Mod RR501

[TonyNo]

Anyone ever see a mod for an RR501 that disables the radio portion but keeps the relay functional? I need an appliance module, have none, but have five RR501's. :lol:

 

[TonyNo]

I should have looked first! Found the answer on Bartana's site.

There is a jumper to cut! Couldn't be more simple! :lol:

 

[TonyNo]

My own thread! :lol:

Here is a pic of the mod for anyone interested.

 

[Rupp]

What did you do scrape the solder away?

 

[TonyNo]

Nope, that is actually a trace under the red x.

 

[Rupp]

Nope, that is actually a trace under the red x.

I realize that but did you scrape the trace or is the picture misleading? Should the X be on the other side of the board showing the clip point?

 

[TonyNo]

The wire jumper on the other side is too crowded for even my small cutters, so I cut the connecting trace.

 

[Rupp]

How do you cut a trace? I've tried before and made a mess of the board. Thanks for the picture.

 

[TonyNo]

I use an X-acto knife and make two cuts, perpendicular to the direction of the trace, and close together (think of making an "H" without the horizontal cut). Usually, you can then remove the isolated section of copper wth the tip of the knife, if it does not pop off after your second cut.

The nice thing about cutting traces is that it is very easy to reverse with some solder and a short piece of wire (if necesasary).

 

[rocco]

I do it the way TonyNo describes, but some of the rework people I use prefer a dremmel with a small ball-head stone bit.

 

[smee]

Here's a picture of a trace cut the way TonyNo describes it. Note how sloppy the cut is. The sloppy part is from the first attempt. It can be difficult to make these cuts on small traces when there isn't much room - when applying enough pressure with the knife blade, it's easy to slip.

For the second attempt (same place), I used a stereo microscope, which made it much easier. I should have used it in the first place - it's pretty cool performing "micro-surgery" under the microscope.

 

[TonyNo]

Yup, a Dremmel with small bit is the best way.