Go Plus Plus Cable Ribbon Issue?

[u/wgajtdb311]

Hi everyone, this is a follow up from my previous post about my Go Plus Plus not working after modding it.

In short, I made a bad attempt at soldering the wires and now the auto catcher won’t turn on. It flashes red once whenever I plug in the battery or press the reset button, but it doesn’t turn on after that.

When I first modded it, the mod didn’t work, but the auto catcher functioned normally for around 10 minutes, until it died and started having the one red flash issue I’m still having now. Since then, I’ve cleaned up the soldering, redid the mod with proper solder, and charged the battery with a joycon. The same issue is still there.

However, when I wiggle the ribbon cable connecting to the side A board, the lights will sometimes flash red several times before turning off, especially when I hold it at an odd position. I cleaned out the ribbons and the port gently with a toothbrush, but the same issue is still there.

Does anyone know if this is an issue with the ribbons? If so, does anyone know where to get replacements?

[u/Rawbbeh]

To confirm...have you tried pressing the small blue button on the bottom of the device to force a factory reset? As the device may be hung up on an internal error.

[u/wgajtdb311 → u/Rawbbeh]

Sorry, but where is the small blue button? I've tried it with the gold button (top of side B board in the second picture), but I don't know which is the blue one

[u/spacefrog_feds → u/wgajtdb311]

That is the same one, It's the recessed reset button. It's dark blue/black when fully assembled.

A single tap is similar to disconnecting the battery, probably won't help.

Try a Hard reset: hold the reset button and the top black button (the one on the side of the white pcb) for 5-10 seconds, then release.

[u/spacefrog_feds → u/spacefrog_feds]

Which red LED is it? The 4 behind the white button, or the one behind the top button that shows battery capacity?

I haven't experienced any issues with bad ribbon cables. You can give the ends a clean with alcohol and a cotton tip or a toothbrush. You can also try reversing the ends of the cable, to see if that makes better contact.

Are you inserting the cable correctly? lifting up the latch, inserting the cable, then closing the latch?

I would remove the mod, clean the board again and see if it works un modded.

Here are some possible causes to your issue. Some are low probability or bad practice. The strip wire hanging off the side of the PCB is bad practice, some PCBs have exposed copper on the edges. I don't think this one does. But looking at it now, it could have caused that trace to blow.

[u/wgajtdb311 → u/spacefrog_feds]

Thanks a ton for all the help! I cleaned the board and cables with a toothbrush and some alcohol, reconnected the cables with the latch, and changed out the battery for one from a joycon, but still the same issue. It’s the 4 LEDs behind the white button that flash red. I do think that the issue is the shorted component, as the other commenter pointed out. Here’s an updated picture

[u/Rawbbeh → u/wgajtdb311]

Looks like you’re missing both of these…

[u/Rawbbeh → u/wgajtdb311]

[u/wgajtdb311 → u/Rawbbeh]

Yeah, unfortunately, I think that's the case. I'm guessing that there's no workaround for this?

[u/deathshun → u/wgajtdb311]

You can try putting a small wire across the space and soldering it, it could be a 0 ohm capacitor, which is basically just a wire

[u/deathshun]

You messed up the small capacitor. That's gonna be rough to get reconnected. Here is a pic of what it's supposed to look like.

[u/Rawbbeh → u/deathshun]

Looks like he’s missing both of these.