Dual HVAC PCB relocation info

CUTTING THE PCB

-1st pic shows the volume/on/off knob removed

-1st pic shows cutting the ribbon cables of each of the HVAC knobs. The ribbon cables should be completely removed from the PCB boards on both sides using a solder sucker and or desoldering wick. These connections will need to be lengthened later using new wire.

-2nd and 3rd pic show the PCB cut. I know the pics are terrible but heres some things to look out for before you dive in.

-This is a double sided PCB (traces on both sides) so it is very important

to plan your cut out so you don't cut through a resistor or diode.

-I used a dremmel with a very thin cuttoff wheel to make the cut.

-The hardest part was cutting past the resistors and diodes toward the

center of the PCB above the big chip (pic 2).

-I used a pencil to draw out my plan of attack on the PCB before I cut it,

it prabally took me an hour of taking measurements and really looking at

the layout of the PCB before I felt comfortable enough to cut it.

WIRE CONNECTIONS

-In the 4th pic you can see some of the connectios

-I used solid 22ga. and 24ga. copper wire from Radio Shack.

-If you look closely the PCB board (I used a large backlit magnifing glass) you can

see small circles at various points in the traces that you cut. These are the solder

points I used through out the install. They have no coating on them and are a

little bit wider than the traces themselves.

-Some of the bigger traces are large enough to scratch the coating off and solder

directly to.

-I used wire that was about 10 to 12 in. long for the exstensions. You want to

keep your trace exstensions as short as possible. Ther is'nt enough ampreage

built into those circuits for long wire runs.

-For the HVAC knobs I cleaned the ribbon cable connections out and pushed the

new wire through the hloes and soldered them in.

-Keep the large traces in mind that are on the front of the circuit board. These are

ground traces and will need to be patched together on run to chasis ground.

-After I made all the connections I glued the new wires to the PCB with super

glue to give them some strain relief.

CONNECTING THE WIRES

-In the pics above you can see the 25 pin male and female connectors I used

to plug the wires togrther

-I did'nt label any of the wires as I made the connections to the PCB. I counted

how many traces I cut and made sure I soldered wire onto all of them on both

sides of the PCB.

-After I had them all extended I attached them one by one to corresponding

pins on the male and female connectors. I used a Mltimeter to test continuity

of the new wires to their traces and through the connectors.

If anyone has any questions I'll try to keep updating this tread with answers.

Hope this helps anyone out thats planning to give this project a go!

Tom