Pulsar Men's Dress - Dead Minute Reed switch

[Sully008]

Hello all,

My magnet set Men's Dress seems to have a dead Minute reed switch. Pulled the module out and tested with a 3v source and held a magnet to it. No joy. That reed switch is so tiny, I'm guessing this is a repair for the professionals? I'm not even sure how to get to the switch. And even if I could, the microtip on my soldering iron looks to be too big to work.

[bruce wegmann]

Actually, this is not a complicated repair [I've done dozens of 'em]. To be certain it's the switch itself, and not some deeper [and un-repairable] problem, try this test. Make sure you're grounded, so you don't sent a static charge into the electronics [it only takes about 20 volts to blast CMOS chips into oblivion, so be careful!]. Then, short across the switch [a pair of tweezers is a perfect tool for this]. If the display comes on, and the minutes start scrolling, it's the switch. Otherwise, you have a circuit break deeper in the module, and the odds of a repair drop to slim-to-none. Good luck; let us know how you make out... BTW, Hakko irons come with the smallest tips I've seen, suitable for even these sorts of challenges.