Seat motors stopped

[Klive]

Quite fortunate that they did as when I looked under the passenger seat I saw a PCB that I thought was fixed to the floor. The box that secured it to the bottom of the seat had fallen off and the board had wedged itself between the seat and carpet during one of its movements.
I disconnected and reconnected the connector and the seat sprang back into life again. Lifting the seat gave me access to work on it to put it all back up again.
The board has bent slightly but is substantial enough to take it. Here's a couple of photos that I took with the phone.

 

[CatmanV2]

Good catch, Klive. Will keep an eye on mine.

When you say 'lifted the seat', do you mean on the motors, or something else?

C

 

[Klive]

Fortunately on the motors.

 

[conaero]

My seat has a mind of its own, sometimes the seat heater works, sometimes not. It wont store memory and sometimes when driving, it will move forward all on its own.

Its on the list of things to do, but thanks for the heads up, its probably a similar connection issue.

 

[Klive]

I'd heard before a simple disconnect, wait 5 mins and reconnect solves most of the issues.
Good news is that the connector is an easy one and doesn't need pliers, screwdrivers, etc.

 

[CatmanV2]

Thanks, Klive.

C

 

[2b1ask1]

Lucky indeed Klive; looks like they use the same glue as the steering wheel airbag!

 

[Klive]

Got the seat out today to fix this properly. Getting the seat out is a doddle, fixing the circuit board on the other hand is ridiculously complicated.
First is to re-feed the cables to give some slack and thus allowing the board to reach it's securing location. Now to put it in the box and put the lid on, this is not going to happen! The board is fractionally bigger than the width of the base, this is probably just a tight fit, but the cover is not going to fit at all. I'm sure the connector on the board has been replaced and so badly soldered they've then bent the pins to try to get it closer to the board. I'm surprised its not shorting out! I'll try to show it with a photo later. If anyone has a shot of a passenger seat circuit board I'd be grateful if they can post it. I know it's a long shot.

 

[Klive]

You can see here the at the bottom of the connector the way the pins have been bent.

 

[CatmanV2]

That looks like a pretty major snafu. Both sets of pins are bent. It may be deliberate, but I've got no idea why it would be...


C

 

[Klive]

A few options:
A new board. I can just imagine the price!
Resolder the connector as it should be, but this risks breaking the pins when they're straightened
Cut a gap in the cover to allow the connector to poke out. There's sufficient room for this.
Lash the board up with some tie wraps.
Sit back and hope it fixes itself. Well maybe not this one.

 

[2b1ask1]

View attachment 14495
You can see here the at the bottom of the connector the way the pins have been bent.

Klive,

Are we correct in thinking the connector is supposed to be 90 degrees clockwise from this location then?

It would be an assumption but I would think this is not a repair but a partial self destruct during a seat movement... I ran my phone over with my seat trying to find it as it slipped down the side on the way to an Ace Cafe meeting! Car 1 phone 0 (smashed screen), they are quite powerful motors...

 

[2b1ask1]

Those pins are quite tough and would pull back around; I'd be 90% confident in doing so, cold and in place or 100% confident if I de-soldered the connector and removed it, straightened and re-soldered in place again.

Good luck my friend...

 

[CatmanV2]

Klive,

Are we correct in thinking the connector is supposed to be 90 degrees clockwise from this location then?

It would be an assumption but I would think this is not a repair but a partial self destruct during a seat movement... I ran my phone over with my seat trying to find it as it slipped down the side on the way to an Ace Cafe meeting! Car 1 phone 0 (smashed screen), they are quite powerful motors...

That's an interesting thought, Newton. I would imagine the connector is available from a standard supplier, and re-soldering would be quite easy, I expect.

C

 

[2b1ask1]

The connector should be entirely reusable, as for the pins, these are usually a soft, low grade ferrous metal that has been 'tinned' but they will break if over worked. If they break during working just replace with a short length of suitable wire and solder this into the PCB instead.

 

[Klive]

Now that makes sense and its obvious now. Thanks Newton.
Keep you fingers crossed for me, I'll try and realign them next weekend.

 

[2b1ask1]

Klive, I think if it were me I'd be inclined to de-solder the pins, straighten them one at a time and then resolder into the PCB again. This will prevent the PCB being stressed by the pressure of straightening them all in one go and possibly cracking or fracturing it requiring a costly replacement.

If you are not familiar with de-soldering you can get a very handy tool like this from Maplin or online:

Once each pin is clear the assembly can easily be wiggled out and worked on!

Good luck.

 

[CatmanV2]

Or lob it round the corner. I'd happily do it for you.

C

 

[Klive]

Thanks for the advice and offer. I should be able to do this.

 

[Klive]

It's clear I'm going to need a new connector but am struggling to find one. Any ideas where I could get one from?