Connected a fan - never booted again

[Vtorsousa]

Hi everyone,
A few weeks ago i bought a fan on ebay, for my RPi 3b+, connected it to the specified pins and the RPi stopped booting. It only shows the red led (power). I've reinstalled the OS, tried with different SD card w/ fresh install, but it never recognizes the card and never boots.

Any hints on any type of solution to make my RPi work again?

[LTolledo]

Did you connected it while the power to the Pi is ON?

If so most likely you have damaged it and the only solution is the "$35 solution"

[Imperf3kt]

Which are the "specified pins", how many were there?
What was the make/model/brand of the fan? Can you give us a link and details of how you connected it?

[Vtorsousa]

Hi thanks for the replies.

I connected the fan with the power OFF. When turned power ON, it never booted again.

The Pins I connected the fan were the 2nd GPIO pin (5V) and the 3rd GPIO pin (GND) as it was specified on the fan instructions (and I also googled it and all pointed to those pins).


The fan I bought is a cheap generic\unbranded fan.


I'm guessing the cheap fan came with the cost of my RPi life lol



BTW:

Just remembered that after pluggin it in and turning RPi ON, the fan spinned for a second, then it stopped and the RPi didn't boot anymore.

[LTolledo]

I have the exactly same case (3 of those) but I use it for my other SBC whose form factor resembles RPi. Never used the metal screws for I have plastic screws and nuts on stock.

For the last 18 months I never plug any fan on the 40-pin (or 26-pin) GPIO. I solder a connector for the fan's power source from the microUSB port (before the polyfuse).

If effect the fan is getting its power "directly" from the PSU, and not through the RPi.

There are some test (search the forum for related post) that you may do to verify if your RPi3B+ is truly dead. You will need a multimeter for that.

Most likely you've just joined an "elite" club whose RPi'3B+'s PMIC got KIA.

[ejolson]

Just remembered that after pluggin it in and turning RPi ON, the fan spinned for a second, then it stopped and the RPi didn't boot anymore.

Maybe if you wait a week and turn it on later no fan connected the fuse will have reset and it will work again. It is also possible the extra load caused the power supply to malfunction. In this case the power supply might be broken or even the Pi (as already suspected).

[klricks]

Just remembered that after pluggin it in and turning RPi ON, the fan spinned for a second, then it stopped and the RPi didn't boot anymore.

Maybe if you wait a week and turn it on later no fan connected the fuse will have reset and it will work again. It is also possible the extra load caused the power supply to malfunction. In this case the power supply might be broken or even the Pi (as already suspected).

If the condition which caused the overload has been removed then the fuse will reset to a usable state within a few minutes. Certainly overnight would be sufficient. If the red power light comes on then the fuse is not tripped.

[ejolson]

Just remembered that after pluggin it in and turning RPi ON, the fan spinned for a second, then it stopped and the RPi didn't boot anymore.

Maybe if you wait a week and turn it on later no fan connected the fuse will have reset and it will work again. It is also possible the extra load caused the power supply to malfunction. In this case the power supply might be broken or even the Pi (as already suspected).

If the condition which caused the overload has been removed then the fuse will reset to a usable state within a few minutes. Certainly overnight would be sufficient. If the red power light comes on then the fuse is not tripped.

I think the fan would still spin if the power supply and fuse were okay. From the report, it sounds like it turned for a short time and then stopped.

[Vtorsousa]

Maybe if you wait a week and turn it on later no fan connected the fuse will have reset and it will work again. It is also possible the extra load caused the power supply to malfunction. In this case the power supply might be broken or even the Pi (as already suspected).

If the condition which caused the overload has been removed then the fuse will reset to a usable state within a few minutes. Certainly overnight would be sufficient. If the red power light comes on then the fuse is not tripped.

I think the fan would still spin if the power supply and fuse were okay. From the report, it sounds like it turned for a short time and then stopped.

The fan has been disconnected for more then 4 weeks and the fuse has not resurrected lol. I've tried with a different power source, but also didn't work.

RIP my sweet RPi

[kevagon001]

Hello,

Hopefully someone can help as I am experiencing a similar problem.

I have recently purchased a 3 B+ and was having issues getting it to boot. I eventually managed to get the latest version of Raspbian to boot, update and then shutdown. I was delighted.

While powered off, I attached the case fan (looks identical to OPs) and now it will not boot. The red power led is on, and the fan blades spin, but the mSD card is not being read. I've tried reformating 2 cards, neither of which work.

