I have a breakout board with a row of pins which I thought would be Arduino compatible. The pins on the breakout board line up with the Power and Analog In female pin headers on your Arduino Zero or Uno (or so I thought).
The problem is that I was mistakenly expecting the Zero headers to look like the following picture with a space in between the Voltage In and A0 pins.
Instead, my Zero has a block in between VIN & A0 where I thought the space would be. See below:
That block is preventing me from simply plugging in my breakout board. I am not using this one middle pin on the breakout board for any particular purpose, but I’d rather not cut it just to be fully compatible with the Zero/Uno.
Does anyone have advice on removing this pin block on the Zero? Is there another Zero/Uno board design that has a space (rather than a block) in between VIN & A0?
Welcome to the forum
I am not familiar with the Zero board but I would expect that it would be pin compatible with the Uno board. If so, then the gap in the pins that you describe is there due to an error in the original Uno layout that resulted in the pins in the two blocks on that edge of the board not being at 0.1 inch pitch between A0 and Vin
Are you sure that your breakout board has a pin in that area as it would serve no useful purpose
Hi @photoelectron.
Please provide more information about this breakout board.
Did you buy it online? If yes, please post a link to the product listing web page.
The off-grid header is the one with pins 8 through SCL. The header on the other side of the board with pins [reserved] - A5 is all on the 0.1" grid.
I've never ever seen an Arduino shield that has an extra pin between Vin and A0. Nor have I ever seen an Arduino board in the Uno footprint that has an extra header socket between Vin and A0.
If it bothers you that much remove the plastic header housing, unsolder all the individual pins and replace with two separate headers.
Thanks! I do not doubt that you have never seen an Arduino in the UNO footprint with a header socket between VIN & AO. Nonetheless, every board in the UNO family pictured on the official site has such a block in between those pins (UNO Family) :
Desoldering is an option, but I will hold off on marking that as the solution for now. Viable, but not preferred!
ptillisch is correct regarding the header spacing. Yes, I am sure the breakout board has a pin in that area. That particular pin does not have a useful purpose. I am, however, looking for a solution that does not involve cutting the pin on the breakout board.
The pins on my breakout board align to the headers on the Arduino (except for the one pin in between the Arduino's VIN & A0, which is blocked).
Here is the info on the breakout board (see below). The pins on the breakout board align with the Arduino Zero header (also shown). However, the Zero has the blocked header pin between VIN & A0. Thanks to all for welcoming me to the forum! Hopefully, I have described the issue clearly. Please let me know if you have any other recommendations.
You can bend the pin outwards so that it does not contact the blocked off section of the Zero's header. It is likely that the bent pin will prevent you from being able to insert the pins of the breakout board fully into the header on the Zero, but you should be able to get sufficient contact for a reliable electrical connection under reasonable use conditions (not subjected to significant vibrations).
Note that bending the header pin does result in metal fatigue and you may find that if you end up bending the pin back and forth over time it will eventually break. So this is very much an "at your own risk" technique. Additionally, when bending the pin, avoid exert unnecessary on the solder joint of the breakout board's header.
Good recommendation. Thanks @ptillisch !
You are welcome. I'm glad if I was able to be of assistance.
Regards, Per
Please post a link to where you got the breakout board as it is certainly non standard
