Hello all,
here a follow up on our Nest E (EU model) who does not want to connect to the App.
As determined in previous messages ( https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Thermostats/Nest-E-with-Heatlink-EU-version-in-Spain-can... ) it very much is likely to be broken.
Since it is already out of warranty I decided to open it up to see if there is anything that can be done.
Here are my first findings so far:
It indeed looks like a High Tech piece of equipment, the way it is assembled and the looks of the circuit board are impressive.
I will attach the pictures I made while opening the thermostat.
However, I have a (big) but.... (pun intended):
The back of the thermostat is hold by means of 2 screws to the front of the thermostat. These 2 screws are at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock when looking at the back of the thermostat, no problem there.
Left and right of the high density ellipse shaped connector are two more screws.
These are to hold the connector in place and attached to the back plate.
Inside of the thermostat you find a thin flexible cable going from the connector to the top of the printed circuit board.
I have a problem with the following: These little screws holding the connector are somewhat protruding on the inside of the thermostat from the back of the connector plastic part, and therefor are touching the circuit board.
And it seems like everytime a user is pressing the thermostat from the front, these screws are touching the circuit board.
And do you know Mr. Murphy?
Exactly where the right screw is touching the circuit board, there is a small track (and maybe a via (a via is a connection from one side to the other side of the PCB) ) and that place looks severely damaged, maybe even causing a short circuit ... 😞
In the pictures you can see how the screw exactly aligns with the damage on the PCB.
Is this just bad luck or a fail in design?
I will try to clean up that part of the circuit board using my microscope.
To be continued,
Leo Kroonenburg
