Stopped Working :(


 

Jon M G

New member
Hey All,

I'm hoping someone can give me a hand diagnosing my problems. I'm not very good with this stuff - I have gone through and checked all the resistors. I tried checking the voltages but I may be doing it wrong. I used a multimeter set to DCV (both at 2 and 20) and tried to check the voltages from the chart that I've seen linked. I put one lead on the 12V pin and the next lead on the furthest right of the 3 pins from the folded over chip. My limited understanding of electronics says that this should be 12V but I don't really get a good reading. Am I doing this wrong?

My meter was working fine for probably about 10 cooks and then stopped working in the middle of one. It turns on and starts of the server but nothing comes on the screen. Typically none of the LEDs come on although sometimes the yellow and red stay on. When i go to the server in my web browser it says that i have a possibly hardware issue or i need to load the software. I've loaded the software already ( back when it was working) but if I try to reload it I get the "AVR fuses ERROR".

Any ideas for me other than starting with a fresh board? Here are pics of both sides of the board - was my first attempt at soldering so no mocking :).

Thanks to anyone who takes some time for me.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1xbolweqghlg5ll/2015-04-29 20.35.18.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qabtxkzzrtfw0dm/2015-04-29 20.35.03.jpg?dl=0
 
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I can't really follow what you are saying about how you measured voltages, but... you want the negative/black lead of your multimeter on the GROUND and then you use the RED lead of the multimeter to measure voltages in the various places. Grounds start at the power jack and are found all over the board in other places.

I also can't see the pics you posted, but from what you are saying I suspect you probably need to do some touch-up on soldering. I would remove the ATMega chip from its socket, then re-flow the solder on every leg of the IC socket so solder flows to both sides of the board, then reinstall the ATMega and give it a try. If the software has error communicating with hardware could be bad soldering on the chip socket. There is also a thread(s) about "AVR Fuse Error" in the forum as well if your soldering is all in order.
 
It looks like the soldering was a little rushed. No big deal, it can be corrected. See all those gaps? Those should all be full of solder.

 
Thanks all for your help and suggestions. After trying everything else i could think of, I replaced the Atamega chip and all is fine. Wish I had done that a month ago!

Also thanks Ralph for teaching me how to test voltage. I'm a n00b. Time to buy a case to protect it.

My dad just bought a kamado Joe so I can now step up my game from my modified weber kettle.
 
Yup. Nothing wrong with a kettle at all. It's a pretty versatile grill. That being said, I've barely touched either my kettle or gas grill since I purchased my Kamado Joe 2 summers ago!
 
Yup. Nothing wrong with a kettle at all. It's a pretty versatile grill. That being said, I've barely touched either my kettle or gas grill since I purchased my Kamado Joe 2 summers ago!

True - Although I bought mine for $20 on craiglist and it has a bit too much air leak. Gives the heatermeter a lot to do but I think all that airflow dries stuff out a bit.
 

 

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