Did I fry an R4 using a 9v 600mAh rechargeable battery?

[jsglazer]

I'm a hardware newbie so pls excuse my gross lack of understanding of electronics.  I've created a sensor network (temp, humidity, etc.) using R4-USBs, Rasp Pi, openHAB w/MQTT, etc.  Now I want to scale it up using standard FTDI R4s.  After soldering the FTDI pins, antenna, and 9v cable onto the R4, I successfully uploaded a sketch (confirmed via serial output).  Then I attached a 9 volt rechargeable lithium-ion battery and got...no joy.  Tried a alkaline 9v, no joy.  Reattached the FTDI adapter using two different USB ports and two different USB cables.  No joy.  I see no blinking lights on the R4 when I push the upload from the Arduino IDE; but the green TX blinks quickly on the FTDI and the red RX blinks occasionally.  Regardless, the sketch upload fails with: avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 3 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding


Here is the info on the 9v LI: EBL model 6F22 9v 600mAh.  http://www.amazon.com/EBL%C2%AE-Lithium-ion-Self-discharge-Rechargeable-Battery/dp/B00EJKIDHE/ref=pd_bxgy_23_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=01Q0199433CRTXWBQ087

When attaching the 9v Li-ion for the first time, I accidentally reversed the plugs for half a second -- neg to pos and vice versa -- but of course the plugs didn't snap together.

1. Fried?  If so, why?  600mAh too much?  Bad setup?  I soldered the 9v cables to the GND and VIN pins adjacent to the FTDI pins.  No resistor used.  I see multiple projects online where folks are connecting the 9v direct to the those two pins.

2. Not fried?  Suggestions on what else may be wrong?

Hopefully I didn't send this fellow to the silicon graveyard.  Any help is appreciated!

thanks, Josh

[TomWS]

I'm a hardware newbie so pls excuse my gross lack of understanding of electronics.  I've created a sensor network (temp, humidity, etc.) using R4-USBs, Rasp Pi, openHAB w/MQTT, etc.  Now I want to scale it up using standard FTDI R4s.  After soldering the FTDI pins, antenna, and 9v cable onto the R4, I successfully uploaded a sketch (confirmed via serial output).  Then I attached a 9 volt rechargeable lithium-ion battery and got...no joy.  Tried a alkaline 9v, no joy.  Reattached the FTDI adapter using two different USB ports and two different USB cables.  No joy.  I see no blinking lights on the R4 when I push the upload from the Arduino IDE; but the green TX blinks quickly on the FTDI and the red RX blinks occasionally.  Regardless, the sketch upload fails with: avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 3 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding


Here is the info on the 9v LI: EBL model 6F22 9v 600mAh.  http://www.amazon.com/EBL%C2%AE-Lithium-ion-Self-discharge-Rechargeable-Battery/dp/B00EJKIDHE/ref=pd_bxgy_23_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=01Q0199433CRTXWBQ087

When attaching the 9v Li-ion for the first time, I accidentally reversed the plugs for half a second -- neg to pos and vice versa -- but of course the plugs didn't snap together.

1. Fried?  If so, why?  600mAh too much?  Bad setup?  I soldered the 9v cables to the GND and VIN pins adjacent to the FTDI pins.  No resistor used.  I see multiple projects online where folks are connecting the 9v direct to the those two pins.

2. Not fried?  Suggestions on what else may be wrong?

Hopefully I didn't send this fellow to the silicon graveyard.  Any help is appreciated!

thanks, Josh

You didn't say WHERE you attached the 9V battery.  Assuming you attached it to Vin pins rather than 3.3V pins then a 9V battery should work.  However, the fact that you reversed polarity on the connection, however momentary, especially with such a powerful battery, you probably did fry the Processor, Radio, and Flash chip.  I'd say it's time to order another one.

Tom

[Felix]

You can put up to 16V on VIN. You cannot put 16V on VIN and also power it separately through FTDI.
Battery capacity does not matter, 600 or 100mAh will do the same damage at that voltage.

Check the regulator output with a multimeter, it should be 3.3v.
What probably killed it (perhaps just the regulator) is the reverse polarity. You may be able to replace the regulator and get it back.

[jsglazer]

+ this post "Reviving Moteino after applying 9V in reverse" https://lowpowerlab.com/forum/index.php?topic=1147.0

Thank you both for the quick replies!  I soldered the 9v battery cables to the GND and VIN pins that are directly adjacent to the FTDI connections, i.e. I attached the positive cable to "PWR 3.3-9V" on the diagram https://lowpowerlab.com/shop/moteino-r4, so guess I fried it when I accidentally reversed polarity.  Better to have an obvious if dumb problem than spend hours on troubleshooting.  I'll [learn how to] check the regulator but in the mean time it's back to the LPL shop for a replacement w/spare.

And thanks for an awesome collection of products, Felix.  Josh

[TomWS]

@jsglazer, along the lines of 'keep the barn door closed', I'd recommend adding a diode (1N4001 or equivalent) in series with your battery leads just to prevent this problem occurring again.  The 9V battery clip is VERY easy to reverse connect (as you have found) and the diode will protect the circuits (and won't affect battery life in this case).

Tom