crap a moose

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mikess68

mikess68

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ok, the multi prong plug on the back of the inst gages cluster on a 72 swinger. one broke off! soldered a replacement very carefully. looks good but now signal lights won't work right . how do i fix. or do i need to get a replacement gage cluster etc. anyone have a fix? it that one part able to order? etc. crap..... :banghead:
 
Get an ohmmeter and verify you're making contact to the printed circuit from the soldered on pin. I bet it's not. Keep solderin til it does.
 
You may have broken more than one pin "loose." If you look carefully at the PC, you can easily follow the traces and figure out where then go. The two turn indicators have one trace that goes to ground along with some other dash lamps, and then they each have the "hot" trace that goes directly to the connector.

So follow it back, put an ohmeter on the copper trace connecting the lamp socket, the other probe on the pin, and WIGGLE it to see if you are losing contact.

Don't discount the fact that you may have a poor ground on the ground trace, or a bad bulb or socket, etc.
 
I've been meaning to post this since I had a cluster to practice on. Since it was a spare with a "slight" previous repair, I had no worries about screwing it up worse :lol:

Broken Pin :( actually multiple broken pins
View attachment broken_pin.jpg
Here is what I used to "patch" with..I know it's a paper clip, but one should use some suitable wire instead.
The solder doesn't like to stick to the steel paper clip so I recommend single strand copper wire at a small enough gauge to fit inside the pin or multi-strand wire with enough strands to fill most of the inside of the pin
View attachment supplies.jpg
Here is the back of the board after pre-soldering a nub for contact. You'll need to scuff the copper pins to make sure the solder sticks. At the end it should look like the back of a circuit board.
View attachment back_with_solder.jpg
This next one is the wire soldered inside the pin. Use enough solder to "wick" up inside the pin.
You'll want to make sure the wire is long enough to poke out the back AND be long enough so you can hold the pin in place when soldering to the main board. The long wire will also dissipate heat so you don't get burnt while trying to hold it in place.
When you're done, just clip the wire on the back and tip and viola.
View attachment pin_soldered.jpg
This one is of how strong it is when done
View attachment strength_test.jpg

And the final one with the repaired pin circled :)
View attachment fixed_pin.jpg
 
ok, man thans for the pics. just an after thought i don't have the lights hooked up to the car. the signal lights on the fenders or grill. ?? maybe?? anyway my solder job was not that good. if nothing else is found, ill pull it off and do it that way. tks
 
No problem, I started to put together a tutorial a couple of months ago when a few posts started popping up about it but I never got around to posting it...thanks for reminding me :)

The strength test is really what surprised me, I wanted it to be stronger than stock, but that pin is holding the weight of the whole cluster with lateral force, AND now I'm not worried about breaking mine when the time comes to pull it. Tests went well and it only took about 10 min for the first pin with taking pictures.

What the pics don't show very well is that the pin goes all the way through the board and it's soldered from the back and the base of the tube was tinned at the base. So the solder creates a solid piece.
 
X2, that's why the dash indicators will stay lit if the signal lever is engaged and one of the grill or tail bulbs is burnt out on that side.
 
If you are going to solder on that copper, you need to clean it off. Fine scotchbrite, sand paper, pencil eraser, etc. Clean off any abrasive after, and use alcohol last.

I often use a flux, available at any welding store called "No corrode". It is safe on electrical stuff, and I sometimes use it on joints that are difficult to clean.

ALWAYS use solder designed for electrical use, and NEVER use acid core (plumbing) solder on electrical work. The solder that Radio Sh$$ sells is , ...........OK
 
OK man I will officially withdraw my "crap a Moose". another page in the learning book. tks for all the info and replies. :)
 
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