Hi everyone,
I just wanted to give some feedback on my investigation into the ST16 battery drain problem. After a lot of testing, I was able to track the issue down to the power section near the USB port. The boost converter in that area was staying active even when the ST16 was turned off, which explained both the continuous 5 V present on the USB port and the self-discharge of the battery.
To confirm this, I removed the inductor connected to the converter. With the inductor desoldered, the problem disappeared completely: the enable line no longer stayed high when USB was disconnected, there was no more heat, and the battery stopped draining on its own.
So there are basically two options depending on how far you want to go with the repair:
- Quick fix: leave the inductor removed. This disables the 5 V OTG function on the USB port, but the ST16 works normally otherwise and the self-discharge problem is gone.
- Proper repair: replace the boost converter IC and reinstall the inductor. That restores the USB OTG function and brings the board back to its original state.
Hopefully this can help anyone else facing the same issue.