Buffers and optoisolators are the board components that take the hit when a power surge happens in the system. In this case they can blow protecting the PC and the rest of the system. These can be easily replaced because they are mounted on sockets. Now you can order Integrated Circuit Replacement Kit for most of the boards. Be careful to align the marks in the IC with the marks in the socket. Before ordering please inspect the board for damage on the PCB, or other components, as the damage could be extensive and affected other areas of the board. If you are not comfortable with this, or you see the damage is massive, you can email me for upgrading to a new board with 25% off the listed price of the new board. This is part of the policy of not making a profit out of user’s mishaps.

Here are some recommendations to trouble shoot a board to see if the problem is associated to a blown chip:

- Make sure the signal does come into the board, the signal at the cable that goes into the board.
- Make sure the board has the outputs enabled, check the signal at the EN terminal.
- Make sure the board is properly powered, make sure the board does provide at least the rated amperage.
- Read the manual for proper configuration and other jumper settings.

If all the conditions above mentioned have been checked, then check the following:
- When buffer chips blow, many times they create an internal short.  This short could not just affect the specific signal, but could create other strange behavior, like deforming the waveform that goes through other pins.

- Look for:
    * Hot spots on the board or chips.
    * Voltage drop at the power terminals (it could also be a problem with the power source).
    * Unusual power consumption, use a multimeter to check the amps consumed.
    * Disconnect all the connections, and test pin by pin.  The problem could be at a different pin.

- If you have doubts on the board, please email us with serial number and we can check the inspection record.

$25.81