small holes you saw on your one
I opened it up for a nosey and its as clean as a whistle inside with no damp or corrosion or anything like what you saw in your one. the backlight for the screen did light up with no display previously but stopped, so nothing to lose by having alook inside. i also checked with my thermal camera on the board while powered up and i see FOUR resistors very significantly hotter than anything else on the board and a very quiet, but high pitched hum/whine coming from , i think, on of the small transformers. I could send you a thermal image picture if it helped? its the two resistors up on end at 6 oclock position below the large 400v capacitor and the single one at 3 oclock closest to it. all four shoot up in temp to around 60 plus degrees C, maybe this is normal?
Faulty. Ring. Smart. Battery. Charger can. l. Fix. It
Why did you use such long wires
I'm not sure what you mean John.
254 Volts ? guess UK doesn't have to go down to 240 V max anymore since they left the EU ?
I'm not sure, thing is we live in a quite remote area, so I'm not sure if they have to up the voltage due to the length of the overhead cables? Anyway I'm not planning on doing a video on "fixing the grid" 😂😂🤣🤣
@@BuyitFixitHahah. ah I understand. I live in Netherlands and since we're a cramped small country the distances of (often underground) power cables is probably shorter. We used to have 220V and now had to go towards 230 V by EU rules.
@@maicod Romania here, same story, too... and varies wildly, even if i live in a city, not in a village! :(
@@miftosaurus:(
@@maicod here in the Uk we were 240v. On paper we adjusted to 230v to bring in line with Eu. But the reality is nothing changed except the percentage allowance increased to cover our existing voltages.
I have this and it says 12.4 on Auto charge but 0.0a . Says its charging but no noise or anything and stays on 60 % . Help 😮
Hard to say. Does it come on without being connected to the battery? (It should show some signs of life when just plugged into the mains). There's a relay inside that switches the power to the leads so you should also hear a click when it starts to charge. It more likely sounds like it could be on the power supply board.
@@BuyitFixit thanks mate . I may buy a new one as i dont have the tools 😂 it clicks but no fan also
@@daveharris4755 It could possibly be the relay but I doubt it. It's more than likely something on the main PSU then.
What Is I.P?
I'm not sure, unless you mean IPA? Isopropyl alcohol.
Nice repair :) I was wondering if vinegar with salt would get rid of the corrosion on the vias, as I saw Edd China cleaning oxidized copper wires using that solution:
ua-cam.com/video/HO89-R-lSNI/v-deo.html
Perhaps then flush it off with ipa.
Of course if the copper is completely corroded away, you'd still have to use jumper wires.
Thanks Mr JSV 👍 The vias were just missing in action 😂😂😂
if i'm remember well, Edd China is profiled on auto stuff, so, mostly, thick cables and so on, you can accept losing a bit of them. but here we're talking about really thin traces, so, not an option...
unless you enjoy soldering a lot of thin wires... and i mean A LOT! :)