Excessive current draw

I was putting the A star controller #3109 thru a power test to verify the low end of the operating voltage range. Powering thru the Dc connector it now draw in excessive of 400 ma. The controller is running the factory loaded demo. It was working fine initially but when I went below brown-out as reported by the on-board lcd it started getting very hot in the area on the micro sd holder. The bold no longer operates when powered the the DC connectors. The controller board does operate correctly when powered via the usb connector. Any ideas on how to repair or should I send it back for evaluation?

Hello.

I am sorry you are having problems with your A-Star microcontroller. What voltage range did you use to test your A-Star? At about what voltage did the LCD display the brown-out message? Did you have anything connected to it when you preformed the test? Could you post close-up pictures of both sides of the board (with and without the LCD)?

- Jeremy

voltage range was 8 to 2 vdc. Brown-out occurred approximately at 2.7 vdc. There was no other external connections other than the external dc power supply connected via the barrel connector.






Thanks for the pictures. We do not see anything obviously wrong, so we would like to get it back to evaluate it. Please email us at support@pololu.com with your order information, and we will get back to you with return instructions.

- Jeremy

Pololu was kind enough to repair my controller under warranty. Further testing revealed that the variable power supply I was using would generate a voltage spike upon turn-off which exceeded the voltage limits of the regulator. Mystery solved and the controller works as advertised. :smiley:

Hello.

I am happy to hear that your A-Star is working well for you now, and thank you for letting us know what the problem was.

By the way, we do not have any blanket warranties. As this example illustrates, there are so many ways boards like this can be damaged inadvertently by the user that we cannot be offering free replacements or repairs in every instance where something isn’t working. However, we do try to be reasonable and evaluate reports of malfunctions or defects on a case-by-case basis, taking into considerations factors such as our history with the product, the customer, and so on.

- Ben