# Sobo's Cluster F#$%... **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Automotive\ **Created:** [May 21, 2010, 6:07am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358 "2010-05-21T06:07:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LUKE\_L](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/luke_l/32/7462_2.png) [@LUKE\_L](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/LUKE_L)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:07am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/1 "2010-05-21T06:07:31Z")
Sobo asked me to take a look at the cluster out of his RX7. The odometer was not working and there was an issue with a flickering LED. The LED was an issue with the socket. I had to modify the LED leads to make constant contact on the base (No pics of that). This is how I fixed the odometer. There really is not much info here but maybe you will learn a thing or two or ask a question…where are all here to share, right? Here is the cluster untouched. ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00520.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00520.jpg) Ok I touched it… ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00486.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00486.jpg) Closer inspection. You can see something happened. ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00494.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00494.jpg) ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00495.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00495.jpg) Then I pulled it apart. ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00500.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00500.jpg) ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00501.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00501.jpg) CLOSER Inspection. Ugh. Yummy. ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00502.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00502.jpg) ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00504.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00504.jpg) ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00505.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00505.jpg) Capacitors C1, C3, C4, and C12 where shot. This is commonly know as “Capacitor plague” in industry today but was not ruled a failure point until early 2000. Over time the capacitor literally “cooks” which leads to leaking electrolyte. This causes the component to fail. I ripped all potentially “Bad” capacitors out. Based on their size and rating it is pretty easy to weed out the bad ones. ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00506.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00506.jpg) Then cleaned the PCB. If you have ever looked at a commercial PCB you see all the flux residue left over from their highly controlled processes. ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00507.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00507.jpg) ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00511.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00511.jpg) I tested each part that appeared damaged. This Zener Diode was pretty beaten up at the solder termination on the Anode. However, the part itself was good. I removed and resoldered the joint. Much better. ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00508.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00508.jpg) (Again for reference) ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00504.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00504.jpg) I didn’t grab a shot of the dirty PCB rear but all the LCD pins, Speedo pins, and large thru-hole parts had a lot of residue. It is unrelated to what I am doing but I cleaned that anyways. ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00514.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00514.jpg) With the bad Caps out and the board ready to go I bent, terminated, and cleaned the new parts. I replaced these caps: - C1 - 10 uF - C2 - 47 uF - C3 - 1,000 uF - C4 - 1 uF - C6 - 1 uF - C11 - 2.2 uF - C12 - 10 uF - C13 - 1uF I switched to a solid axial Tantalum capacitors for most of the radial capacitors I pulled out. The solid Tantalum is highly reliable and will virtually not break down. The 1,000 uF cap I replace with a new electrolyte, but this time I switched to a larger wattage capacitor. While the component is much larger I was able to fit it on the PCB. This allows for a lower risk of being overdriven and potentially no risk of breakdown. ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00515.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00515.jpg) ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00516.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00516.jpg) ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00517.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00517.jpg) ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00518.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00518.jpg) All done and back in service. ![http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00522.jpg](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/llorentz/NYSpeed/sobo/DSC00522.jpg) Before you toss that used non-working part in the trash, take it apart and try to fix it. Or, shoot me a PM. Total part cost to fix: Around $5. Total time to fix: 10 hours. ---
**Author:** ![97FormulaWS-6](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/97formulaws-6/32/7384_2.png) [@97FormulaWS-6](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/97FormulaWS-6)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/2 "2010-05-21T06:12:14Z")
Nice work as always Lucas! ---
**Author:** ![TrueBlue](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/trueblue/32/7245_2.png) [@TrueBlue](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/TrueBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/3 "2010-05-21T06:16:17Z")
Bro, you do some good work - that’s black magic to me! :tup: ---
**Author:** ![91MR2](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/91mr2/32/7217_2.png) [@91MR2](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/91MR2)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:17am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/4 "2010-05-21T06:17:16Z")
Awesome Luke, and great thread title! ---
**Author:** ![newman](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/newman/32/7569_2.png) [@newman](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/newman)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:17am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/5 "2010-05-21T06:17:33Z")
I love your DIYs ---
**Author:** ![Minglor](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/minglor/32/7373_2.png) [@Minglor](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Minglor)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:35am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/6 "2010-05-21T06:35:33Z")
fucking voodoo my friend. In the event I have something of that matter fail, I’ll just call you. ---
