How to open an AMB case??
 

I have developed a loose connection inside my personal transponder and wondered if anyone knew how to open the case so I can deal with the issue...thanks!!

Big Hammer :)

A guy I race with has one with no case on it. I think you can just put an x-acto knife between the top part and the bottom to pry it apart but Im not sure. I'll ask him next time I see him if you dont get an answer before then.

i would cut the cap that has the wires coming out of it off with an x-acto. however, i have done this. note that the board is immersed in epoxy to effectively seal it from, well, anything. if your wires are crapped out just inside the wire inlet, then you might be ok. otherwise you won't be able to get to them.

time for an i-pt!

That's why I ordered an I-PT from across the pond. (Europe) I had my AMB cloned and I`m waiting on it to return to me now. AMB said they most likely would not be able to fix mine , and I would have to buy a new one . So when I saw that I could have the same # I have now with a clone , I jumped on it. The really good thing is that you can replace your own wires when they get dried out from nitro fuel or age.

The circuit is epoxy filled and the red case is VERY stuck to that epoxy. You have to use side cutters if you want to cut it off but I do not recommend it. Every one I have seen stripped down has had problems.

The easy way to fix this is get a Dremel with a small metal carbide grinding bit on slow speed and SLOWLY grind the bottom following the two wires straight across. The plastic and epoxy are soft so this will not take much time. Remove small amounts of material at a time and the color of the shavings will go from red plastic (~1/16") to white/yellow epoxy (~1/16"), and then you should start seeing the wires. The wires connect to the circuit board about 3/4 of the distance across the unit.

Once you have removed enough material to where the wires are free and you can see the solder connections, solder a new plug on using a fine tip soldering iron.

As for the appearance, oh well. If you usually tape the trandponder down to domething, no problem. If you bolt it to the side of your car like in some gas cars, you will have to protect those wires. One of my friends made a nice little carbon fiber cover plate for the bottom that doubles as a mount. I have also seen people fill this gap with a small bead of silicone to protect the wires and act as a strain relief.

BTW, I still use my twice repaired original transponder (green LED) from when they first came out and it works great.

Thanks for the replies...Fraz, I'll give your method a try. If I screw it up, oh well...it's already a goner as it is!

Also
If you get a sharp knife and cut about 2-3mm off of the end of the PT you will expose the wires and be able to solder them that way. Took about 30mins at a race meeting so it wasn't too bad

I had to cut the case and epoxy to expose the wires on mine for resoldering as well. Took some time but it worked, and is still working. I shoe goo-d the heck outta it when I was done and coated the wires a half inch or so out of the case so they won't get tugged on so much also.

I asked AMB about the cost for replacing the wires when we picked up our last batch of personal transponders (AMB's USA headquarters is located locally to us)...not cheap--$50 :eek: .

no matter what you do it ends up hacked up. i did this after my wires got pulled out from the inside of the case. cutof the case at the lines that you see going across the case just after the exit hole for the cables.

another cheap way to make a PT is find old track pt's that have dead batts in them, open them up, and remove the battery, and solder in a wire that will plug into your receiver.

Ive made two pt's this way and they work fine. They are in the loaner cars I let people use.

to get the # they are:
before destroying the case write down the transponder number, you will notice its one digit short, well if you hacked up the RED 4 transponder, then the last digit is 4. If you hacked up the Green 8 then the last digit is 8....

Do you have any pictures of how you did this? I am very interested to see where the solder connectors go

Thanks

you pry the battery out, and to the positive terminal, solder the red wire, and to the negativive terminal of the battery, solder the black wire, then put some shoegoo on it as a strain relief, then plug it into your receiver.

Have it cloned by MRT http://www.rctech.net/forum/showthre...19#post2718019 The MRT transponder has external power wires.

First thanks guys for starting and responding to this thread. I found an easy fix for when the wires are fractured at the end of the AMB case. The following shows what I did.

This picture shows the underside of the PT. The black stuff is double sided tape in two layers. One strip on each side.
[IMG]http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Repair003.jpg[/IMG]

Now we have the wire folded over in between the two strips of double sided tape.
[IMG]http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Repair004.jpg[/IMG]

Now we cut a piece of lexan material slightly smaller than the AMB case. Now put the lexan on over the wires as to have a new bottom on the case.
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Repair008.jpg

This picture show a clean looking PT that is still waterproof :nod: :) .
[IMG]http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Repair010.jpg[/IMG]

Here, I just jiggled wire and tested to make sure it doesn't flicker. Which it doesn't. The PT# number is covered to protect the previous owners identity.
[IMG]http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m.../Repair016.jpg[/IMG]

I hope this helps some of you guys from butchering your PTs. This thread sure helped me.