Dead RPi 3 B+ after short circuit pin 1 and 2 of GPIO

[giox069]

I did a short circuit between pin 1 and 2 of GPIO connector (5V and 3.3V) for less than a second with the RPi 3B+ powered on on Pixel desktop. Now, after unconnecting and reconnecting it to the power supply, my RPi 3 B+ is dead: only the red LED stays on. I can only measure 5V on pin 1, but 0 V instead of 3.3V on pin 2.
Is my RPi 3 B+ definitely dead?
Thank you

[drgeoff]

To all intents and purposes, two of the characters in "RPi" have swapped places.

[mattmiller]

Is my RPi 3 B+ definitely dead?

Yes

[mushu999]

Two thoughts:
1. you are definitely not faster than the speed of electrons, so "less than a second" made me LOL
2. it sounds strange, but try putting it in a ziplock baggie in your freezer for about 30 minutes. The onboard power regulator has a self-healing fuse. If this doesn't work, just be glad it only cost $35

[drgeoff]

The onboard power regulator has a self-healing fuse

None of the onboard dc-dc converters (a more accurate term for them than "power regulator") has a fuse.

There is a polyfuse between the 5 volt input pin on the micro-USB power socket and those converters. The OP says he shorted the 5 volt rail on the GPIO header to the 3.3 volt rail. It is rather doubtful that fuse would operate at a current below that at which irreversible damage is caused to items on the 3.3 volt rail. Or even if it would, that it would operate quickly enough.

[mahjongg]

Also; Freezing a polyfuse does NOT restore it (that just makes the recovery time longer, as these processes take longer when colder).

It just needs 24Hours, at room temperature, to re-construct the polymer. But don't bother because you have 5V after the polyfuse.

because you have put 5V on the 3V3 line all devices powered by 3V3 will have been damaged beyond repair, and that takes nanoseconds not seconds.

this lesson will cost you $35....

[giox069]

1. you are definitely not faster than the speed of electrons, so "less than a second" made me LOL

in some cases also the time plays a role, for example when your short circuit warms up a component which breaks only after reaching a specific temperature.

It just needs 24Hours, at room temperature, to re-construct the polymer. But don't bother because you have 5V after the polyfuse. because you have put 5V on the 3V3 line all devices powered by 3V3 will have been damaged beyond repair, and that takes nanoseconds not seconds.

I never heard before of that kind of self-healing fuse. Thank you for pointing at it. Unfortunately I already waited two days, with the Pi in a room with 18°C temperature. Pin 2 is still at 0V. I will wait another couple of days. But with little hope.

this lesson will cost you $35....

...plus shipment. Living in Italy and using Amazon Prime, the lowest price seems to be € 41,59

[fruitoftheloom]

1. you are definitely not faster than the speed of electrons, so "less than a second" made me LOL

in some cases also the time plays a role, for example when your short circuit warms up a component which breaks only after reaching a specific temperature.

It just needs 24Hours, at room temperature, to re-construct the polymer. But don't bother because you have 5V after the polyfuse. because you have put 5V on the 3V3 line all devices powered by 3V3 will have been damaged beyond repair, and that takes nanoseconds not seconds.

I never heard before of that kind of self-healing fuse. Thank you for pointing at it. Unfortunately I already waited two days, with the Pi in a room with 18°C temperature. Pin 2 is still at 0V. I will wait another couple of days. But with little hope.

this lesson will cost you $35....

...plus shipment. Living in Italy and using Amazon Prime, the lowest price seems to be € 41,59

The Raspberry Pi 3B & 3B+ are sold at $35.00 by RPT.

Local taxes, exchange rate, shipping are outside the control of RPT, so it is $35.00

[HawaiianPi]

The Raspberry Pi 3B & 3B+ are sold at $35.00 by RPT.

Local taxes, exchange rate, shipping are outside the control of RPT, so it is $35.00

And your point is?

He wasn't talking about the price, he was talking about the cost of replacement. So unless you can tell him where he can get a Pi in Italy for $35 (or at least $35 with free shipping), then your post is completely pointless.

[yash2607]

hey did you had any luck with you pi? I myself supplied 5v to Rx pin (10) of my pi and now it seems dead to me.

[fruitoftheloom]

hey did you had any luck with you pi? I myself supplied 5v to Rx pin (10) of my pi and now it seems dead to me.

Who are you responding to ??

[Burngate]

hey did you had any luck with you pi? I myself supplied 5v to Rx pin (10) of my pi and now it seems dead to me.

