Date:         Sun, 8 May 2005 10:21:02 -0400
Reply-To:     Robert Harris <rdh24@CORNELL.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Harris <rdh24@CORNELL.EDU>
Subject:      Re: holy smokes (melted the instrument circuit)
In-Reply-To:  <6.2.1.2.2.20050506114424.04313998@66.51.205.14>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

Just an update on my little Dashboard Fiasco.  Thanks to all for the
suggestions and support!  Y'all are right that what I called the hi beam
"LED" is actually a bulb and blue cover, but I did swap the resistor to the
proper value when I put in an LED in their place.  So that part is all
good... but the instrument lighting circuit track really did get fried and
I ripped a couple other traces in the heat of the moment.

Jbange you were dead on right about the limits of soldering jumpers onto
the mylar circuit sheet to repair broken traces.  That fix lasted about one
day before the printed copper tracks flaked off where I'd soldered to them.

Guess I will be trolling eBay for a new gauge cluster!  Anybody have an '85
cluster they want to unload?  It's OK if the speedo and tach themselves are
busted/missing as I will swap in my existing ones.

Y'all have a good weekend
Robert H



>That's when all the instruments lights flickered out and grey smoke started
>pouring off the mylar printed circuit sheet.  Aaaack!  Punched off the
>light switch to stop the juice, yanked the gauge cluster out again, and
>back to the workbench.  Ahh, the heady aroma of burning German
>plastic.  (usually followed shortly by the smell of burning MasterCard
>plastic)   Turns out the printed copper contacts behind the bulbs are all
>starting to lift off the plastic sheet they were printed on, and when I
>wiggled the bulb one of the circuit tracks moved far enough to short out