USB LED light plug broken

I don't know if this is an electrical thing or if I should find a more data-cable forum but we're talking about a string of lights so...

This string of lights plugs in via USB and something bent the power adapter disconnecting the USB plug/terminal from the switch interrupter thing. Is there ANY way to salvage this so I don't lose an entire string of lights because of this problem?


Thanks for any help.

 

The USB plug is broken off the board. You would need a soldering iron to reinstall that one
or a new one and that would be as long as the board isn't cracked.

 

PJmax From the photo I see it looks like the board is cracked as it looks to be bent downwards.

 

What can I show you guys in greater detail to determine what I can do?
Or are you seeing enough to determinet that already?
Just seems such a waste to lose a 33ft string of lights that we use all the time.

 

Um, I MAY be under-thinking this, BUT-

IF this is a 'dumb' string of lights, i.e. isn't WiFi, then the board is there for the fuse:
THEN I would guess that the lights most likely run of 5v DC?

That means you should simply be able to cut the mini USB end off a 5v DC USB phone charger and then splice the charger and the lights together to get them to light up?

 

Yes Hal_S that seems correct to me. I just wouldn't know how to splice the cable to the charger. But I could even just cut the cable before the little logic board, lose it altogether, get some old USB-A cable and splice its plug onto the end. The only thing lost with that either way is that the logic board's little button cycles through different modes. But, yes, if the goal is to avoid waste and keep using a perfectly good string of lights in some way then adding a new USB-A end would be the best solution. It'll probably just default to whatever its basic "on" mode is.
So, then I need to learn how to add a new end to a USB cable, that's all. Must be some proper way to do that, unless it really is just coppper to copper like an RCA audio cable. If anyone can help I'm all ears.

 

Personally, I would try to repair (or replace) the USB connector on the circuit board. If you bypass the board entirely, you may lose more than the different modes. LED's typically require 1.8 to 3.3 volts for proper operation. The 5V from the supply needs to be reduced to run the LED's (without burning them out). While it can be done in several ways, it's very possible that the voltage reduction is performed on the circuit board.

 

Interesting, I hadn't realized that the USB voltage was normally stepped down for LED lights.

Perhaps the simplest resolution would be to stop by the local computer / electronics shop it shouldn't be THAT much to get a couple of traces soldered. It MIGHT be worthwhile checking Facebook or social media for electronics shop recommendations.
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