Is it possible the fan has shorted the board? Given there's power and a spinning fan, is it possible my problem lays elsewhere? (Such as the mSD slot?)

Many thanks for any assistance

[hippy]

Given there's power and a spinning fan, is it possible my problem lays elsewhere? (Such as the mSD slot?)

If the red LED is on and the fan is spinning it seems unlikely there is a short and 5V is available.

Have you tried booting from SD Card without the fan attached ?

If there is no 3V3 present on the 3V3 pin of the GPIO connector then the power management chip has probably failed.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=226423#p1389238

The 3V3 supply from the PI3B+ doesn't seem short circuit proof under all conditions.
The best solution would be to return the PI3B from where you bought it, and to claim guarantee.

The problem is being investigated, as the chip maker claims the 3V3 supply should be short circuit proof.

[kevagon001]

Given there's power and a spinning fan, is it possible my problem lays elsewhere? (Such as the mSD slot?)

If the red LED is on and the fan is spinning it seems unlikely there is a short and 5V is available.

Have you tried booting from SD Card without the fan attached ?

If there is no 3V3 present on the 3V3 pin of the GPIO connector then the power management chip has probably failed.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=226423#p1389238

The 3V3 supply from the PI3B+ doesn't seem short circuit proof under all conditions.
The best solution would be to return the PI3B from where you bought it, and to claim guarantee.

The problem is being investigated, as the chip maker claims the 3V3 supply should be short circuit proof.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I don't have a MM to test the 3V3 supply - first ever Pi (good start eh!?).

The red power led is on, no flickering etc. What I have noticed is that prior to the first and only boot (which was successful using a brand new cl10 32gb Kingston card) the Ethernet port green and yellow lights where on too. Now I just get the red light and spinning fan.

Yes to trying with fan unplugged. Same results.

I don't know if this is normal operation for the PI, but my TV does know it's been turned on as the hdmi picks up but doesn't display anything (i.e the screen goes black rather than displaying 'no signal'). The green act light however is not blinking at any point. Once I turn power off to the Pi, the TV says no signal.

[hippy]

I don't know if this is normal operation for the PI, but my TV does know it's been turned on as the hdmi picks up but doesn't display anything (i.e the screen goes black rather than displaying 'no signal'). The green act light however is not blinking at any point. Once I turn power off to the Pi, the TV says no signal.

That does suggest some sort of signal is getting to the HDMI connector and TV when it's powered up. Whether showing a blank screen is because the H5V signal is present when 5V is connected, or indicates more than that is working, I do not know. That may depend on the TV and how it discriminates "signal" and "no signal".

I tested my Pi 3B and that showed "no signal" as soon as shutdown, with power still connected.

If you don't have a multimeter you could try a LED+R between the 3V3 pin and 0V but, if you could do that, I would guess you would have a multimeter. Perhaps there is someone you could borrow a multimeter from or know someone who has one who could check the 3V3 for you ?

[kevagon001]

I don't know if this is normal operation for the PI, but my TV does know it's been turned on as the hdmi picks up but doesn't display anything (i.e the screen goes black rather than displaying 'no signal'). The green act light however is not blinking at any point. Once I turn power off to the Pi, the TV says no signal.

That does suggest some sort of signal is getting to the HDMI connector and TV when it's powered up. Whether showing a blank screen is because the H5V signal is present when 5V is connected, or indicates more than that is working, I do not know. That may depend on the TV and how it discriminates "signal" and "no signal".

I tested my Pi 3B and that showed "no signal" as soon as shutdown, with power still connected.

If you don't have a multimeter you could try a LED+R between the 3V3 pin and 0V but, if you could do that, I would guess you would have a multimeter. Perhaps there is someone you could borrow a multimeter from or know someone who has one who could check the 3V3 for you ?

Thanks again for prompt reply.

I've tried on 2 separate TVs - an LG and a Samsung. Both 'recognise' that something had been powered on through the hdmi port (for example, the LG tells me if I'm on a different channel that the hdmi port has been activated the moment I power the pi and asks if I'd like to switch channel).

Ive also just purchased a microSD to Usb adapter (a SanDisk one) to see if my current cheapo reader is corrupting the cards and I just got lucky that one time!

I'll try to acquire a multimeter this evening and test the rails.

[kevagon001]

Hello again.

I have tested with the multimeter, and there is 5v on the input, 5v on the 5v rail but only 0.15v on the 3v rail. I've returned to seller and ordered a replacement. Thanks for the assistance. Perhaps I'll go without the fan this time.