Hi, I am a complete novice at circuit boards, and as an idiot look to more intelligent brains than my old one. I have a camper van with problems, which I am slowly sorting out, due to an incompetent builder. We haven't used the camper much so its been sat there, now time to sell. I was trying to carefully remove an RC for lighting as the idiot glued it to the woodwork and I needed to change the battery, which could not be accessed due to the damn glue! Sadly the innards broke, and due to the rip on the circuit board, it won't solder. Have two images and hopefully will be able to repair if possible?? It makes the lighting work, with no over ride sadly. Cheap as chips lighting I know, but to replace the lighting means ripping off the boards and replacing too much.

 

Welcome to AAC!

A break on the circuit board is repairable.
The green colour is a protective layer called solder mask.
In order to solder to any copper trace, scrape away the solder mask with a small blade or knife. Once sufficient copper is exposed on both sides of the gap, you can bridge the gap with very fine gauge wire. If you don’t have the right kind of wire, strip off the insulation from a piece of stranded cable. Use a single strand from the cable.

 

Thank you. I appreciated your help.

 

Welcome to AAC!

A break on the circuit board is repairable.
The green colour is a protective layer called solder mask.
In order to solder to any copper trace, scrape away the solder mask with a small blade or knife. Once sufficient copper is exposed on both sides of the gap, you can bridge the gap with very fine gauge wire. If you don’t have the right kind of wire, strip off the insulation from a piece of stranded cable. Use a single strand from the cable.

I did a double take whilst doing as you suggested; as the green area where the item was soldered to has the green area removed already. No solder wants to apply itself to that area, and I did scrape the area clean as well as suggested anyway. (I have had some experiences working with circuit boards when I worked for a TV rental company many years ago) - Not knowing where to go from here, except strip the whole lining out of the camper van to access the cables. Not a prospect I want to work on, as that just adds too much expense in an already over costed vehicle.

 

If the IR LED has come loose, you can glue the LED to the board with epoxy or hot melt glue.
Then connect the leads of the LED to the circuit board with pieces of fine gauge wire.

 

If the IR LED has come loose, you can glue the LED to the board with epoxy or hot melt glue.
Then connect the leads of the LED to the circuit board with pieces of fine gauge wire.

Thanks, will do that. I appreciate your help.