Commander LCD replacement service
#52
Just wondering if anyone knows Streetwarriors instagram or facebook details..?
I am wanting to send my power FC hand controller to get repaired.
Many thanks!
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Wernz_1 (04-06-21)
#55
Gateway Repair
I was so amazed and pleased with my rescreened commander , I sent Michael 9 (nine) gauge clusters for recovery/repair. He saved 7 (seven) of them.
( I suspect his day job is in Santa's Workshop!)
( I suspect his day job is in Santa's Workshop!)
Last edited by Redbul; 04-06-21 at 07:54 PM. Reason: added info.
#56
Sorry to revive and hijack the thread
Wanted to update regarding OLED repair..
@Str3atWarrior aka #michael_gagne doesn't do OLED repair anymore, I've asked recently...
I am pretty sure you already figured out your issue with SST39 flash memory since you and john made a new conversion board that works.
I was able to replace mine using SST39 flash and it works perfectly and i think its the easiest way, just program and solder it in, no custom board needed.
It is definitely a tedious work and requires soldering skills and programmer for the flash chip.
All details are here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testge...20/#msg3999520
PS, a bit of rant.. i think it makes you look bad for not sharing your design or at least how you did it. Some hobbyists like me just like to do it ourselves even if we can afford the service, or maybe we just don't feel comfortable shipping.. Folks with necessary skills will figure this out anyways (as i did) and the ones without will look for someone to do it for them whether they know how its done or not. Just my 2cents... /rant.
I haven't considered offering the service but more than happy to help a fellow car enthusiast out
Wanted to update regarding OLED repair..
@Str3atWarrior aka #michael_gagne doesn't do OLED repair anymore, I've asked recently...
I am pretty sure you already figured out your issue with SST39 flash memory since you and john made a new conversion board that works.
I was able to replace mine using SST39 flash and it works perfectly and i think its the easiest way, just program and solder it in, no custom board needed.
It is definitely a tedious work and requires soldering skills and programmer for the flash chip.
All details are here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testge...20/#msg3999520
PS, a bit of rant.. i think it makes you look bad for not sharing your design or at least how you did it. Some hobbyists like me just like to do it ourselves even if we can afford the service, or maybe we just don't feel comfortable shipping.. Folks with necessary skills will figure this out anyways (as i did) and the ones without will look for someone to do it for them whether they know how its done or not. Just my 2cents... /rant.
I haven't considered offering the service but more than happy to help a fellow car enthusiast out
#57
Thread Starter
Full Member
iTrader: (1)
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 223
Likes: 25
From: Montreal, Canada
Sorry to revive and hijack the thread
Wanted to update regarding OLED repair..
@Str3atWarrior aka #michael_gagne doesn't do OLED repair anymore, I've asked recently...
I am pretty sure you already figured out your issue with SST39 flash memory since you and john made a new conversion board that works.
I was able to replace mine using SST39 flash and it works perfectly and i think its the easiest way, just program and solder it in, no custom board needed.
It is definitely a tedious work and requires soldering skills and programmer for the flash chip.
All details are here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testge...20/#msg3999520
PS, a bit of rant.. i think it makes you look bad for not sharing your design or at least how you did it. Some hobbyists like me just like to do it ourselves even if we can afford the service, or maybe we just don't feel comfortable shipping.. Folks with necessary skills will figure this out anyways (as i did) and the ones without will look for someone to do it for them whether they know how its done or not. Just my 2cents... /rant.
I haven't considered offering the service but more than happy to help a fellow car enthusiast out
Wanted to update regarding OLED repair..
@Str3atWarrior aka #michael_gagne doesn't do OLED repair anymore, I've asked recently...
I am pretty sure you already figured out your issue with SST39 flash memory since you and john made a new conversion board that works.
I was able to replace mine using SST39 flash and it works perfectly and i think its the easiest way, just program and solder it in, no custom board needed.
It is definitely a tedious work and requires soldering skills and programmer for the flash chip.
All details are here:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testge...20/#msg3999520
PS, a bit of rant.. i think it makes you look bad for not sharing your design or at least how you did it. Some hobbyists like me just like to do it ourselves even if we can afford the service, or maybe we just don't feel comfortable shipping.. Folks with necessary skills will figure this out anyways (as i did) and the ones without will look for someone to do it for them whether they know how its done or not. Just my 2cents... /rant.
I haven't considered offering the service but more than happy to help a fellow car enthusiast out
Then again, there is more than one way to do it, Petros Mazdaspeed found a nicer way to so them for cheaper, i now just redirect everyone towards him.
Didn't mean to hurt anyone feelings by not sharing. I still worked almost 2 years trying various ways before finding a way that work, and was the first to do so when everyone was saying to just dump in garbage and that it was not worth it. Glad you got it working using SST39
#58
Sorry i could not help regarding the oled design, i understand how you feel, but the way we were doing it, most people would've just damage their commander instead of fixing them. I did give some pointers to some guys, with the logic gated and such. It's really a no brainer if you understand how logic gates works and you check the screens datasheet. All the info is readily available online. I stopped providing the oled service as the time and money required to do them the way we were doing them doesn't justify the risk involved and the little (less than 20$) profit in the end.
Then again, there is more than one way to do it, Petros Mazdaspeed found a nicer way to so them for cheaper, i now just redirect everyone towards him.
Didn't mean to hurt anyone feelings by not sharing. I still worked almost 2 years trying various ways before finding a way that work, and was the first to do so when everyone was saying to just dump in garbage and that it was not worth it. Glad you got it working using SST39
Then again, there is more than one way to do it, Petros Mazdaspeed found a nicer way to so them for cheaper, i now just redirect everyone towards him.
