[txusa03]

Originally Posted by rchanou

ha. a DIY video of soldering. it's not very hard to solder. I'm sure you can handle it.

no dude, I was joking about the soldering part, I meant a video of the whole DIY...

[Pangearox]

stupid question...but if i go to radioshack and buy all the stuff and solder this thing together...

is there anyway i can test it before i rip open my car?...i have never done anything like this to a car and im a little nervous about it...

[msinfo_us]

Originally Posted by Pangearox

stupid question...but if i go to radioshack and buy all the stuff and solder this thing together...

is there anyway i can test it before i rip open my car?...i have never done anything like this to a car and im a little nervous about it...

That is exactly the reason why I installed spare LED on a board than replaced the LED on-board with connections to LED insight clown nose when I was ready (I did all adjustments and testing using test LED). Also, I used 9V battery for initial testing so I did not have to go anywhere near my car for initial/config part of the process.

[Pangearox]

ohh...one more thing...

in the pics where you had that panel removed where we have to hook up the power...it doesnt look like there's much room in there, is there enough for this new circuit board?

[SoYank]

Originally Posted by txusa03

I would not know the difference...I probably melt the damn board with either one. probably cause self inflicted pain as well with them. This is going over board, but could I request a video DIY on this?

Sorry for the delay in responding.

The difference between a soldering iron and a soldering gun is the gun looks like a drill. It has a trigger and instead of a chuck it has what looks like a wire that loops something like the shape of Oklahoma. The "panhandle" is the hot tip that does the work. An iron on the otherhand looks something like a curling iron with a electric cord out one end and a very hot bar on the other end (when it's plugged in, of course) that is either ground to a chisel shaped tip or looks like the tip of a pencil.

The gun is good for splicing wires together but pretty useless on a circuit board. There you would best use a pencil tip or small, quarter-inch chisel tip.

[msinfo_us]

Originally Posted by Pangearox

ohh...one more thing...

in the pics where you had that panel removed where we have to hook up the power...it doesnt look like there's much room in there, is there enough for this new circuit board?

Yes, there is enough room. The board is really small. I put the board insight miniDV tape cover from my camcorder than used electrical tape around it so it does not make any noise and placed it in the comaprtment for wiring harness behind roof panel.

[poldim]

Great DIY.

I have the alarm, but I sadly bought it mainly for the audible confirmation, which is almost inaudible.

[BMW_E90]

damn im confused... lol

[ZuerstBMW]

Is there any way someone who knows how to make these to make some for us and sell them as a group buy? Anyone?

[tomshong]

so, let me get this.... Once I build the board (building the circuit is the fun part for me; I have a MS in Electrical Engineering...), here's what I can do...

1) Open the light/roof panel (I will figure it out...)
2) Find the two wires that run into the clown nose (what color are they exactly?)
3) Connect the two clown nose wires between Pin 3 and 8 of the TLC555 (where does these two wires end up at by factory default? )
4) Connect the end of R3 to the Connection 1 of the 'black box', and then ground the whole thing (where is the ground at exactly??)
5) tuck everything inside the panel and put everything back
6) Wha-La!

Is that it?

[msinfo_us]

Originally Posted by tomshong

so, let me get this.... Once I build the board (building the circuit is the fun part for me; I have a MS in Electrical Engineering...), here's what I can do...

1) Open the light/roof panel (I will figure it out...)
2) Find the two wires that run into the clown nose (what color are they exactly?)

I think they were black and brown, but once you open mirror cover there are only three wires that go to LED. I used 9V battery to find which one -- it was easy.

Originally Posted by tomshong

3) Connect the two clown nose wires between Pin 3 and 8 of the TLC555 (where does these two wires end up at by factory default? )

I am not sure where LED wires go by default since I did not spend any time tracing them. But based on Ohm/Volt-meter readings it does not look like they are connected to anything until factory alarm is installed.

Originally Posted by tomshong

4) Connect the end of R3 to the Connection 1 of the 'black box', and then ground the whole thing (where is the ground at exactly??).

I used bolt next to a sunroof motor for ground wire.

Originally Posted by tomshong

5) tuck everything inside the panel and put everything back
6) Wha-La!

Is that it?

Yes, that is pretty much it.

[poldim]

It looks to be very straight forward. The most complicated part for most people is probably soldering the components together on the board.

[msinfo_us]

Originally Posted by poldim

It looks to be very straight forward. The most complicated part for most people is probably soldering the components together on the board.

Yeh, that is what I am hearing too. The funny thing is that is so EASY -- it just 3-4 peaces to solder together ... I think if they just do it -- they would be telling everybody here how really easy it is.

[ZuerstBMW]

Anyone actually done this yet?

[ZuerstBMW]

[ZuerstBMW]

Can someone make me one of these contraptions, so my clown nose will blink? Has anyone actually done this yet? Thanks.

[ZuerstBMW]

Anyone?

[msinfo_us]

OK Since I had some spare time yesterday anyway I went to Radioshack, got the parts and took pictures of the process of putting this together. You can see board on a first 2 pitures, timer next, than step by step inserting and soldering parts to the board, last step is to attach wires and jumpers. This all process took me about 20-30 minutes to complete. I hope this helps. Next will be replacing LED on-board with connecions to LED in the clown nose, connect the board to the car ... basically follow my original instructions.

PS Obviosly, I have no need for a second board, so if you want it PM me (please do not ask me for a group buy -- I am not going to start an assembly line).

[msinfo_us]

More pictures ...

[msinfo_us]

And a short video ....

PS FIY I did not spend any time adjusting it to match BMW alarm ...

[xq_zhu]

Two questions -

1) is that a 1000mF or 1000uF capacitor? There seems to be some inconsistency between the diagram and RadioShack links given below;
2) Can someone confirm the colour of the wires going into the LED? I have not opened the panel yet but if I am tapping into these wires I don't want to leave any room for guessing

Thanks!

[msinfo_us]

Originally Posted by xq_zhu

Two questions -

1) is that a 1000mF or 1000uF capacitor? There seems to be some inconsistency between the diagram and RadioShack links given below;

1000uF -- sorry for the confusion, fat fingers. My bad.

Originally Posted by xq_zhu

2) Can someone confirm the colour of the wires going into the LED? I have not opened the panel yet but if I am tapping into these wires I don't want to leave any room for guessing

Thanks!

When/IF you open mirror cover there will be no guessing -- you'll see the wires right awawy. If you opt not to open mirror cover than you will have to trace.