Post-dial-assembly powerup - no light
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2026 11:37 pm
I received my kit yesterday. I'm having what looks like a power issue.
I followed the online build instructions, got the dial assembled, OLED installed, battery connected. After installing the Li-ion cell, the +/- test pads show a little over 3.8V, so the connection looks good and the cell is charged. Assembled the daughterboard and had a little trouble getting the dial to turn freely or to return correctly; I fiddled with the various steps and eventually got that working.
At the end of step 8, it says to turn the power on, and a light will come on "around" the bell. I presume that it's referring to the 3x3mm (or so) LED under the bell, near the edge of the board.
That LED is not lighting. The OLED doesn't activate when I dial a number, either.
Took it apart again, measured at the +/- pads again, still good, still 3.8+V. Reassembled, no change.
On the front of the mainboard, at the bottom by the buttons, there are a pair of pads marked GND1 and 3V8. I presume this is power, possibly after a LDO regulator? When I measure between these two pads, I only see a little over 1 volt. So power doesn't seem to be properly getting from the daughterboard to the mainboard, or that possible regulator isn't doing its job. I don't see any references in the build doc to other testpoints I should measure, so I'm not sure how to determine for sure what's wrong here, or what to do about it.
Help? Anyone else have power issues?
I followed the online build instructions, got the dial assembled, OLED installed, battery connected. After installing the Li-ion cell, the +/- test pads show a little over 3.8V, so the connection looks good and the cell is charged. Assembled the daughterboard and had a little trouble getting the dial to turn freely or to return correctly; I fiddled with the various steps and eventually got that working.
At the end of step 8, it says to turn the power on, and a light will come on "around" the bell. I presume that it's referring to the 3x3mm (or so) LED under the bell, near the edge of the board.
That LED is not lighting. The OLED doesn't activate when I dial a number, either.
Took it apart again, measured at the +/- pads again, still good, still 3.8+V. Reassembled, no change.
On the front of the mainboard, at the bottom by the buttons, there are a pair of pads marked GND1 and 3V8. I presume this is power, possibly after a LDO regulator? When I measure between these two pads, I only see a little over 1 volt. So power doesn't seem to be properly getting from the daughterboard to the mainboard, or that possible regulator isn't doing its job. I don't see any references in the build doc to other testpoints I should measure, so I'm not sure how to determine for sure what's wrong here, or what to do about it.
Help? Anyone else have power issues?