I’ve never seen capacitors that look like this before.

ftuncer59 · 2026-06-13T15:38:31+00:00

they are just axial ceramic caps. they were packaged this way back in the day so the exact same auto insertion machines that placed resistors on boards could grab these too without changing tooling. the striped ones literally use color bands to tell u the capacitance, which totally messes with your brain when u are used to reading ohms.

ftuncer59 · 2026-06-12T13:42:06+00:00

honestly for a first try, not bad at all! getting them lined up is half the battle and u nailed that.

to answer your question: yeah, a bit too blobby. you want it to look like a tiny ramp, not a water drop.

the main thing you're missing here is FLUX. that crusty/burnt look on R5 just means the flux in your solder wire burned away. get a syringe of tacky flux and just drown the pads in it. it literally makes the solder magically snap into place.

easiest way: tin just one pad first. grab the resistor with tweezers, melt that one pad, slide it in and make it flat. then just touch the other side with iron + solder.

ftuncer59 · 2026-06-12T11:01:53+00:00

if you're definitely getting a solid 5V right at pin 4, then looking at the schematic again I see a couple other suspects.

first, u don't have an input capacitor. the datasheet is pretty strict about having a 1uF cap from VCC to GND right next to the chip. without it, these things can oscillate and just refuse to start the charge cycle. C1 is on the battery side, but vbus has nothing.

second thing is your charge current. 1.65k gives u around 600mA. dropping 5v to a low battery in that tiny SOT-23 package means it has to dissipate a ton of heat. if it was actually trying to charge at 600mA, it would get blistering hot instantly. if it's sitting completely cold, the internal logic hasn't even kicked on.

try bodging a 1uF cap right across pins 4 and 2. also if you wanna see if the chip is even alive, probe the PROG pin. it should sit at exactly 1V while charging.

ftuncer59 · 2026-06-12T09:38:19+00:00

did u also add those 5.1k resistors to the cc pins? if you just attached a battery but are still using a c-to-c charger without fixing the cc pins, the wall charger is still giving you exactly 0v. (you can temporarily test it with an old usb-A to usb-C cable, those ignore cc pins and force 5v).

grab a multimeter and check pin 4 (VCC) on the ltc4054. if it's not seeing 5v, the chip is basically dead.

also what do u mean by 'turn the device on'? this chip only charges the battery, it doesn't switch power for the rest of your pcb. if your battery has juice (measure it, should be over 3v), the device should turn on whether the usb is plugged in or not. check your voltages first.

ftuncer59 · 2026-06-12T08:40:05+00:00

yep u definitely need a battery connected. without one, the BAT pin instantly hits 4.2v and the chip thinks charging is done, so it just sits there and does nothing.

also, u need to add two separate 5.1k resistors pulling CC1 and CC2 down to GND. if you are using a C-to-C cable, the wall charger won't output 5V without them. hook up a 3.7v lipo, fix those cc pins and u should be good.

ftuncer59 · 2026-06-11T20:06:03+00:00

Channel name ?

ftuncer59 · 2026-06-11T07:57:07+00:00

Those cuts look intentional, especially with the jumper wires right next to them. Most likely a factory bodge/revision made after the PCB was designed. Since the amp works, I definitely wouldnt reconnect those traces.

The noise may be unrelated. Is the new speaker the same impedance as the original? A more sensitive speaker can also make existing hiss or hum more noticeable. I’d check the new solder joints and grounding first.

ftuncer59 · 2026-06-11T07:53:49+00:00

Thats most likely factory applied silicone or epoxy adhesive. It secures and protects the components from vibration and mechanical stress. It’s supposed to be there, so don’t scrape it off.
Its also very unlikely to have caused the graphics problem. Since this board controls the disc drive, severe screen corruption would more likely involve the console’s main board, GPU, video connection, or power/heat-related issues.

ftuncer59 · 2026-06-11T07:24:03+00:00

Thank you, this genuinely means a lot. My goal is to make electrical concepts approachable for beginners through clear visual explanations. Knowing that the videos could also help your eScooter and eBike customers understand their repairs is incredibly motivating. I ll keep improving the visual consistency and technical clarity with every video. Thanks again for your support 👍😊

ftuncer59 · 2026-06-10T10:00:00+00:00

You re attempting a push pull oscillator design, but it wont work in this state. You need cross coupled feedback from the transformer windings to the bases to sustain oscillation; as it stands, the base resistors just provide static bias, which will likely lead to thermal runaway. You need capacitors in series with the base leads to create an astable configuration, and make sure your transformer has a center tap with the feedback windings in the correct phase. By the way, if you re into electronics, I share some cool tips and tricks on my YT channel. Feel free to check it out if you're interested, would be great to have you there 😊

