Hi all

I got a Polroid Bluetooth Speaker model PGT3016 while dumpster diving. It worked great but as I discovered the Micro USB port was broken off I opened it up to see if i could figure anything out. I have only solidered very basic things like jumpers and wire connections. After watching how to replace a Micro USB port I have no doubt I dont have the skill to do that. Its a awesome speaker and i would love to get it to work. I had a ideal I need feedback on please. The board is shown bellow. What I thought is that I can order a generic LI-ION charge circuit and and splice it into the battery leads so the battery can be charged and id still be able to control the speaker from the original board what do yall think?

 

Search for usb li-on charger pcb, get one for the voltage of your battery, like these..

http://www.robotshop.com/uk/adafruit-micro-usb-lipo-charger.html?gclid=CO-D-fmlxtACFdQaGwod-uEI8w

 

thank you I found one that will work but I had another ideal before ordering it. I have a few of them dollar power banks, What do yall think about me pulling one apart and useing the board in it instead. I already have them on hand and in my mind i think it would add a USB port that one could charge there phone from also. Any thoughts?

 

Is a 'dollar power bank' a mains charger?

 

they come with a USB wall adapter but I always just charge all my Micro USB gadgets from the USB hub on my desk hooked to my PC. Wall outlets are a rare comdeity in my home haha

 

Why add in another charger circuit when there is already one on the board?

It would be easier to just cut off the end of a USB cable and splice the ground and +5V wires to the board where the USB connector used to be.

Bob

 

Ok, you recognize your current soldering skills, so why not take this opportunity to improve them? It won't be easy, but that's how skills are built: practice and the experience and touch that you gain. Learn tricks and use them! Those skills and experience won't break, nobody can take them from you, they won't wear out, and they build value.

 

UPDATE: I got it working all I did was cut out the battery and spliced the leads into the battery of a 3.7v LIion powerbank and modded the case to hold the larger batt and new board

 

Why add in another charger circuit when there is already one on the board?

It would be easier to just cut off the end of a USB cable and splice the ground and +5V wires to the board where the USB connector used to be.

Bob

I attempted that the speaker would turn on but the blue tooth would not transmit I assumed the 5 volts was triping something up where the board was designed for 3.7volts my next thought was to ditch the rechargeable battery and a battery box but figured if i didnt get it right at 3.7v i would have similar issues with the Bluetooth not transmuting so i scraped that and tried splicing in a USB power bank and that worked im testing battery life right now

 

Ok, you recognize your current soldering skills, so why not take this opportunity to improve them? It won't be easy, but that's how skills are built: practice and the experience and touch that you gain. Learn tricks and use them! Those skills and experience won't break, nobody can take them from you, they won't wear out, and they build value.

I do want to learn this Im still fairly new to the electronics teching so im excited to learn anything new. I didnt want to risk destroying the speaker because it is awesome one of my best dumpster finds so far. I have a bunch of old cell phones with micros that im going to practice on once the magnifying soldering stand i ordered comes in

 

Check for pin to pin shorts now and after,

That really should be fairly easy. You can use solder braid to remove the excess solder. The hard part is to find the connector, so you needs lots of dimensions.

If you allowed to use 63/37 lead based solder, life will be easier yet because the solidus and liqudus points are the same,

There is a practice kit, here: http://www.proto-advantage.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=400014

With 63/37, you can drag a little bit of solder applied to the soldering tip across the pins.

With the practice kit, you can tack solder the corners. Solder it upside down by dragging and inspect for shorts and remove with solder braid.

 

I attempted that the speaker would turn on but the blue tooth would not transmit I assumed the 5 volts was triping something up where the board was designed for 3.7volts my next thought was to ditch the rechargeable battery and a battery box but figured if i didnt get it right at 3.7v i would have similar issues with the Bluetooth not transmuting so i scraped that and tried splicing in a USB power bank and that worked im testing battery life right now

Why don't you show us what you did? Splicing in a power bank should be exactly the same thing as I suggested, that you said did not work.

Bob

 

Why don't you show us what you did? Splicing in a power bank should be exactly the same thing as I suggested, that you said did not work.

Bob[/Q

The only diffrence between the usb and the batt was that the batt was 3.7v and the USB was 5v so my guess was the the 5v was tripping something and the board was only going to work with the 3.7v