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Joined: Sep 2003
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2000 Toyota Celica
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Last night, I decided to do the LED swap on my Radio.

I'm removing the factory LED's from the board, and in the process, I'm having a hard time because my soldering iron tip is very shitty, and I have a lot of cold spots on the tip.

So instead of being smart and switching the tip, I continue the process. Well, I must have hit a cold spot on the soldering iron tip, and while gently prying the LED off of the board, it snapped off, along with the copper underneath it.

Good news: It's a light that I don't really need to light up, it's one of the lights that illuminate the tape deck entry.

Bad news: I'm determined to fix it for the hell of it. I think I may be able to salvage the copper from the LED, but how would I go about adhering it to the board, if it can even be done?

If I can' salvage the copper, then what is the technical name of the part so I can look for it in stores? I went to RadioShack today to ask about it, but the guy looked at me like I had an ass on my face.


Any help?


Aqua Teen Hunger Force...number one in the hood, G

Joined: Apr 2004
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2004 Toyota Celica GT
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2004 Toyota Celica GT
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 320
i think you woulda saved urself from this mess if you waited to get a new tip. but in this case you might be able to solder a really thin strip of copper from point A to point B of the missing copper. make sure you buy a new tip b4 doing anything.

Joined: Sep 2003
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I bought a new tip, but you cannot solder a copper plate to the board if there is no plate on the board already.

I believe they are adhered to the board with some sort of epoxy.


Aqua Teen Hunger Force...number one in the hood, G

Joined: Oct 2002
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2000 Toyota Celica
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2000 Toyota Celica
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Honestly, I wouldn't try to resolder the copper back into place. You could inadvertantly damage your board more and kill more of your LEDs. In this situation, I would just cut my loses and put the board back. I mean really, do you need the tape-deck entry lit up? I know it's the principle of the thing, but you could mess things up more.


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Joined: Jun 2004
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2002 Toyota Celica GT
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2002 Toyota Celica GT
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they make a paint to repair rear window defoggers try using that to fix the circuit board. It's kinda spendy but what can you do???

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seabass
2000 Toyota Celica GTS
seabass
2000 Toyota Celica GTS
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what i use to do in my electronics class... which isn't trhe best idea but it got the projects working ... is to strip a copper wire and pull some strands out like 2 or 3 i would stick with 2 cause its only a led then solder them to the led then drop the led in to place and solder on to the orignal spot and then on to the copper trace anywhere eles you can


hey thats a 20 minute phone call
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i thought you went with the decision to get an aftermarket stereo??? y are you doing this now??

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Originally Posted by celicafourotwo
i thought you went with the decision to get an aftermarket stereo??? y are you doing this now??
Cause I decided to use red led's instead of blue. If I were to use just the red ones, it would have costed me under $5.

I decided to do the majority of the stereo red, and do the buttons blue.

Costed me only $20.


Aqua Teen Hunger Force...number one in the hood, G

Joined: Sep 2003
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Originally Posted by drkramm
what i use to do in my electronics class... which isn't trhe best idea but it got the projects working ... is to strip a copper wire and pull some strands out like 2 or 3 i would stick with 2 cause its only a led then solder them to the led then drop the led in to place and solder on to the orignal spot and then on to the copper trace anywhere eles you can
Thanks for the advice. Looks like I will try to hardwire the LED this way.


Looked everywhere today, and no where sells copper foil, thermoset epoxy, or any types of circuit board repair kits that can be used to fix mounting pads.


I have one question for you though...

On the back of the LED, there is a T that designated polarity for the LED.

If the side of the LED that has a missing pad is on the bottom of the T, is it a ground, or not?


Aqua Teen Hunger Force...number one in the hood, G
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