Below is a picture of the board - everything looks ok, except for the LNK302DN chip (such a voltage converter), which seems slightly smeared at the DRAIN leg:


Subsequent questions - is it worth messing around with replacing the LNK302DN? Anyone encountered such problems with ZAMEL transmitters?
I can order a new one, but I'm afraid a differential will pop up again at some point and I'll have to play with pulling it out of the box again :/
PS, if the post should land somewhere else, I apologise - I tried to choose as close to thematically as possible.