Question PMS-lite not charging cells

[RedVelvetPepper]

Hey guys. Bit of a noob. Trying to finish my first portable. An Ashida. I have the PMS-pd and the pms lite. It detects the pms lite, however, it cannot detect the voltage of the batteries nor do they charge. My battery percentage just stays at 0. Can anyone help?

 

[Gman]

Does it properly detect the temperature? We need pictures of the wii, pms, and all the wiring to fully help you.

 

[RedVelvetPepper]

I accidentally broke the thermistor pcb so no. It does display absolute zero. Ill take some photos and reply to this thread

 

[RedVelvetPepper]

Here are some photos. I know my wiring looks like trash. Now I'm noticing its booting up intermittently. For some reason, the power switch nor the button on the pms-pd are doing anything so I'm having to remove and reinsert the battery to restart the system. Maybe I should just redo the wiring? I'm also wondering if I damaged the pms-pd at some point, because I remember the power button working previously.

 

[Gman]

Poor wiring and intermittent problems tend to go hand in hand.

 

[RedVelvetPepper]

That's what I feared. I'll redo the wiring neatly and update later this week.

 

[RedVelvetPepper]

So I redid the wiring much more carefully today. The power button is still not working. I'm measuring about 3.3V on BTN when not pressed and it drops to 0v when pressed. IS there anything I can troubleshoot? To be clear, my Wii is powering on and working fine, except for the power button. It will not turn off.

 

[Gman]

So I redid the wiring much more carefully today. The power button is still not working. I'm measuring about 3.3V on BTN when not pressed and it drops to 0v when pressed. IS there anything I can troubleshoot? To be clear, my Wii is powering on and working fine, except for the power button. It will not turn off.

Is the battery voltage around 3.3v too? If so, the PMS turns off automatically when it is below 3v3. But it should still be able to charge.

 

[RedVelvetPepper]

Yes. 3.2V. I forgot to charge them

 

[RedVelvetPepper]

Welp. Just popped a battery charged to 4.2V. The power button still won't turn it off.

 

[Gman]

Ok I misread. If it is always powered on, this means the PMS has a problem and is stuck in bootloader mode. It keeps it powered on so that in the event the PMS is accidentally bricked, you can re-run the firmware update from rvloader and restore the PMS. I would disconnect the SCW SDW wires from the PMS. If there is a short here it could be causing the PMS to be stuck. I really cant see much of any wires in your picture. You are using a PMS-PD revB board, so there should not be any wires soldered to the SD and SC pads on the pms.

 

[RedVelvetPepper]

I haven't wired the SCW SDW to the wii yet. I can upload some photos in the morning

 

[RedVelvetPepper]

Here are some photos of the wiring thus far. Wiring lengths aren't final - just trying to troubleshoot. I included a photo of the screen I see when it boots up. I've been able to play super mario galaxy. Just can't turn it off.

 

[Gman]

What's going on with the u10 via wire?

 

[RedVelvetPepper]

I superglued a thicker gauge wire onto the board during my first wiring attempt. I was struggling to make a good solder joint. I have since refined my soldering skills a bit, lol. The thin 34 AWG is what's going to the PMS.

 

[Gman]

Can you try and get some very good picture of the pms and pd? I really cannot say anything from these pictures

 

[RedVelvetPepper]

Yeah. I'll remove them and take better photos.

 

[RedVelvetPepper]

here they are. I can take more up close photos with my solder microscope if necessary.

 

[Gman]

I would remove the SCW and SDW wires from the pms. Then use a q-tip and isopropyl alcohol to clean off all the resides on the top and bottom of the PMS. I dont see a smoking gun but I am sure the PMS is stuck in bootloader mode. Did you try to update the pms firmware from rvloader at any point?

 

[RedVelvetPepper]

I went ham on the pms with some isopropyl alcohol. Power button still doesn't work. I never tried updating the firmware. I do remember I either carelessly probed something or set the pms on a metal surface and heard a faint squeal while powered on. My memory does not serve me well. After that the power button stopped working.
Is there something else I can try/troubleshoot, or should I replace the pms?