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Trusty old soldering iron
October 19, 2007

I have a 2001 Subaru Forester. A while back, the overhead clock stopped working. The display went out and stayed out for several months, then mysteriously returned following a sudden rise in outside temperature and humidity. When the weather cooled, the display when black again, rerturning only after another quick temperature rise. Rather than replace the clock, I searched online for a fix and found it here. Someone posted the fix, complete with photos. The problem was a poor solder joint on a 510 Ω surface-mount resistor. Rapid thermal expansion from a quick temperature rise caused a fracture in the solder to close just enough to complete the circuit and send current to the display. I added solder to the resistor and the display is brighter than ever.

That's what great about the Web, you can almost always find someone who has already solved your problem. That's why I'll wait a few more years before switching to Windows Vista. Not enough time has passed for the worldwide knowledge base to accumulate with sufficient problem fixes.

Posted by Martin Rowe on October 19, 2007 | Comments (2)