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Morpheus  
#1 Posted : Wednesday, March 16, 2011 12:24:50 AM(UTC)
Morpheus

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I have a new Buffalo II and IVY IV.

When I turn on the devises I hear loud pops and noise from the left speaker. These strange behaviors disappear when music started. But after 2 hours of music play it come up again with new more annoying phenomena. Now I totally lose the sound from the left speaker for some seconds.

I tried to move the devise and what was really interest, these phenomena comes and goes with the movement. So definitely this is a soldering problem. I checked all of my soldering in the IVY IV but I didn’t find any problem (I done it both; visual check and DMM check).

Any ideas what to check next? (I haven’t check the SMD connections)
ihear21khz  
#2 Posted : Wednesday, March 16, 2011 7:47:43 PM(UTC)
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Try going over ALL your soldered joints again with a soldering iron. Visual inspection isn't fool-proof.
Morpheus  
#3 Posted : Thursday, March 17, 2011 1:27:04 AM(UTC)
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I did this first. I solder again all of my joints. Then I try visual inspection and next DDM inspection. Everything was soldered fine.

I remove the Buffalo from IVY and I heard the same noise and pops from the left speaker. So the good news until now is that Buffalo II works perfect! I suspect there is problem with the soldering of the opa amplifiers. My major problem is that I don't know how to solder smd parts and to be honest, I am afraid to try it.

Tonight I will try to use an oscilloscope program for my soundcard to find exactly where the problem is. Even then as I said I don't know how I will manage to fix it.

What makes me continue despite the problem is that I removed the cable from the left speaker. The sound delivered from the right speaker was amazing! I just want to enjoy these amazing devises and I am pretty anxious to go for it.
LeonvB  
#4 Posted : Thursday, March 17, 2011 11:14:56 AM(UTC)
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You simply reflow the solder on all of the legs. This is difficult if you've already built the IVY: a lot of caps are now surrounding the opamps. I had a similar problem, and simply tried it anyway. I wrecked the board, and bought another one. Believe me: it sounds better in stereo.
Morpheus  
#5 Posted : Friday, March 18, 2011 2:00:52 PM(UTC)
Morpheus

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Tonight I finally found what the problem is. When I tried to touch the pins of IC2 with my probe in order to check the soldering it simply removed! Please check the picture bellow:
UserPostedImage

It happens probably because it was not soldered correctly. I am afraid to solder smd components; I have never done in the past and I don't want to try it now.

Now I am stuck. I am not sure how to fix this..
LeonvB  
#6 Posted : Friday, March 18, 2011 3:18:08 PM(UTC)
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Well, it seems like you have little choice: it won't work well in this state. I'd remove the cap next to it (fi. C7) to get some room to work. Then put the opamp in place, and keep it there. This could simply be done with a bit of tape if you can't find tweezers. SMD soldering isn't very hard, you just need to be a little more precise. I found some of the techniques in this video helpful: http://store.curiousinve...ace_Mount_Soldering/101/
Brian Donegan  
#7 Posted : Friday, March 18, 2011 5:13:53 PM(UTC)
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The solder is already there, so you really just need to touch each leg with your iron.
ihear21khz  
#8 Posted : Friday, March 18, 2011 5:52:00 PM(UTC)
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As Brain said, the solder is already there. All you need to do is to reheat the join with a fine-tipped iron. Set the iron temp to high if you can and wet the tip with a little solder. Then resolder the faulty join with a quick touch of the iron (3 secs at most or until you see the solder melt).

I attach two links that will help you learn how to solder smds. If you have weak eyes, use a pair of magnifying spectacles which you can buy at most plastic model making shops.

http://hem.passagen.se/communication/pcbsmd.html
http://www.fpga4fun.com/external/SMD/SMDProc.pdf
Morpheus  
#9 Posted : Saturday, March 19, 2011 4:49:34 AM(UTC)
Morpheus

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Well, soldering was not there to all junctions (it was missing in two of them - I think it was 6 & 7)
Besides this...
DONE!!!
UserPostedImage

I don't know if my smd soldering looks good but it works! Before soldering the capacitors I checked the smd connections with my DMM to be absolute sure about the soldering.

Everything was ok and now after two weeks finally... I enjoy the sound everybody in the DIY forums speaks about!

P.S. Bruss, Rian if you need someone to help you with soldering in Europe, count me! :d/
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