RoboRIO LEDs showing fault

[nelson.green]

We see a red power and solid orange status light.  Testing the 5v rail with a multimeter it appears shorted but did not find any obvious external debris.  Lightly blew out the pins with air but did not fix.

I saw in an earlier thread advice to remove the back screws and check inside.  Is that allowed and advised?  We would be okay to clean out any possible swarf, if advised.  Otherwise, not sure what else to try.  Thanks.

[oscarfonseca · Accepted solution]

Hello nelson.green,

It is okay to open the roboRIO's plastic case to clean it. If you still see the fault after this process, please get in touch with our support fellows between 1 and 7 PM CST

FRC roboRIO Light is Red

All the best,

[nelson.green]

Thanks Oscar,

I didn't find a singular cause but was able to get a green power light after extensive cleaning.  I used air and a fine dental tool on some enmeshed bits of swarf or metal flakes.

We usually are careful to cover unused pins but I guess after multiple years it gathered much more debris than I had expected.  Luckily the board is well protected and cleaning wasn't too painful.  Though I admit it finally worked at the moment I was getting ready to call your NI help line. 

Until then I had figured the short might be under the pins where it isn't easy to see, and I followed advice from ChiefDelphi to blow air under them.  However, I didn't do that the time before it worked so I suspect a short was away from the pins.  

I am just glad it worked so I can get back to our practice drive bot Astro.

Thanks again!

[oscarfonseca]

That's great to hear, Nelson!

All the best for you and your team with Destination: Deep Space.