[Dukaki848]

The hits keep coming. Went to get an inspection sticker today and my front left blinker was out. I read some where that the front blinkers can't be disassembled but I got them apart when I got home. You have to take off the extension and there is 2 tabs to push down and the blinker pops out of the housing. Ofter using a heat gun to warm the epoxy I got the lense off and saw the black wire was no longer soldered to the board. Any body have any ideas on where to go to have to re soldered.

 

[DUCKYMAR]

You could try buying a soldering tool, soldering flux, and soldering it yourself.

 

[Rolle]

:blind:

 

[jtdbsr]

Any electronics repair shop will be able to do it

 

[Dukaki848]

I should of expected that, Everyone's a comedian but not much help. . I know where it goes and if i thought it was easy as dropping a piece of solder on the wire I would do it myself. A buddy who works on printers and copiers that cost more than my bike said I should be careful not to burn the board. He said he has a special soldering iron that doesn't touch the board but he is away for the next week.
That's what I was thinking jtdbsr but was hoping somebody would have some direction other then smart ass comments to help me do it. Oh well

 

[jtdbsr]

You asked where to go to get it fixed, so that's how I answered it. If you want to attempt it to DIY:

1. Strip wire back about a 1/4"
2. Heat the stripped part of the wire until you can melt a little dab of solder on it.
3. As soon as step two is done, heat the solder on the board to melt it(takes only a few seconds) and push wire into the hole while keeping the soldering iron on the wire. as soon as the solder flows between the wire and board, remove the iron and let it cool.

The wire insulation will get very hot, i would hold it with a pair of needle nose pliers right at the end of the insulation and keep removing/applying the iron to not melt the sheeting. Practice on 2 wires to get a feel for it first.

 

[Dukaki848]

Sorry bro didn't mean to snap like a broad. Up all night with a 2.5 year old with strep for the third time this year. It wasn't your reply yours is what I was thinking I should do. But Out of frustration I went against my buddies advice grabbed my soldering iron and dripped some solder over the wire Onto the contact. Prob solved for now. This blinker has always rattled so I glued the board to the blinker housing to hopefully keep it from happening again.

 

[jtdbsr]

Mine used to rattle too and one of them stopped working altogether like yours. I think the rattling breaks the wire.

 

[gnarly]

here ya go bro.

Radio Shack should have solder paste. Do Not use a hair dryer but if you do...have it about 8" away from the board. Anything closer will splatter that paste around.

I used this method when I fixed my daughter's droid razr motherboard.


Good luck man.

Edit:
If it happens again btw.

PS: you'll have to be very precise in trimming the end of that wire. Don't expose too much or the continuity might change. I'd use a normal soldering iron and the thinnest wire gauge for solder but it might melt the board and if there's another platting around, the heat my remove that.

fyi: Use latex gloves.

 

[[email protected]]

I've done these types of fixes on boards before and your friend is correct about not wanting to burn the board. Good video to follow.

 

[ducducgop]

I am a hardware guy and this is probably the easiest solder job in the world even if you have never soldered before.

Get the following from radio shack:
De-soldering pump - Vacuum Desoldering Tool : Soldering Tools & Supplies | RadioShack.com
or this one
De-soldering bulb - Desoldering Bulb : Desoldering Bulbs | RadioShack.com

30watt Iron starter kit - 5-Piece Basic Soldering Set - Soldering Gun & Tool Set | RadioShack


Heat the pad on the board until the solder is molten and then hit it with the de-soldering pump/bulb to remove the solder from the hole (its a thru-hole mount in the PCB that goes all the way thru the board). Once you get all the solder out, or most of it, strip the wire and then put it into the hole and then heat the wire and dab it with solder. The solder will eventually soak up into the wire and fill the hole making a secure connection. Just look at the other wire and thats how much solder you should apply, plenty of videos on youtube to show you the basics of soldering.

Don't worry about frying the board, there are no sensitive components near that lead on the board and you would really need to be on it and digging with the iron for a while (minutes) to ruin it with a 30watt iron.


Also, do NOT use solder paste or a heat gun. That is for surface mount parts and would not be the correct way to repair this and will likely fail shortly after it is "fixed" using those materials.

 

[ducducgop]

 

[Dukaki848]

^exactly what I was asking for. Unfortunately I did not do as good as job as I probably should have. I was afraid to damage the board so I only heated the board up enough to pull the broken piece of wire out and plunged the piece of stripped wire back in the hole. I then just dripped some solder onto the same spot. it seemed to be pretty strong and I also put some glue around the board to hold it to the blinker housing and prevent it from rattling. Thanks for the info if it happens again I will prob just bring it to a computer repair shop or something.

 

[ducducgop]

You should be fine, looks like a decent enough solder job. My guess is that vibration over time make the wire snap right where it connects to the board. If it happens again let me know, i am in MA and can fix it for ya if you want.

Typically for situations where the wire has a lot of potential to move around they will drill a hole in the PCB, loop the wires thru it and then tie a knot before soldering the leads to the board. This way when the wires vibrate/pull they are pulling on the knot you tied in the PCB and not on the solder connections which will break.