Thumbwheel Not working

Spence,

   I got to tell ya when my remote control wheel went bad I had Bill Ingraham install a new one and upgrade my DCS hand held to fully rechargeable, these guys like GGG & Bill that do this kind of work, have the patients of a Saint, I do not.  You might consider having GGG fix the Wheel for you.

PCRR/Dave

OK, so I JUST did this... finding the screw first is good 

Once the screw is out, you literally have to pry it open.  I found it easiest to start at the 'phone' jack at the bottom and work your way up, wiggling back and forth as you go.  There are catch/lock points along the way that a little compression helps unseat.  Take your time, and be patient.  It takes a little more force than you think is safe but it WILL come apart.  

Once it comes apart, you will have the front plate in your hand.  In the other hand you will have the rubber key overlay which just pulls out.  Then you see the PCB with the wheel right in the middle.   At this point, you could clean the wheel, but my symptoms were identical to yours and a green wire (red, yellow, and green) was separated/unsoldered.  This wires connect to a tiny PCB on the wheel housing, which itself connects to the large PCB board.  If you need to reconnect the wire, that's where it gets really fun.  

I found the space way to tight to solder, so I had to find a way to separate the large green PCB board from the rest of the remote - to do this you have to separate it from what I believe to be the RF module.  The RF module is connected to the back half of the remote by a soldered connection, and by two pin-socket arrangements to the main PCB. The socket connections are easy, but it is also taped/glued to the main PCB - you have to peel this free, and again, patience and care are needed.  

Once you have the RF board separated, the main PCB with the wheel will life out, and give you some room to solder.  It's small - I used Kapton tape to mask the adjacent solder points so as not to connect them, which would obviously be 'bad'.  

Be aware of the LCD screen and panels at the top of the remote when you open it - it appears delicate to me and flops around once the remote is opened.  Keep an eye on it and try not to stretch it's connectors too much.  

Let me know if you get stuck...

You bring back memories stumper!  I had to replace a broken wheel and remember the prying, kind of nerve racking!

Good luck with this Spence, if I can do it, anyone can

Rich

I got it apart & sure enough the red wire was disconnected. "WHEW", what a PITA to solder but did get it done. I've got it back together but not exactly perfect. It does work so that's good. I've got to separate it again in order to get the wheel perfect but that's it for today. thank you for all your help. It's much appreciated.

Cool!  Out of curiosity, did you remove the RF module?  I couldn't have done it without removing it; not with my fat fingers   Also, did you have to strip the wire?  Just curious really - I did, and it required the smallest notch on my stripping tool...

Hi Spence....

    Congrats on solving the wheel issue, this is one thread that I am going to use the new features. "View Printer Friendly Format"  

If you have to do it again, start in the middle by the battery compartment, squeezing the bottom part and wiggling booth the top and bottom in the middle and it will eventually start to come apart. Sometimes takes a while. Then once it starts to open up a little, gently work your way around the remote until it's apart. Barry's book, if you have that, has much better detailed directions than I can describe. My translation from brain to keyboard isn't the greatest.