VESC DRV8302 Failures and Repair Options

You can also try the drag soldering method to get the DRV chip on :slight_smile:

5 Likes

would anyone of you have want to take the challenge to fix my VESC?

1 Like

Where do you live?

Southern California here!

What city?

Inland Empire!

If nobody else takes you up on it, Iā€™ll do it. Canā€™t really guaranteed anything, so you are going to have to take a leap of faith here. I am not a professional, but I have done this a few times before. Also, Iā€™m in Anaheim, so you probably have to ship it to me. Iā€™ll charge you the cost for the drv chip plus the cost of the return shipping, so probably around $15.

3 Likes

I can personally deliver it to you if you want? Iā€™ll be in Yorba Linda tomorrow anyways. PM if you want. Thank you.

So Iā€™ve ordered a new DRV chip for ā‚¬ 9,50. I have a soldering station 0-400C and a weller pryopen on gas which can heat till 650C. Do you think Iā€™ll be able to melt the solder with this and replace the chip ? Iā€™ve done this before in playstations and stuff, just want some good advice from the community. Even if I need to order a special soldering tip or something. Help me out here.

1 Like

@Skitzor Does your solder station have hot air? I have one w/ hot air, and the small reducer tips to focus the air just where i want it. The tricks i learned helping with the last 2 that failed, were to warm up the whole board slowly, and then just focus the heat on the DRV chip itself w/ lots of flux to help. Once you remove the bad chip - clean up the old solder (solder wick), place new solder paste on and heat until it liquifies and secures the new DRV.

You need to be able to adjust the airflow - if you heat it up w/ lots of air it can melt and blow other components off their pads. So lower airflow and reduction tip to focus the air just where you need it. And like mentioned above you can use some of teh Kapton tape to protect/block the air from other small components so they donā€™t blow off.

I have a handfull of chips on the way to have as spares. One dead VESC ready to replaceā€¦ Looking forward to getting this skill dialed in. Hopefully not needed frequently, but love my VESCā€™s and good to be able to repair myself when/if one fails.

3 Likes

Hi @sl33py, thanks for the tips, appreciate it ! The pryopen has a hot air feature built in (I didnt mention that in above post, but was talking about hot air, not a soldering tip on the pryopen) Whatā€™s the reason behind warming up the whole pcb? so it doensā€™t break while the heat is expanding the DRV- area? Iā€™ve ordered a flux pen too to clean up the whole residue after I get the chip out. Iā€™m understanding the whole operation, but what should I do, if I have the new DRV on there and 2 legs are sharing solder? Can I just remove it with a desoldering pump ?

1 Like

those with more expertise may have better description of the steps, but hereā€™s what i helped do last time:

heat the whole pcb gently - not to the point solder re-flows, but still pretty hot. (reduces stress and less likely to burn the chip iirc)

Instead of mechanically removing the DRV chip (solder is under it as well as legs), heat it w/ the reduced hot-air tips until the solder re-flows. Once molten - use tweezers to remove the bad DRV chip(anti static super fine tip help).

Then use your wick to clean the pads and inspect. Once looking good - add solder paste to the pads and heat until it flows and secures DRV. Check your pins - clean up any bridging w/ wick, then test.

Hey experts - anything to add or correct if iā€™m way off base?

Edit - adding lots of liquid flux to the chip to both protect it and help transfer heat better - both removing and replacing it. Kinda messy amounts were what buddy showed me.

3 Likes

Great description @sl33py !

@Skitzor more tips: I found that soaking the solder wick with liquid flux helps a lot, make sure to have some. Also, be mindful of the size of the needle that comes with your solder paste; the first one I tried was way too thick and I ended up with lots more solder than I needed. You only need a very thin line of it for this repair.

I also suggest having a very bright light and good magnification, which really make the process easier. I got a 10x loupe so that I could closely inspect the legs of the chip to make sure there were no shorts.

1 Like

Thanks man! Iā€™ll have to look for some smaller needle for my solder paste as well. When i want to look especially geek chic i wear my: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VL22OEG

Nothing says a man of distinction like headset magnificationā€¦ But seriously awesome for hands free and light exactly where you need it.

3 Likes

@sl33py LOL that is dead sexy! I freaked my wife out once when I came out of the basement with a respirator over my face

3 Likes

Well, Rip Vesc :smiley: everything went fine untill the second bottom left pad kept sticking to my solder wick, so no more connection on that leg. Or do you think I could still try to use it without the one leg if it isnā€™t an important oneā€¦

2 Likes

Those last 2 legs are are not connected to any circuit. The VESC is still viable. :ok_hand:

4 Likes

Iā€™m too stressed atm from this whole operation. I can see copper coming to the surface between legs 1-7 . Iā€™m going to keep this vesc for spare parts and will not risk adding a DRV chip and losing that too.

Itā€™s kinda murphyā€™s law all the way, I was practising on another pcb with the same kind of chips, removed 3, resoldered 3 without problems, started on the vesc and everything went aā€™wall.

I have access to a hot air rework station and also happen to be kinda good at smd soldering. I am definitely interested in bringing the broken VESCs back from the dead, but donā€™t have any :disappointed: I can probably ask people for a couple, but since I am relatively new here, I donā€™t really know if it is rude to ask people if they have broken VESCs that they are willing to part with, in exchange for some $ ?

PS: Any broken VESC, not just the one with the DRV problem.

Someone who can change my drv in EU?