RRC Seat Memory Circuit Board Repair

luckyjoe

Well-known member
Callsign: KD2PXL
Do I need to repair this trace, or is the plated thru-hole enough?
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Jeff B

Well-known member
I cant tell which section I'm looking at here, it's been a while since I looked at one of these.
I'm guessing you're already aware of the old battery leakage issue that corrodes everything...

There's a guy in Maryland who repairs/resells these for a decent price.


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luckyjoe

Well-known member
Callsign: KD2PXL
It's hard for me to get a good picture. so I marked up this one.
  • The Yellow circles are the original battery pins. I cut the battery out, and soldered wires to these pins.
  • The green arrow points to the only board corrosion. I scratched away to powdery residue and swabbed the board.
  • The board functioned 100% prior to battery removal.
I don't know if that (what the green arrow points to) is a trace, or if that pin connects to a trace on the backside of the board?

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BarryO

Well-known member
Looks like a trace to me; check continuity with an ohmeter.

The rightmost yellow circle looks like it might be a cold solder joint. Best to hit it with a soldering iron again
 

O2batsea

Well-known member
Just from the pic it appears that corrosion has gotten under the 2003A Integrated circuit. I normally demo that IC (well both of them actually as there are traces under it that get corrosion damage and I have to pull those off to check) and replace it with a 16 pin socket that lets you insert a new IC. It elevates the IC up off the board, keeping it out of the puke.
The large trace indeed goes through the card to the back and yes it must be cleaned up and repaired so that you can install a fresh battery.
There may be other damage but without inspection and testing no way to say. You can see some darkening of the copper traces under the green coating near the IC. Trouble there. You will want to address that.
 

pmatusov

Technical Excellence Contributor
Callsign: AK6PM
You may have to unsolder that chip and restore all traces around the affected area - there was a repair kit on eBay not too long ago.
My personal success with repairing these controllers - 2 out of 3 working, 1 absolutely not (worse even, it would occasionally move the mirrors cock-eyed, and it would not let me adjust them unless the driver door is open).
What a flaming junk these are.
Come to think of it, the only other manufacturer using these was Rolls Royce.
 

luckyjoe

Well-known member
Callsign: KD2PXL
Bill,

It worked fine when removed last week, so my thoughts are to solder wires to the pins (from the original battery) that go to an external Varta battery (in its own piggy-back enclosure).

Should I proceed and see if it works, or send it to you for a rework?

Tom P.
 

pmatusov

Technical Excellence Contributor
Callsign: AK6PM
The replacement battery can also come from wherever, DigiKey included.
True that the chip and socket could be bought from DigiKey - but that's a resource fewer people are familiar with :)
 

luckyjoe

Well-known member
Callsign: KD2PXL
Thanks to some guidance from those more knowledgeable than me (soldering & circuit board stuff), I now have my seat/mirror memory controller re-installed and 100% functional. I elected to cut the old battery out, leaving the pins in the circuit board. I then soldered new wires to these pins, added a connector, and put the new battery in a remote enclosure.

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