Son of a

[hondarin]

Okay, so I thought my fuel pump was dead, so I ordered a new one, and they shipped it to my billing address instead of my shipping address. (I live in an apartment, as I go to school here in Lubbock. This means my billing address is 560 miles from my shipping address.)

So, just to rule out the main relay that I replaced 5 years ago, I decided to take it out and look at it. I got my roommate to help me take it apart. Turns out, one of the solder joints was cracked, and there was oily residue under two others.

I found a place in town that had ONE, and I got my friend to take me down there to get it. Popped it in, and bam; fuel pump whirred to life, and I started the car.

Pics of 5 year old relay:

 

[95b16coupe]

What's the problem? You fixed your car and can return the new fuel pump.

 

[hondarin]

Stress. I had a test yesterday, and another tomorrow on top of worrying about my car.



EDIT* Don't get me wrong, I'm feeling great relief. The "Son of a bitch" is more like "Eureeka!"

 

[phunky.buddha]

Ok, so why not just re-flow the solder joint and take your new relay back to the store too? Five minute fix, and it's free. Your relay is REALLY clean, just fix it and put it back in. It's a common problem (and solution) for that part.

 

[hondarin]

I have no soldering iron, and no soldering experience...

 

[newb]

And once an electrical component is installed (removed from the packaging), it cant be returned.

 

[hondarin]

And once an electrical component is installed (removed from the packaging), it cant be returned.

This too. Although there was no actual seal to break to get the relay out of the packaging. I specifically asked about this at the parts store, because I wanted to make sure I wasn't getting a broken returned item.

 

[phunky.buddha]

I have no soldering iron, and no soldering experience...

Get one and learn- then you've invested the money in a tool you can use over and over again rather than a replacement part. I've got one of these:

Not cheap new, but you can put together a pretty nice setup off of eBay for pennies per dollar compared to the new price.

And once an electrical component is installed (removed from the packaging), it cant be returned.

I've never gotten a main relay in a sealed package.

 

[klyph]

Isn't there a way to remove everything from the board so you can reflow it in a toaster oven? Maybe I'm thinking of something other than Honda main relays.

 

[phunky.buddha]

That would be a LOT more work... and solder for electronics usually has a melting temp quite a bit higher than a toaster over would safely get to.

If you could remove everything from the board, you would be using a soldering iron already- so it's a little weird to then try to reflow it in an oven.

 

[hondarin]

That's a pretty snazzy soldering iron there Calesta.

And now that I think of it, there is an old soldering iron at my grandfather's house. Although, I'm still 560 miles away from there until tomorrow night.

klyph: seems like that would prolly damage the plastic...

 

[phunky.buddha]

Thanks! A whole proper solder station setup with one of those will run you about $1500. I put mine together for about $120. Can't complain.

To fix the main relay and flow joints like that on just about any board, you can use a cheap $10 soldering iron from Radio Crack. I wanted my setup so I could work on motherboards, add modifications to ECUs and game systems- fine detail work. If you're just going to reflow a monster through-hole connection like the one on your main relay, a basic iron will work fine.

 

[hondafreak513]

Hey Calesta how do you de-solder a chip from the ecu.. I tried for 20 minutes and didn't get anywhere..

 

[phunky.buddha]

If you tried for 20 minutes you probably killed it already, so don't bother. You just apply heat until the solder flows, remove solder, remove chip.

Of course, there's more to it than that- the people working in our shop take a one month course in just soldering before they're allowed to work on production hardware- but it's the quickest explanation I'll put onto a forum.

 

[newb]

Just outa curiosity, what does your shop do?

 

[hondarin]

he works in aerospace.....

 

[hondafreak513]

If you tried for 20 minutes you probably killed it already, so don't bother. You just apply heat until the solder flows, remove solder, remove chip.

Of course, there's more to it than that- the people working in our shop take a one month course in just soldering before they're allowed to work on production hardware- but it's the quickest explanation I'll put onto a forum.

Right on.. Yeah the board was fried to begin with I was just messing around one day and thought I would try it out... Isn't there some stuff to clean off of it before you put the solder gun to it??? Maybe my solder gun isn't good enough...

 

[phunky.buddha]

Just outa curiosity, what does your shop do?

Defense

 

[phunky.buddha]

Right on.. Yeah the board was fried to begin with I was just messing around one day and thought I would try it out... Isn't there some stuff to clean off of it before you put the solder gun to it??? Maybe my solder gun isn't good enough...

Sometimes conformal coat- if there's a rubbery coating on top (most electronics will have it on exposed solder joints) then you'll need to remove it with a solvent before you can get to the solder. If you don't, you'll just make a big smoky mess.

 

[hondafreak513]

Ok cool thats what I thought.. Yeah its a older ecu from a 88 integra and it has that film on it and the solder just made a mess... So is there a name for the solvent to use..