Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

Thanks to PCBWay.com/?from=atomic for the fantastic PCBs and SMT assembly.

I’ve been assembling another batch of ESP32 Rainbow boards — and three of them failed QA in different and interesting ways.

Let's take a look and see if we can salvage them - or if the boards are only good for spares...

🔕 One board with no sound
⌨️ One with a dodgy keyboard
🔌 And one where the ESP32 USB wouldn’t enumerate at all

With a bit of work under the microscope, and some buzzing out of traces, we can work out what's gone wonky and try and fix it.

---
If you'd like to help support the channel and help me buy more nonsense - I have a Patreon page: patreon.com/atomic14

We've also got a shop now! shop.atomic14.com

And if you're shopping on AliExpress or Amazon then if you click on these links I will get a little bit of affiliate money:

Aliexpress - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Ac05mF
Amazon - amazon.com/?tag=atomic14-20

You can also join us on Discord here: discord.gg/h2DDnDdjD2

There's also the Atomic14 newsletter here: atomic14.substack.com

And don't forget about the MakerNews newsletter - makernews.substack.com