Burnt Resistor Sleuthing
You smell smoke and the piece of gear you are working on stops working, probably at an inopportune time. You open it up and immediately see the burned remains of …read more Continue reading Burnt Resistor Sleuthing
Category Archives: magic smoke
Thermochromic Treatment Keeps Solderless Breadboards Smokeless
There’s a point in a component’s thermal regime that’s between normal operation and overloaded to the point of obvious failure. That’s a dangerous region, because the component isn’t quite hot …read more Continue reading Thermochromic Treatment Keeps Solderless Breadboards Smokeless
Flipper Zero “Smoking” a Smart Meter is a Bad Look for Hardware Hackers
Alright, we’re calling it — we need a pejorative equivalent to “script kiddie” to describe someone using a Flipper Zero for annoyingly malign purposes. If you need an example, check …read more Continue reading Flipper Zero “Smoking” a Smart Meter is a Bad Look for Hardware Hackers
Old Robotic Vacuum Gets a New RC Lease on Life
To our way of thinking, the whole purpose behind robotic vacuum cleaners is their autonomy. They’re not particularly good at vacuuming, but they are persistent about it, and eventually get …read more Continue reading Old Robotic Vacuum Gets a New RC Lease on Life
PCB Bring-Up Hack Chat
Join us on Wednesday, April 15 at noon Pacific for the PCB Bring-Up Hack Chat with Mihir Shah and Liam Cadigan!
The printed circuit design process is pretty unique among manufacturing processes. Chances are pretty good that except for possibly a breadboard prototype, the circuit that sits before you after …read more
Epoxy Fix For A Combusted PCB
When the Magic Smoke is released, chances are pretty good that you’ve got some component-level diagnosis to do. It’s usually not that hard to find the faulty part, charred and crusty as it likely appears. In that case, some snips, a new non-crusty part, and a little solder are usually enough to get you back in business.
But what if the smoke came not from a component but from the PCB itself? [Happymacer] chanced upon this sorry situation in a power supply for an electric gate opener. Basking in the Australian sunshine for a few years, the opener started acting …read more
Arduino Trivia Box is a Gift Unto Itself
There’s something about impressing strangers on the Internet that brings out the best in us. Honestly, we wouldn’t be able to run this site otherwise. A perfect example of this phenomenon is the annual Reddit Secret Santa, where users are challenged to come up with thoughtful gifts for somebody they’ve never even met before.
For his entry into this yearly demonstration of creativity, [Harrison Pace] wanted to do something that showcased his improving electronic skills while also providing something entertaining to the recipient. So he came up with a box of goodies which is unlocked by the successful completion of …read more
Fail Of The Week: How I Killed The HiPot Tester
Have you ever wired up a piece of test equipment to a circuit or piece of equipment on your bench, only to have the dreaded magic smoke emerge when you apply power? [Steaky] did, and unfortunately for him the smoke was coming not from his circuit being tested but from a £2300 Clare H101 HiPot tester. His write-up details his search for the culprit, then looks at how the manufacturer might have protected the instrument.
[Steaky]’s employer uses the HiPot tester to check that adjacent circuits are adequately isolated from each other. A high voltage is put between the two …read more
Continue reading Fail Of The Week: How I Killed The HiPot Tester