I've recently returned to finish my set of v2.1 boards after quite an absence (new baby's and soldering don't mix).

Trying to debug a board where I had two strings not working in adjacent quadrants, I dropped a long piece of solder on the board. I now have four strings dead to the world.

So two questions;
- Can you short circuit these boards with an unfortunate set of contacts? (the piece of solder is 4-5 inches, so could touch quite a bit, but I think only hit LEDs
- If I've done it, what's the best way to fix it? Take out everything in the sectors are start again? Accept a dead zone?

I'll move onto the next boards, but help appreciated.

Hi Euan,
Debugging the connections in one or two parts of the board is usually straightforward. However, debugging after a short circuit is harder, and debugging the board after a short circuit could be very difficult. Even if you fix the damage due to the short circuit, it can be hard to tell what's working and what's due to pre-existing issues.
At worst I'd expect the chips and phototransistors to be damaged; I don't suspect that anything else would have been damaged, but it is hard to be certain. If you are able to, I'd suggest removing the four chips from the board and place (not solder) a new one in one of the *working* quadrants to see how it behaves.
We can possibly supply replacement components and/or boards even for the older design-- contact us privately about that.