RoboRIO Power Fault

[fryrice]

Our team has two RoboRIOs that were in working order before added into a robot that we are building right now, but have since been unable to receive power. No status lights, outgoing power, etc. They have both been tested in a separate test bench setup with the same issue happening. We're fairly certain that this is not a general electrical issue/short from the robot that we've been working on. For one of the RIOs, we are positive that it turned on once in the robot with no issues, but a few days later failed to turn on. Has anyone had a similar issue? If what we fear is correct and the RIOs are actually dead, what is the process for trying to get an RMA (might be a long shot, but could be worth a try)? We initially tried filing a support ticket through NI's technical support page before being redirected here. 

[mshafer]

Thank you for posting on the forums. Let's see if we can figure out what's going on.

Do you have a volt-meter available?, can you check the output voltage of the test bench and the power leads for the roborio on the new robot?

[fryrice]

Sorry for the late response. We did try measuring the power source from the PDP in the test bench and saw the proper voltage coming through. To make sure the screw terminal wasn't causing an issues, we also tried (very carefully) touching the leads to the power terminals underneath the screw block, but still didn't get anything. 

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[mshafer]

> To make sure the screw terminal wasn't causing an issues, we also tried (very carefully) touching the leads to the power terminals underneath the screw block, but still didn't get anything.

It takes very small leads to be able to fit into the screw block to measure voltage there.

Can measure the voltage coming from the PDP on the new robot (where the problem first showed up)?

Can you double check the polarity of the leads from the test bench to the roboRIO (that is, the positive is to the "v" side of the connector which should be at the top of the roboRIO)?

[fryrice]

I see. It's possible that touching the leads directly to the power terminals didn't provide a strong enough connection to turn the RIO on. 

Yes, we checked voltage on the PDP where the problem originally occurred as well, same result.

Yes, we're certain that the polarity was correct (red to V, black to C).

We're going to try again today, will update if anything happens. 

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