Didn't mean to hurt anyone feelings by not sharing. I still worked almost 2 years trying various ways before finding a way that work, and was the first to do so when everyone was saying to just dump in garbage and that it was not worth it. Glad you got it working using SST39
Would love more details on how Petros doing it...
Not trying to step on any toes just a guy with passion for electronics
#59
Thread Starter
Full Member
iTrader: (1)
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 223
Likes: 25
From: Montreal, Canada
No hard feelings at all and definitely lots of time and risk involved but very fun project. It would save me a little bit of time if i knew that Apexi is opposite of Agilent (A1>A0 vs A0>A1)
Would love more details on how Petros doing it...
Not trying to step on any toes just a guy with passion for electronics
Would love more details on how Petros doing it...
Not trying to step on any toes just a guy with passion for electronics
You can ask Petros, he gave me the big lines, his approach works pretty good too. Another reason i don't share much is many texts me at 4am asking how to use a multimeter, or what exact part to use, and most have no ideas how to even solder. I have guys everyday asking me what capacitors to use to fix their clusters, when that same info is printed on said capacitors 😅 so imagine explaining how to chase burnt traces, testing transistors, and such to theses peoples after...
My method involve drilling a via without ripping the traces on each side of the board, very delicate operation using s smaller than 1mm cutting bit on a very fragile pcb, it's not something everybody can do, i did many and still have a micro hearth attack each time i do it
#60
Thread Starter
Full Member
iTrader: (1)
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 223
Likes: 25
From: Montreal, Canada
Also the genius behind this really is John Sobon from FC-Hako, i just designed the PCB from his findings. It was my first shot at it too, so it was a pretty fun learning curve!
Also have to add, i have no degree in electronics, all i know comes from reading and fixing **** from since i got a cheap soldering iron when i was a kid, and experimenting. I got a passion for electronics too 🙂
Also have to add, i have no degree in electronics, all i know comes from reading and fixing **** from since i got a cheap soldering iron when i was a kid, and experimenting. I got a passion for electronics too 🙂
#61
Right on with your analysis 🙂 we found out the hard way too.
You can ask Petros, he gave me the big lines, his approach works pretty good too. Another reason i don't share much is many texts me at 4am asking how to use a multimeter, or what exact part to use, and most have no ideas how to even solder. I have guys everyday asking me what capacitors to use to fix their clusters, when that same info is printed on said capacitors 😅 so imagine explaining how to chase burnt traces, testing transistors, and such to theses peoples after...
My method involve drilling a via without ripping the traces on each side of the board, very delicate operation using s smaller than 1mm cutting bit on a very fragile pcb, it's not something everybody can do, i did many and still have a micro hearth attack each time i do it
You can ask Petros, he gave me the big lines, his approach works pretty good too. Another reason i don't share much is many texts me at 4am asking how to use a multimeter, or what exact part to use, and most have no ideas how to even solder. I have guys everyday asking me what capacitors to use to fix their clusters, when that same info is printed on said capacitors 😅 so imagine explaining how to chase burnt traces, testing transistors, and such to theses peoples after...
My method involve drilling a via without ripping the traces on each side of the board, very delicate operation using s smaller than 1mm cutting bit on a very fragile pcb, it's not something everybody can do, i did many and still have a micro hearth attack each time i do it
And yeah that sounds really dangerous, not sure why you did it that way, i just cut D0 trace on the board, easy to do since its far away from everything else.
I honestly don't even know who Petros is or where to find him lol
#62
Hey,
Just wanted to see if FC-Hako is still legit.
I contacted them and it just seemed extremely informal. I was told to send my handheld and wire cash from my account, include shipping back costs.
No receipt, no repair request form, basically no paper trail showing we had any interaction. Makes me nervous to blindly send an expensive piece of equipment and money to a person I don't know.
I'm sure he is a great guy, but, in this day of hackers I want to make sure it's John I'm actually talking to.
Just wanted to see if FC-Hako is still legit.
I contacted them and it just seemed extremely informal. I was told to send my handheld and wire cash from my account, include shipping back costs.
No receipt, no repair request form, basically no paper trail showing we had any interaction. Makes me nervous to blindly send an expensive piece of equipment and money to a person I don't know.
I'm sure he is a great guy, but, in this day of hackers I want to make sure it's John I'm actually talking to.
#63
I can vouch for John, got mine repaired by him last year. Shipping to Australia took hella longer than expected (IIRC 6 weeks), but as soon as he got it he has it repaired and back in the mail in a day.
#64
#65
Hmmmm, I think they might have a few people in that group. But I found John to be the main guy behind this on some UK GTR forum, so I email him specifically. His email is john@fc-hako.com.
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ZE Power MX6 (05-14-22)
#68
For anyone that used John for the repairs, who did you ship with? My rates are between $187 and $205 with FedEx and UPS, 1 way.
USPS is $75 one way, still $150 round trip.
Going from 92065 San Diego, CA to
LANDSDALE, WA 6065.
For round trip shipping alone I can buy a new commander from Banzai.
Thanks for the help.
USPS is $75 one way, still $150 round trip.
Going from 92065 San Diego, CA to
LANDSDALE, WA 6065.
For round trip shipping alone I can buy a new commander from Banzai.
Thanks for the help.
Last edited by Tom Smith; 06-26-22 at 07:46 PM.
#71
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Vansera11 (12-18-22)
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Vansera11 (12-18-22)