HELP - I've butched my VCI trying to change LEDs!!!
HELP - I've butched my VCI trying to change LEDs!!! Posted on: 26.03.2010 by Karl Forde Hi everyone.What can I say. I feel flattened! After performing the arcade mod with ease (and thoroughly enjoying it) some time ago, I thought changing the LEDs would be a breeze and yield great results - I'm colour bliind and have great difficulty in differentiating between the stock LED colours on the VCI. After finding this tutorial: http://www.djranking s.com/2009/08/3...-a-button-led/ I thought I would easily be able to do this and have a great time in the process. Instead I have butchered my VCI-100. It seems that the holes that were milled for the LEDs were very tight, so needed some force along with the heat from the soldering iron to remove. In applying this, I seem to have broken some of the printed metal tracks and short circuited the PCB in other places. Now some lights don't come on and others are flashing like crazy when I press certain (LED modded) buttons. Also, The VCI is fluctuating between power on and off. I can visibly see the couple of tracks which need repair, but this is beyond my skill set. Do any electronics wizards on here live near London and want to help me try and remedy this (or is this an insane request)? PLLLLEEEAAAASSSEEE! | |
| Dorcas Bassignani 01.05.2010 |
Originally Posted by r1chardell1s
howevre had them the wrong way round to begin with and they were always on, got it sorted now though. my project was slightly different as i was moving 2 of them to the middle of the faceplate, so soldered off the back of the existing leds. bigger pain than i expected, lol |
| robert chanda 01.04.2010 |
Originally Posted by midifidler
So, how to fix? You'll need to create a connection between the remaining trace and the new LED. One way is to use a scalpel to scratch off the paint from the trace somewhere downstream and solder a short piece of wire from that spot to the end destination, effectively bridging the gap. Another technique is to avoid the trace altogether and follow it back to see if it hits a "via" (small round hole in the PCB where traces swap sizes of the board). If it does, you can make the wire connection from the via straight to the end destination. Less neat, longer wires but a lot easier to solder. Good luck! It's not as bad as it looks, you're not out of options. Definitely rescue-able. |
| Karl Forde 26.03.2010 | Hi everyone. What can I say. I feel flattened! After performing the arcade mod with ease (and thoroughly enjoying it) some time ago, I thought changing the LEDs would be a breeze and yield great results - I'm colour bliind and have great difficulty in differentiating between the stock LED colours on the VCI. After finding this tutorial: http://www.djranking s.com/2009/08/3...-a-button-led/ I thought I would easily be able to do this and have a great time in the process. Instead I have butchered my VCI-100. It seems that the holes that were milled for the LEDs were very tight, so needed some force along with the heat from the soldering iron to remove. In applying this, I seem to have broken some of the printed metal tracks and short circuited the PCB in other places. Now some lights don't come on and others are flashing like crazy when I press certain (LED modded) buttons. Also, The VCI is fluctuating between power on and off. I can visibly see the couple of tracks which need repair, but this is beyond my skill set. Do any electronics wizards on here live near London and want to help me try and remedy this (or is this an insane request)? PLLLLEEEAAAASSSEEE! |
| Keli Vandenbergh 01.05.2010 | ... I'm not sure but about flickering leds maybe it is an issue about voltage of the new ones... maybe you fried some component (more photos?). They may be compatible with olds or recalculate resistance. About soldering desoldering ghetto patching... your pics show a tipical overheat but nothing "disastreous". Some wiring and scalpel cleaning must be enough... so I believe your leds are wrong. ... |
| Dorcas Bassignani 01.05.2010 |
Originally Posted by r1chardell1s
howevre had them the wrong way round to begin with and they were always on, got it sorted now though. my project was slightly different as i was moving 2 of them to the middle of the faceplate, so soldered off the back of the existing leds. bigger pain than i expected, lol |
