Repairing the battery clip on a car key

avatar

I noticed my remote for my truck has been acting up, sometimes when I click it the doors do not unlock or lock. Thinking the battery inside was going dead, I went to open it up and the entire battery fell right out. It would seem the soldering that holds the battery clip in place came loose. I guess after 15 or so years the clip just came loose. After sitting out in the cold, and the heat for many years just caused the solder to break. Maybe vibration too, or not being careful enough with the key.

Looking at how it all works there are two pins going into the circuit board and one large piece that is not electronics related but provides support to the battery clip.

I tried to solder back into place with my finger holding it but it got way too hot!

So I had to find some tool to hold the pin in place while I heat up the solder. I added some more, and then applied heat to the top of the clip.

This time around I had a small screw driver that I used its metal base to hold the clip in place while I add heat to melt the solder.

A small puff of smoke and I knew the solder had melted. I would hold the screw driver steady, apply heat. Pull it back, check it and then add a little more until it looked like the battery support was firmly held by the solder.

Once I was satisfied with the new solder job I brought it close to the camera to take a better look. It was the spot right below the plus with the circle.

Seeing it from the side we can see the solder melted and should now hold it well.

I had to do this soldering twice, as with the first time when I did not apply enough heat the clip came off when I was trying to put it back together. But the second time around I went for a longer period of time with the iron seemed to work. We shall see how long it lasts now. And the remote seems to be working much better now, when I go to click it every time it responds so I think the lose battery clip was the issue.

Posted with STEMGeeks



0
0
0.000
7 comments
avatar

The whole thing falling off after you opened the key probably helped to decipher the problem rather quickly, I think the whole soldering process was smooth, what if the situation with the key was more technical, what would you had done?

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yeah I was not expecting that when I went to replace the battery the first time around.

If I could not fix it myself I would have had to goto the dealership.. aka the stealership.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Ahhh quite good it turned out easier, I would probably panic and mess up the whole thing if it was me.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Without taking any technician, you has become the technician for yourself and has solved the key problem. I think if you gave it to a technician to fix it, he would demand a good amount of money for it, or you have to pay him. I think the best way is to do it yourself. Thanks.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I am quite proud I was able to fix it, and you are correct it probably would have cost a few hundred dollars to replace. Glad I could fix it with just a few cents of solder.

0
0
0.000
avatar
Thank you for sharing this amazing post on HIVE!
  • Your content got selected by our fellow curator @stevenson7 & you just received a little thank you via an upvote from our non-profit curation initiative!

  • You will be featured in one of our recurring curation compilations and on our pinterest boards! Both are aiming to offer you a stage to widen your audience within and outside of the DIY scene of hive.

Join the official DIYHub community on HIVE and show us more of your amazing work and feel free to connect with us and other DIYers via our discord server: https://discord.gg/mY5uCfQ !

If you want to support our goal to motivate other DIY/art/music/homesteading/... creators just delegate to us and earn 100% of your curation rewards!

Stay creative & hive on!
0
0
0.000