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How to best solder these circuit board connections...


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How to best solder these circuit board connections...
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PKIDelirium
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
 
2009-09-03, 15:16

Okay, so long story short. The wheelchair ramp/power door/suspension kneel system in my dad's Dodge Caravan basically stopped working a few weeks ago. This is a "new" one he'll be moving to (a 2000 instead of the 199 worn-out one he's driving now) and he hasn't been able to properly move into this one because of it. After a while of trying to find the problem myself, we took it to the shop that services these things, and they found this:



Yeah, that'll do it... One of the female spade sockets that the fuse plugs into is broken off, and the other one is starting to. This is on the control module that controls the system, and I hadn't been able to find it. Turns out you have to remove one of the rear speakers and get to the module through that hole, which I hadn't even thought of.



So, since the shop found the problem for us, and it's very simple, it's time for me to fix it. We went to a liquidation/surplus warehouse in downtown Dayton last week and got some parts to make a new fuse holder, after trying and failing to find any way to get the exact same direct-to-board female spade connector as the broken one. That's not a very strong way of doing it, anyway...



Version 1 of the fix. After getting the broken parts desoldered and removed, I cut the wire and made the pieces, which is a female spade on one end for the fuse, and a fork connector on the other end, filed down with a Dremel to fit the holes on the board. It works just fine, but the forks won't take solder, presumably because of the kind of metal they are, even though I filed off the aluminum coating so the contact would be direct to the copper.





Since not being able to solder it in place is obviously a problem (even though it works without the solder, there's no way in hell it'll stay in place when installed inside the wall of a moving vehicle...) we went back to the surplus place a couple days ago and got new pieces/wire for my idea of Version 2 of the fix.



Version 2 of the fix, completed except for soldering just about 20 minutes ago. Works fine in pre-soldering testing of all functions. Smaller-gauge wire (18 AWG instead of 14) that fits directly into the holes on the board, since I assumed copper wire would solder easier than those forks. The spades on the fuse are meant for 10-12 gauge wire, because I had to twist two wires together as best I could and crimp them both into a connector meant for a single wire, since I didn't have a fork on the other end.



Now obviously it'll need to be soldered on the other side of the board, but are there any special techniques or tricks I need to use? I've never soldered anything like this before (only my camera surgery in 2007), and I don't want to break it more fuck it up.
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-09-03, 15:24

Trade the Caravan in for a white RAV4, like all the cool people are doing, gosh

Quote:
Originally Posted by PKIDelirium View Post
This is a "new" one he'll be moving to (a 2000 instead of the 199 worn-out one he's driving now) and he hasn't been able to properly move into this one because of it.
A caravan from 199 A.D./C.E.?* Is it made of horses, perhaps?

And no, I don't have any idea how to best solder those connections. I wish you luck, though!

*Before I added the periods, I mistyped this AD/CD. My subconscious is apparently a dyslexic AC/DC fan.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Mugge
Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
 
2009-09-03, 15:35

Is there room to bend the wire ends on the other side of the board without touching anything else?
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PKIDelirium
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
 
2009-09-03, 18:26

Yeah, there's room to bend them on the bottom of the board, not terribly far, but there's room.
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2009-09-03, 20:53

Clean the area really good and use as still heat as possible. I like the last layout where the wires will take the stress. If you bend them it only needs to be slight enough to add contact to the solder run. Don't have it bend over more than 1mm. Literally you want just enough. Then just solder like normal. Allow wicking action to pull the solder and fill the hole/connection point.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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PKIDelirium
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
 
2009-09-04, 15:15

2 of 4 solders are done, and since I just burned the FUCK out of my finger with the 750-degree iron, I'm taking a break for a few minutes before I finish it...
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-09-04, 15:16

Quote:
Originally Posted by PKIDelirium View Post
2 of 4 solders are done, and since I just burned the FUCK out of my finger with the 750-degree iron, I'm taking a break for a few minutes before I finish it...
Oh no! Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch!

But on the plus side, you do now have the perfect emoticon to convey "I just burned the FUCK out of my finger."

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
Banana
is the next Chiquita
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2009-09-04, 15:28

PKIDelirium, aren't you super glad it's just your finger and not your orifices?



(sorry, dude. )
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ezkcdude
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
 
2009-09-04, 15:34

Quote:
Originally Posted by PKIDelirium View Post
2 of 4 solders are done, and since I just burned the FUCK out of my finger with the 750-degree iron, I'm taking a break for a few minutes before I finish it...
Ouch. I wonder which hurts more, soldering your finger, or dripping melted glass on your finger (which I did as a sophomore in organic chemistry)?
  quote
turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2009-09-05, 21:11

Yeah, that sucks bad. I used to burn myself almost every time I soldered. I just grew to expect it. Kinda sad really. Though I just about never burn myself now.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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