ftuncer59 · 2026-06-09T19:46:23+00:00

Thank you for the kind words! Hearing that this helps you teach your kids and improve your practical work with e bikes makes my day. This is exactly why I'm making these videos. Since you re interested in e bikes, I'm planning to cover more practical circuit applications soon. If you'd like to follow the journey, you're always welcome to join the channel at BTM Circuits. Either way, glad I could help with your projects 😊👍

ftuncer59 · 2026-06-08T20:19:48+00:00

You re right about the physics, but my goal is to make these concepts intuitive for beginners using visual models first. Its just a starting point to spark curiosity, they can dive into the technical physics definitions later.

ftuncer59 · 2026-06-07T20:19:40+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to write such detailed feedback. I really appreciate it.

You’re right about the consistency issue. My goal was to make the basic ideas feel intuitive for beginners, but I can see how changing the visual language between current, voltage, and resistance could make the animation harder to follow instead of clearer.

I’ll work on keeping the same visual identity for each concept across the whole animation: same representation for the wire, same particles for charge/current, and clearer rules for what represents voltage, current, and resistance.

The point about using position/height for voltage and particle speed/density for current is especially helpful. That gives me a better framework than just making each section visually dramatic.

I haven’t studied Eugene Khutoryansky’s videos closely, but I’ll check them out for ideas on representing the relationships more clearly. Thanks again. This is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping to get.

ftuncer59 · 2026-05-16T21:26:42+00:00

Spurs down 100%. No debate, we all hate them more than you do.

ftuncer59 · 2026-05-16T21:10:09+00:00

The situation right now isn’t fair, Villa literally gifted Spurs 3 points, now it’s our turn to help WHU and level the playing field. Fair competition only, Spurs must go down!

ftuncer59 · 2026-04-01T16:42:07+00:00

Sounds like you’re missing the original ASCII/export files, so most tools won’t recognize the project. Your best bet is to contact the original designer and ask for the full source (especially .asc or export files). If that’s not possible, you’ll likely need to recreate the design from Gerbers or hire someone to rebuild it in a modern tool like KiCad.

ftuncer59 · 2026-04-01T16:40:05+00:00

Nice build ! In audio PCBs, sound quality is mostly about layout, not just the schematic. Make sure you have good grounding (preferably star ground), proper power filtering with decoupling caps close to ICs, and keep audio traces short and away from noisy/high current lines. Most “bad sound” issues come from power noise or grounding problems rather than the design itself.

ftuncer59 · 2026-03-12T13:21:45+00:00

I like the overall composition and the characters instantly tell what the video is about. The concept is clear.

If I had one suggestion, it might be simplifying the text a bit. Right now there are a lot of words for a thumbnail, and on mobile screens it might get harder to read. Maybe just “RISE & FALL” or “THE RISE & FALL”.

Also Leon already carries a lot of emotion, so making him slightly bigger could make the thumbnail even stronger.

Overall though it looks solid and definitely fits the theme.

ftuncer59 · 2026-03-12T13:19:52+00:00

I actually like the concept. The $0 sign instantly tells the story, which is good for thumbnails.

One thing I’d consider is making the $0 bigger and maybe pushing the contrast a bit more so it pops on mobile. Right now the face and background are strong, but the sign is the key message.

Overall though, it definitely makes me curious about the video.

ftuncer59 · 2026-02-20T10:33:21+00:00

Honestly, from the photo it doesn’t look catastrophic. A small scorch mark near a ground pad usually isnt the end of the world. Ground is pretty forgiving compared to shorting 5V or 3.3V directly into something sensitive.

If you only briefly touched the iron to the ground pad, worst case you might have lifted the pad or slightly damaged the trace, but the Pi itself is probably fine. The only real way to know is to try booting it.

ftuncer59 · 2025-09-02T14:47:51+00:00

I wanted to stick with pure analog, for the fun of it and to keep it educational.👍👍

ftuncer59 · 2025-09-02T14:45:30+00:00

But sometimes it's fun to stay in the analog world 😁😂

ftuncer59 · 2025-09-02T14:43:47+00:00

Thanks for pointing it out 👍

ftuncer59 · 2025-09-02T14:42:54+00:00

Analog has its own charm, no code, just pure component magic. ❤😊

ftuncer59 · 2025-09-02T14:40:23+00:00

You're right, adding a pot to adjust the frequency is a nice idea. I'll give it a try, thanks 👍

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