Well it's been a while, and I better pop back in and say hi. This summer I've been taking Signals and Systems (ECE 314), and am doing an Independent study working on gridlabd with Pacific Northwest National Labs.
I learned a few very important lessons this summer.
1. DON'T PUT SPACES IN YOUR FOLDER NAMES.
2. Focus on one task until completion, jumping from project to project only results in many failed attempts.
[UPDATE]:
3. Test out parts before making them unrecoverable. I made a setup, then used Household GOOP on it to try to seal it, and when I went to use it, it didn't work, and the Goop rendered it useless.
School
I got with a classmate and am looking into working with Cosmiac on my senior project. I'm not 100% sure what every detail will entail, but looks like a fun challenge, however it sounds like there might be more java involved then I really would like. Of course I'll keep you updated.
Car
Right now I'm trying to finish adding a usb power plug as well as an audio jack to my car, cleaned up finally, and I'm refusing to work on any other projects until it's done. Future plans include reading the CAN bus messages so when I press next on my steering wheel it will change songs on my iPod touch. I do plan on doing a writeup on how I put it all together.
Arcade
I actually finally got a chance to replace my fluorescent light (for the second time), this time I didn't drop the light at walmart before testing it out, now it finally works. Now if only I can finish my other projects and get in here and get it done, I would really like to get an O-Scope, and Logic Analyzer so I can do more testing but anything is possible.
Showing posts with label mercedes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mercedes. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Monday, July 6, 2009
Steering Wheel Control
Originally I posted this on the MBworld forum, but for all intensive purposes, I've decided to link to it from my site, and also copy most of the content here, in the case that the post goes missing from the site!
Original Post:
I am making this post because I tried searching about my steering wheel controls not working, and I didn't find much, Basically the controls on the left side of my steering wheel slowly began "not working", I read about other people having the same issue but the only "fix" was to call the dealership find out it costs alot to get fixed and that was about it.
Basically I found a thread that explained to me how to get that Steering wheel torn apart enough that I could do some investigating, I'll write up a "how-to" in this thread when I get home where I have pictures.
Big key, the connector attached to the PCB (printed circuit board) had broken away from the solder, with no solid connection in place the button malfunctioned altogether.
If you are having problems with this in your car I think this is one place to check, I just soldered mine back in and it works like a charm.
Tools needed:
1. A brain.
2. Torx T30, one that will fit between your dash and the steering wheel and can reach in and unscrew the unit that holds the airbag to the steering wheel.
3. Torx T06 (let me double check on that when I get home) to take the control unit apart to get at the connector.
4. Soldering Iron with a fine point and some solder.
* NOTE: I disconnected my battery just to be safe, I recommend the same for anyone else doing this "mod"
1. Remove the airbag unit. Follow the directions located here:
W203 steering-wheel swap how-to
2. Once you have the Airbag/Steering wheel controls unit separated, place the unit facedown on a soft rag (dont want scuffs of course)!
remove the 4 screws (see attached)
back_of_airbag.jpg
3. Between the metal plate in step 2 and the rest of the unit is this piece, remember how you took it out, here it is:
spring_thing.jpg
4. Next remove the appropriate steering wheel control from the unit see they are attached by a couple screws in the locations highlighted.
controls_screw_holes.jpg
5. The rest of things are detailed in the next picture, but the long and short of it is this,
a. remove the screws holding the unit together
b. pull the circuit board out
c. if you can't tell if it is connected good or not, if you can wiggle it that's
not a good sign
d. I decided to hold the connector on (after I accidentally finished it off)
then heat up the solder on each end and let it cool so it stays on it's
own make sure you do a good job soldering it in, I'm not teaching
soldering in this tutorial. Plus you don't want to have to take it apart
and do it all again.
left_steering_wheel_control.jpg
6. Once it's all finished and you've ohm checked it (checked for continuity a.k.a. no shorts, opens etc) put everything back together in the reverse order you took it apart.
7. Good luck and have fun,
If anyone needs more details or better explanations please let me know, this is really one of the first tutorials i have written and hope it's understandable.
Thank you to Bif Powell from mbworld.org forums, for the info on how to get the stuff apart.
*Note sorry at least one pic is not very clear, I had poor lighting.
Original Post:
I am making this post because I tried searching about my steering wheel controls not working, and I didn't find much, Basically the controls on the left side of my steering wheel slowly began "not working", I read about other people having the same issue but the only "fix" was to call the dealership find out it costs alot to get fixed and that was about it.
Basically I found a thread that explained to me how to get that Steering wheel torn apart enough that I could do some investigating, I'll write up a "how-to" in this thread when I get home where I have pictures.
Big key, the connector attached to the PCB (printed circuit board) had broken away from the solder, with no solid connection in place the button malfunctioned altogether.
If you are having problems with this in your car I think this is one place to check, I just soldered mine back in and it works like a charm.
Tools needed:
1. A brain.
2. Torx T30, one that will fit between your dash and the steering wheel and can reach in and unscrew the unit that holds the airbag to the steering wheel.
3. Torx T06 (let me double check on that when I get home) to take the control unit apart to get at the connector.
4. Soldering Iron with a fine point and some solder.
* NOTE: I disconnected my battery just to be safe, I recommend the same for anyone else doing this "mod"
1. Remove the airbag unit. Follow the directions located here:
W203 steering-wheel swap how-to
2. Once you have the Airbag/Steering wheel controls unit separated, place the unit facedown on a soft rag (dont want scuffs of course)!
remove the 4 screws (see attached)
back_of_airbag.jpg
3. Between the metal plate in step 2 and the rest of the unit is this piece, remember how you took it out, here it is:
spring_thing.jpg
4. Next remove the appropriate steering wheel control from the unit see they are attached by a couple screws in the locations highlighted.
controls_screw_holes.jpg
5. The rest of things are detailed in the next picture, but the long and short of it is this,
a. remove the screws holding the unit together
b. pull the circuit board out
c. if you can't tell if it is connected good or not, if you can wiggle it that's
not a good sign
d. I decided to hold the connector on (after I accidentally finished it off)
then heat up the solder on each end and let it cool so it stays on it's
own make sure you do a good job soldering it in, I'm not teaching
soldering in this tutorial. Plus you don't want to have to take it apart
and do it all again.
left_steering_wheel_control.jpg
6. Once it's all finished and you've ohm checked it (checked for continuity a.k.a. no shorts, opens etc) put everything back together in the reverse order you took it apart.
7. Good luck and have fun,
If anyone needs more details or better explanations please let me know, this is really one of the first tutorials i have written and hope it's understandable.
Thank you to Bif Powell from mbworld.org forums, for the info on how to get the stuff apart.
*Note sorry at least one pic is not very clear, I had poor lighting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)