**Author:** ![94excivic](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/94excivic/32/5263_2.png) [@94excivic](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/94excivic)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/7 "2010-05-21T06:39:15Z")
WOW.nice work! ---
**Author:** ![ieatpaint](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/ieatpaint/32/7311_2.png) [@ieatpaint](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ieatpaint)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/8 "2010-05-21T06:43:48Z")
Damn, thats pretty impressive. Slightly OT, but would have have access to anything that you could find out specific resistor sizing on an amp? I have a kicker 250w that died and a friend said one of the resistors is shot and kicker won’t tell him the size. He tried testing it but it didn’t work, IDK why I don’t understand this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Onyx\_Z32](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/onyx_z32/32/7581_2.png) [@Onyx\_Z32](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Onyx_Z32)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:44am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/9 "2010-05-21T06:44:56Z")
Damn! Great work man! :tup: ---
**Author:** ![Daddie](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/daddie/32/7621_2.png) [@Daddie](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Daddie)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:45am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/10 "2010-05-21T06:45:34Z")
I’m stupid. ---
**Author:** ![XwalkerX](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/xwalkerx/32/7598_2.png) [@XwalkerX](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/XwalkerX)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/11 "2010-05-21T06:47:54Z")
> [@Daddie](#): > > I’m stupid. lulz exactly how i feel after looking at that ---
**Author:** ![JayS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jays/32/15375_2.png) [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:48am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/12 "2010-05-21T06:48:08Z")
Damn popping capacitors. We lose a ton of motherboards here at work the same way. Noticed the Astronics card on your desk. Congrats on the new Airbus contract. ---
**Author:** ![pirite](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/pirite/32/5308_2.png) [@pirite](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/pirite)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/13 "2010-05-21T06:52:44Z")
:bigtup: ---
**Author:** ![Geoff](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/geoff/32/6104_2.png) [@Geoff](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Geoff)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/14 "2010-05-21T07:03:48Z")
10 hours! Goddamn! Great documentation :tup: ---
**Author:** ![Willybeen](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/willybeen/32/7351_2.png) [@Willybeen](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Willybeen)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:08am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/15 "2010-05-21T07:08:00Z")
10 hours… 5 dollars… sure, if i was knowledgeable enough to know what i was looking at, id see dirt/grime and say… “let me clean that up… oh shit, still broken” now i wasted a few hours, and its still broke… so ill jump on ebay and buy a used one for 200 :)… lol Nice write up btw. ---
**Author:** ![Matt\_Danger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/matt_danger/32/4981_2.png) [@Matt\_Danger](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Matt_Danger)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:08am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/16 "2010-05-21T07:08:07Z")
Cool DIY. What’s your day job Luke? ---
**Author:** ![boardjnky4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:11am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/17 "2010-05-21T07:11:37Z")
I understood none of that :tup: to getting it working though lol ---
**Author:** ![buffalo\_vr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@buffalo\_vr4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/buffalo_vr4)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:11am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/18 "2010-05-21T07:11:54Z")
impressive work! now can you roll back my odometer now?..j/k ---
**Author:** ![LUKE\_L](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/luke_l/32/7462_2.png) [@LUKE\_L](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/LUKE_L)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:17am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/19 "2010-05-21T07:17:20Z")
Thanks for the comments everyone. I would be happy to help anyone out with stuff like this or try to steer you in the right direction. > [@ieatpaint](#): > > Slightly OT, but would have have access to anything that you could find out specific resistor sizing on an amp? I have a kicker 250w that died and a friend said one of the resistors is shot and kicker won’t tell him the size. He tried testing it but it didn’t work, IDK why I don’t understand this stuff. If it is a resistor only issue you could just look at the resistor. They are “marked” either color coding, part number, or _sometimes_ even on the board (but this is unlikely). It is hard to diagnoise an unmarked component but there may be a way to do it. The simplest way would be to find a working one and just measure it. The hardest way, and very dangerous, is to make an educated guess based on the circuit design. I do not reccommend just throwing in a “guess” as this could cause even more damage. But I would be willing to look at it for you. > [@JayS](#): > > Damn popping capacitors. We lose a ton of motherboards here at work the same way. > > Noticed the Astronics card on your desk. Congrats on the new Airbus contract. Thanks. It is a good amount of business for us too. > [@Willybeen](#): > > 10 hours… 5 dollars… sure, if i was knowledgeable enough to know what i was looking at, id see dirt/grime and say… “let me clean that up… oh shit, still broken” now i wasted a few hours, and its still broke… > > so ill jump on ebay and buy a used one for 200 :)… lol Haha. Most of the time is tracing what is broke versus what is not broke. Also, taking apart something that is not meant to be easily reworkable take time. I had to de-solder the speedometer to get it off. Some of the copper planes on this were rather thick. It takes time…:shrug: ---------- Post added at 10:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 AM ---------- > [@Matt Danger](#): > > Cool DIY. What’s your day job Luke? Manufacturing Eng by trade, Mechanical/Industrial Eng by Education, Electrical technician through work experience and DIYs. ---
**Author:** ![pirite](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/pirite/32/5308_2.png) [@pirite](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/pirite)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:19am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358/20 "2010-05-21T07:19:32Z")
how much do you charge for work like this/led conversions and such? [Next page](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/sobos-cluster-f/155358.md?page=2)