072 Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 I've gotten some questions about how I moved the PCB in my car and so here are some more details. 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fweasel Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Thanks Tom!!! This post filled in a few details that I was missing out on. I feel much more comfortable about attempting this myself. ignore him, he'll go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmarko Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Wow. This is why I'm waiting on TDC. Nice write up Tom! I just don't have the skills for something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_luv Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Hey great right up only thing can you post some sharper pix cant really see exactly where you made the cuts and mad the connections. Mr.350 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fweasel Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Hey great right up only thing can you post some sharper pix cant really see exactly where you made the cuts and mad the connections. Once you have a board laid out in front of you, it will make sense. ignore him, he'll go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaStaMooN Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Excellent! Thanks! My EE buddy asks me about this every now and then since I mentioned and showed him this post a couple of months ago.. This should help him more if I go this route.. But would rather the JDM HVAC ACC way better.. if it ever actually pans out that is. Jon - vBGarage Profile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05LeGacY_GT Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 subscribed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fweasel Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 subscribed why? ignore him, he'll go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpawnGT Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 why? +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJMC Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 +1 Post whores... I'd like to know why as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05LeGacY_GT Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 starting my own project and i dont wanna lose this thread thats whyy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpawnGT Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 Got it. is that why you bought the unit off ebay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05LeGacY_GT Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Yep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fweasel Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 much more useful tool when harvesting data for future use ignore him, he'll go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rlowez28 Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 sorry for grave digging this thread ,but i just had to say thank you for this write up. without it, i never would have completed this project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atchipmunk Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Wanted to say thanks for this thread as well...might have to follow your lead and do something similar for my '05 LGT Wagon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashdumbe Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Well looks like I need to buy a dremel, this is FANTASTIC info!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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