**pic host undergoing maintenance, pictures should be back soon**
This is the first time I got to see a kit up close, so let me document what is going on here. Hope gascort doesn't mind as it seems a few folks might be in a similar situation.
1. The patient arrives, LCD removed:
I jimmy the LCD on and power it up, serial works, lcd is top line of blocks like wingmn is currently experiencing.
2. Notice that the paint is scraped off the lcd tab where the lcd is touching CPU pin 27 (A4, middle button)
3. the paint is scraped off where the lcd is touching CPU pin 16 (D10, unused)
4. The USB shield is located in physical contact with the signal pins from two buttons and is wrapped in a single layer of tape to insulate it.
5. It appears the through hole plating was pulled out during the LCD removal procedure on a few pins. The pin should be solder colored after the operation instead of copper (more heat less force? less heat more force?)
6. Confirmation of #5, no conductivity from one side to the other on several LCD pads, and the interesting lcd traces are on the non solder side.
7. Usb shield not soldered down, don't want it to move around especially if its insulation is rubbing against pins.
8. A number of solders (like this power pin) were concave and a couple had a frosted appearance.
Prescription:
A. remelt the solder joints (just touch them with the iron a second time) and build up any concave joints. This is the most likely cause of the resets IMHO.
B. Shim and glue a small piece of milkjug plastic between the usb shield and solder tack down the shield.
C. Remove the black spacer from the lcd pins, then they can individually be re-heated and pushed in so the the extra length can be used to move the lcd farther away from the board (for insulation) and the pin can be soldered on both sides to compensate for missing through hole plating.
D. cut an lcd sized rectangle out of a milkjug (or cardboard or whatever) and glue it so there is a tough physical insulating layer between the sticking out lcd tabs and the cpu pins. Solder LCD back in place on both sides of the lcd pins.
E. Make an adapter from the phone plug style to the header pin style in my cars, plug it in and drive it around and try and break it.