| Karl Forde 01.05.2010 | Hi. Just to let you know, I ended up buying a completely new unit which I flashed to firmware version 1.3. I'm probably going to transplant the electronics from this new VCI to my Arcade casing to enjoy the buttons again. Just to reiterate, this project is not one for those who don't have experience in PCBs and soldering. Go practise on an old alarm clock first. Also, can anyone confirm if the LEDs specified in the original DJTT Post were rated correctly for the job? I swear mine were too highly rated to work, but maybe by that point I'd fried the electronics. |
| Lanny Vanosten 15.04.2010 | Just to tell you, I tried changing the led's as well and messed up some of the connections. I spent some time and put back the original leds/fixed the connections with some wire and put it all back together (never to touch it again!) cause it works now. Look up the youtube video on (vci-100 leds) and follow how the unit goes back together remembering the cardboard spacer to keep the upper board from shorting out agains the metal cover. Failing that.....Yes buy one already modded for you :-) good luck BC |
| Karl Forde 15.04.2010 | Bump! |
| Karl Forde 13.04.2010 | Hello guys. Well, time for an update. I got a friend of the family (An old school electronics engineer) to take a look at it. We managed to bridge the broken connections and replace the LEDs. However, the new LEDs were lighting only very slightly (Had to be pitch black to see the faintest of illumination from them. Nevertheless, I decided to put it back together and make do without the use of those non essential LEDs. However, every time I put it back together and close it up, it shorts out. I get a warning from my Mac that the USB device attached is drawing to much power and the port has been deactivated to prevent damage - Bloody clever, those macs. After explaining my process of removing LEDs - With the USB attached to see which way the LEDs should be replaced, my friend said that it's highly likely that I have fried some of the components. Any suggestions people or is it buy a new VCI-100 time? |
| Wai Rofkahr 06.04.2010 | You'll get a lesson in soldering and repairing to boot Let us know how it goes! |
| Herschel January 01.04.2010 | After looking at it, it should be a pretty basic fix if you can find someone who knows how to take resistance checks with a multimeter and resolder some connections. Easiest way to do it would be to have them desolder all the f'd connectors, ohm out the tracks, and then fix the broken ones with insulated wires running on top of the board. Won't look pretty, but it should get the job done. |
| Karl Forde 01.04.2010 | Thanks guys. Does anyone have any high res VCI-100 PCB photos for me to compare against? Will try and get some help with the repair on this one. I'll let you know how I fare. Cheers. Rich |
| robert chanda 01.04.2010 |
Originally Posted by midifidler
So, how to fix? You'll need to create a connection between the remaining trace and the new LED. One way is to use a scalpel to scratch off the paint from the trace somewhere downstream and solder a short piece of wire from that spot to the end destination, effectively bridging the gap. Another technique is to avoid the trace altogether and follow it back to see if it hits a "via" (small round hole in the PCB where traces swap sizes of the board). If it does, you can make the wire connection from the via straight to the end destination. Less neat, longer wires but a lot easier to solder. Good luck! It's not as bad as it looks, you're not out of options. Definitely rescue-able. |
| Adolf Hit 01.04.2010 | Rats, Yeah I believe your best bet is too replace the broken tracks with wires, but also check for shorts in areas that you have broken. Most local electronics repair outfits could do this for you if you are not confident enough after your disaster. The best way to remove LEDs it to add enough solder to create a bridge between the two pads then heat them both simultaneously and pull gently from the other side. Unless the legs are clinched it should come out with ease. |
| Herschel January 02.04.2010 | Can't see the pics cause I'm at work and they block em, but as a microminiature tech, I do these kind of repairs all day. If you are trained, one lifted/broken metal track will take you at least 2 hours and usually requires some special tools. You could use jumper wires, but first you'll have to use a scalpel or knife to remove the track that's shorted. Could be a lot of work |
| Karl Forde 02.04.2010 | Ok - Some photos uploaded - Peep these: |
| Wai Rofkahr 30.03.2010 | man, that's rough. can you post some pictures of the damaged tracks? not all hope is lost, as circuit board connections can sometimes be re-routed using solder and wire. |
| Lilliana Perris 26.03.2010 | OH SHIT....... Good luck bruv... |
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