It is dead.

giox069 hasn't logged on here since November, or posted any more information, so assume his is also still dead.

[yash2607]

hey did you had any luck with you pi? I myself supplied 5v to Rx pin (10) of my pi and now it seems dead to me.

It is dead.

giox069 hasn't logged on here since November, or posted any more information, so assume his is also still dead.

Okay thanks

[Kazemiprince]

Hello everyone,

I have the similar situation on my RPI 3. I didn't short circuit any pins but I was trying to power on my rpi with gpio 5 v instead of on board micro USB and then ...
Anyway what I have now is a rpi with only red led on and green led is not blinking and there is no 3.3 v on gpio header pins.
Close to regulators I can measure 3.3 v on a resistor, but it seems something like a fuse that I don't know where is it, not pass the voltage.
Anybody know what's wrong?
Thanks in advance.

[B.Goode]

Welcome to the Raspberry Pi forums.

Hello everyone,

I have the similar situation on my RPI 3. I didn't short circuit any pins but I was trying to power on my rpi with gpio 5 v instead of on board micro USB and then ...
Anyway what I have now is a rpi with only red led on and green led is not blinking and there is no 3.3 v on gpio header pins.
Close to regulators I can measure 3.3 v on a resistor, but it seems something like a fuse that I don't know where is it, not pass the voltage.
Anybody know what's wrong?
Thanks in advance.

See: viewtopic.php?f=91&t=83372&p=1250211#p1467093

[Burngate]

Close to regulators I can measure 3.3 v on a resistor

That'll be the supply for the audio, 3v3A, not the main 3v3 for the logic.

[G-Virus]

Hello, guys. Sorry for rising that dead topic, but I want to say you guys are not alone A couple of weeks ago I also did a short circuit between 3.3v and 5v pins. It was very stupid because I decided to plug in a fan while Pi was powered on Since my Pi was in a box at the moment it was a little complicated to plug the fan in, therefore I used tweezers to do it (isolated tweezers!), but there is no isolation on the ends of the tweezers. I couldn't notice how fast it just killed the Pi when I did the short circuit for just a blink of an eye Not sure it's still alive

[toani]

I just had the same issue. The 3.3 pin bended on a HAT where I soldered weak long pins. These were flexible enough that when I touched pin 1 while making a connection it bended and shorted 5V. The RPI is now RIP.

Lesson RE-learned: Connect things without power. I should have known better.

I thought of those Microchip PIC µcontrollers. They were so rough and tough that you could connect them backwards by mistake, short pins ir reverse voltages. They would heat up yet remain alive for another round. Not so much with other chips.

[p1thagoras]

I have a dead pi3 - no voltage on pin 1, 5v on pin 2, power light only on boot.

Having read the above, i was wondering if anyone had tried supplying 3v to pin 1 from a battery or other power source, and if so, what if anything happened ? Such an external supply should be unaffected by the fuse...Just a thought.

[davidcoton]

I have a dead pi3 - no voltage on pin 1, 5v on pin 2, power light only on boot.

Having read the above, i was wondering if anyone had tried supplying 3v to pin 1 from a battery or other power source, and if so, what if anything happened ? Such an external supply should be unaffected by the fuse...Just a thought.

The problem is not a fuse, it's in the PMIC itself. It does not tolerate 5V on its 3V3 output, and permanently bricks as a result. It is not possible to supply 3V3 externally, because there are two or three lower voltage rails that depend on the same PMIC and are also switched off. In theory, you could remove the PMIC and supply external voltages in the correct sequence -- in practise it's not economical.

RPT have offered to supply PMICs in quantities of 100 to anyone who wants to set up a repair service, but cannot supply single parts -- you would also need professional grade SMT soldering tools and skills.

[rpdom]

RPT have offered to supply PMICs in quantities of 100 to anyone who wants to set up a repair service, but cannot supply single parts -- you would also need professional grade SMT soldering tools and skills.

I believe some mobile phone repair shops have that sort of equipment. I wonder if any of them would be interested. I may ask around local ones to see. All my 3B+ are working fine, so I'd probably need to get hold of a few dead ones to use for samples. I'll think about this, but I suspect the cost of repair + parts + postage will come to over 50% of the cost of a new Pi.

I definitely know of one place that used to do laptop repairs by post. They replaced a few chips on my wife's old old laptop. If they are still going they certainly did have the equipment.