The batteries in my car's gauge cluster are dead and in need of replacement. I purchased replacement batteries, but my soldering gun was not up to task. I'm sure it is the lowest wattage bargain box soldering gun that Radio Shack sold in the late 90's and it has a very fine electronic tip. Long story short, it wouldn't make the battery connector tab hot enough to melt the solder between the tab and the battery. I totally mangled one battery trying to do it.

I'll pay $15 for someone to solder these two batteries onto the board assuming I have to bring it to you. Must have experience and do a good clean job. Add $10 if you come by my house (off Kaplan, near Athens) tomorrow during the day and do the job.

The batteries are shaped like a AA, but about half the length. There is are metal tabs sticking up off the circuit board that it needs to be soldered to. See the "-LASER- LITHIUM" batteries in the pic? That's them. It's a pretty quick way to make $25. I just need it done.

p.s., I don't see any solder on the old batteries which makes me think it was glued on somehow. If someone knows of a conductive glue that I can use in the place of solder plz let me know.



[Edited on December 23, 2008 at 12:31 AM. Reason : l]

12/23/2008 12:20:16 AM

just curious, what make/model car?

when i solder batteries, i heat up the end of the battery really quickly and apply solder and the tab.

i was able to do it with the lowest wattage iron they make, but the slightly more powerful ones do get the job done much faster. with the lower power iron, there is more of a chance of damaging the cell by heating it up too long.

12/23/2008 8:46:21 AM

pm sent

12/23/2008 9:59:08 AM

I can probably do this for you tonight sometime. Can even come to you.

I used to race electric R/C cars professionally (yes, I was sponsored) and have assembled literally HUNDREDS of battery packs for my R/C cars.

I'll PM you my phone # in case you want to try and get up tonight.

12/23/2008 10:01:18 AM

Quote :

"just curious, what make/model car?"

1991 BMW 318is. These batteries are on the service indicator board, but they also feed the tachometer, temp, and fuel economy gauge which are all dead right now. The batteries I took out expired in 04, so they have been replaced at least once.

It's a common recurring issue on these cars. See the first and second post in this thread:
http://www.bimmerwerkz.com/forum/3-series-e21-e30/bmw-318i-1986-si-board-battery-60768.html

12/23/2008 10:16:30 AM