help for kameleon 9960

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maxmolly
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2006 9:20 am

help for kameleon 9960

Post by maxmolly »

i know maybe it's too late for a question like this...
I removed the resistance as described in #4 of the document.
Since then the light stays always on. It never goes out neither after long time.
for me it is impossible to use the kamaleon (now it's almost 6 months that it is shutted in a box :cry: ).
Can somebody help me.
thanks
max
ps sorry for my bad english (italian :oops: )
Tommy Tyler
Expert
Posts: 411
Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2003 11:48 am
Location: Denver mountains

Post by Tommy Tyler »

Max,

Your English is much better than most of our Italian, but you must try to explain things a little better, such as exactly what is the problem, and what exactly you have done to try and solve it. Otherwise, the members will not be able to help you. The only way I know what document you are referring to is that I wrote it.

It sounds like you were trying to disable the motion sensor in your Kameleon 9960. You removed resistor R24 per the instructions, but now the front panel is lighted continuously.

I have not had personal experience with the Kameleon, but during my tests I observed how the light behaved, and I wrote "The display will remain on as long as any key is pressed, and for seven seconds after the last key is released." So the only idea I have is that somehow during the process of reassembly you have caused one of the keys to appear actuated, either mechanically (such as by pinching the membrane or something like that) or electrically (such as by accidentally shorting two traces on the PC board). Since that is the only thing known to cause the light to stay on permanently, maybe you can look very carefully for something like that. I wish you the best of luck.

Tommy
maxmolly
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2006 9:20 am

Post by maxmolly »

thanks Tommy;
you have perfectly centred the problem.
As I removed the 0 ohm resistance, everything was going great. the display went off after 7 sec. as described in your doc (fantastic, really)
But, after a couple of days, suddenly the problem. The display always remains on and it's not possible to disable otherwise putting away the batteries.
I don't think it is a mechanic problem.
My suspect is that i could have shorted two traces and the board but, maybe, on the other side of the board (where the display is) since that i cannot see anything on the board.
How could I check this possibility wuthout breaking anything?
thank you for the precious help
Max (Naples)
Tommy Tyler
Expert
Posts: 411
Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2003 11:48 am
Location: Denver mountains

Post by Tommy Tyler »

Sorry, Max, I am out of ideas, especially since you say it worked normally for a couple of days. The only thing I can suggest is for you to repeat the disassembly and reassembly exactly as you did the first time, watching closely all the way.

Regarding a possible short on the top side of the main board (the side containing the keyboard in contact with the display panel) I don't see how you could have shorted anything there unless you were perhaps curious and removed the dozen or more screws around the black plastic frame to remove the display from the metal top bezel of the remote.

As I have thought more about it, I think that if the problem were caused by a short that behaved as a key contact closure, probably only part of the display would remain lighted, the part corresponding to the key. But I'm guessing that the entire screen is lighted, the way it did when the motion detector was still operating, so that would mean my theory about the short is not so good.

As a last resort, consider this: Often when a thing works, and then you change something and it stops working, the natural thing to try is to undo the change to see if it goes back to working again. I know this doesn't make sense, but that's why I mention it as a last resort. If you want to re-enable the motion sensor, try to melt a blob of solder so that it bridges across the two empty pads where R24 was.

Tommy
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