Identifying a microcontroller - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: MRKSXC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2024, 08:11:36 pm
content: Hello,I once again return here with some questions and problems.I'm fixing a Dewalt battery charger and it seems to have a dead microcontroller. Model: Dewalt DCB105Why i think its dead is well, its not powering on and the VSS and VDD pins are short even after removing it from the pcb. The short on the PCB went away after the removal.I tried to access it with a programmer but no luck.The model is PIC16F1936 which seems to be quite a common one.Now, I have another charger, The same model and all, The pcb-s are identical, But the only problem is that the controller is a different one.It has the same 28 pins, the outputs/Inputs seem to be the same, But the controller model is: First line N116922, Second line:BD2011Z0D or ZOD neither gave me a datasheet, The third line is Microchip Tech logo and 14142DQI find places that have it for sale, Mostly alibaba and other sites like that but no datasheet.Now what are the chances that its the same PIC16F1936 chip, just rebranded or something like that, and if I would remove it from the working charger, could i use the same programmer to read the chip and write it to a new PIC16F to make a new chip for the faulty charger ?

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2024, 08:41:05 pm
content: Modern Microchip PICs have fairly strong security, and the security bits in the Config are usually enabled for commercial products, so the odds are against you even if it *IS* a house-numbered PIC16F1936. If it is and has security enabled, you should be able to read the chip ID and the Config, but the program memory and possibly also the data EEPROM will read back as all zeros.

author: Jwillis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2024, 06:23:39 am
content: That is made specifically for Black and Decker. Dewalt is a subsidiary of Black and Decker. As Ian says they are locked. As far as I know they can't even be read with programmers.The Dewalt battery packs can be charged with a Hobby smart charger.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2024, 06:48:41 am
content: Microchip offers a programming service which also lets you specify a custom label. That is likely what they did.Quote from: Ian.M on April 12, 2024, 08:41:05 pmStill pretty weak compared to "true" secure MCUs like those used in smartcards and such - various companies in far East will be able to break the former for few k$, but that's probably many orders of magnitude more than you want to spend, when learning to write your own replacement code may even be easier for an application like this. There's already projects likehttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/replacement-firmware-for-dyson-v10-batteries/around here for comparison.

author: MRKSXC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2024, 07:18:46 am
content: Ahhh, thank you all for the info but I guess this one is going to the parts bin.My friend gave me the 4 chargers, all broken, so 3 out of 4 fixed is a good enough for me.I just hoped I could clone the chip. Thats the closest I get to programming. I have no idea how to write my own code.And paying someone to crack it is also out of the question. There is no point to pay few k$ for a charger that costs 20$ on Amazon.I was thinking, maybe I'll find a N116922 for sale, but even then, that chip would probably be "empty"

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2024, 02:52:15 am
content: Quote from: MRKSXC on April 13, 2024, 07:18:46 amThat marking is custom so I doubt you'd get a blank chip. It could even be some other completely unrelated part with the same package, just remarked to whatever someone wants. At the other end of the scale, you might get a salvaged but working part, or salvaged and not working, from others who disposed of the same device that got recycled.

author: MathWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2024, 12:59:23 pm
content: Maybe you can find code for a similar sized battery charging application. What all other IC's are in a charger ? IDK about PIC MCU's, but surely there would be Arduino/AVR type battery charger projects.