G27 handbrake mod fail, wheel resets (pics)

[mbeers6]

Hello all,

I've spent days searching about this problem and it appears my soldering job might be the cause of this problem, but I'd like to confirm and see what recommendations you all have. FYI - I was told NOT to solder the resistor in R94 as I probably "jumped" the resistor now.

My question is how can I test my soldering connections WITHOUT using a switch? Meaning, if I touch the two wires together that I soldered to the board (using Chilli Coke's guide) should it activate the button in my G27 profiler? Why, because I'm not sure if the switch I bought from Radio Shack is an "open" or "closed" switch.

Here is link to the handbrake mod in case anyone is not familiar with it
http://www.chilicoke.com/mods/ebrake.htm

This is for PC use and all buttons work correctly on the shifter but when I touch the 2 wires together the wheel turns side to side and resets itself. I've included photos below and unlike another's post here, I don't see any holes burned in the board on the opposite side of the solder point, etc.

I DID heat up the connection point on the board for at least 5 seconds and wonder if I might have burned the ground connector. Here are some pics ANY THOUGHTS ARE APPRECIATED

I bought a new shifter off ebay today so before I attempt to solder that one, if I just touch the wires to the 2 locations on the board (as a test before I solder) will that work?

Is there another way to secure the wires to the board WITHOUT using solder?

Wire to "O" button

Backside of "O" button solder (near "TP109" lettering, no holes, etc)

Ground

Backside of Ground wire (near J12) lettering

 

[itrdc5]

I'm not an electronics guy but I think the problem is you soldered over the resistor. It should only be soldered on one end only as per the chilicoke video. You should also use hot glue to keep the wires in place to avoid straining the solder point and breaking it over time.

I bought a new shifter off ebay today so before I attempt to solder that one, if I just touch the wires to the 2 locations on the board (as a test before I solder) will that work?

Yes, that should work.

Good luck.

 

[StudeJeeper]

itrdc5 is correct. you have soldered over the entire resistor. You may be able to save it by un-soldering but I doubt it. The resistor is actually the small dark gray square portion in the middle. You have bridged it over with solder effectively bypassing it and creating a short.

 

[mbeers6]

Thanks guys, I see what I did wrong now.

To clarify, I did solder he ground correctly right? No resistor there so I think I was good there.

 

[sesselpupser]

I think you'll find those resistors are pull-downs so you won't have damaged the board or anything. You need some de-solder braid to remove all the solder, replace the resistor and try again. SMD components are bloody hard to solder in place with an iron, though, SMD repairs done by hand usually involve solder paste and heat guns. It can be done if you have a steady hand, the usual advice is to solder small (like really small) blobs of fluxed solder onto the pads, place the component appropriately on those pads then reheat the solder. Alternatively you could go for a seriously ugly repair, decode the number on the resistor (I'm betting they're 10K, the code would be '103' (10 + 3 zeros, 10,000, 10K)) and get a PTH resistor (i.e. resistor with legs for soldering with irons) and just use that, if it'll fit.

As for the open/closed thing, you need a switch that's normally open because that's what the buttons on the PCB are; you know how you have the two pads which are bridged by the conductive bit underneath the button membrane? So yeah, touching two wires together is an appropriate testing method. And yeah, your ground connection looks fine, any spot that you're definitely sure is ground is good.