Upgrade
Thermals
Content
1Abstract 1
2Objective 1
3Upgrade Wirings 2
4Upgrade Thermals 2
5Conclusions 3
1Abstract
Maze Runner is equipped with a standalone SEPIC regulator that takes in between 3.7 and 15V and generate a 5V 3A regulated output to power the Raspberry Pi.A layout mistake in the boards means the MOS switch has to be connected through a daughter board by thin wires.
Maze Runner's SEPIC regulator overheats when the Raspberry Pi is running video transcoding, this causes a stability issue where the Raspberry Pi becomes unstable and crashes after a few minutes of heavy transcoding.
2Objective
Upgrade thermals and wiring of the regulator to solve the overheating problem.3Upgrade Wirings
Use thicker wires for drain and source. Use slightly thicker wires for gate.To reduce chance of mechanical stress ripping the copper tracks from the board, hot glue the contacts to impreve mechanical stability.
4Upgrade Thermals
Paper is used to electrically insulate the wirings. A thermal pad connects the MOS to the thermal solution. A small passive heatsink provide additional thermal dissipation. A ziptie is used to keep the heatsink in place. The daughter board is folded and rested gently above the SEPIC inductors. Hot glue is going to keep the daughter board attached to the SEPIC regulators.
5Conclusions
The fix successfully solves the overheating problem, resulting in an increased stability of the Raspberry Pi which no longer crashes after a few minutes of heavy transcoding.
The current iteration of the board has
always been meant as a n MVP to test out the architecture and collect
feedback. Mistakes and upgrades to the custom raspberry pi hat are
being collected and are going to be corrected in the next iteration
of the Custom Hat design.
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