Shorted DAQ bored

[Keiland]

Upon adding power to our miniscope setup (scope, bored computer all connected), we saw smoke coming from the DAQ board. We think it came from L13, which I believe is a power inductor.
The coax tested positive for shorts, so lesson learned on that one, we probably burned through the shelling when soldering.
Just thought I'd let everyone know to be on the lookout so you don't risk a fried board!

[Daniel Aharoni]

Hi kwcooper,
A few weeks back a Miniscope user posted about the same issue. I am copying my response below:

We have burned out the L13 inductor on one of our DAQ PCBs in the past as well. The L13 inductor is part of the power-over-coax filter which allows for DC power to be combined with the AC data signals over a signal coax cable. It is likely that you shorted the coax cable or soldered connection of the coax cable near where it connects to the DAQ PCB. If you short the coax connection very close to (or on) the DAQ PCB, a huge amount of currrent passes through the power-over-coax filter and will fry the L13 inductor. I would suggest replacing the L13 inductor and testing all your coax cable connections with a multimeter. In other words, make sure the grounded shield of the coax cable isn't shorted to the inner conductor. After checking for shorts and replacing L13 your DAQ PCB should be back up and running.