Tech 2 Adventures

[Sandman]

So after many years my trusty knock off Tech 2 decided to crack the sads the other week. It still turns on but gives nothing but a blank white screen, itinially I thought it was the CAN interface module which wasn't talking to the car but after testing it with another still no dice as well as testing it on multiplle cars too. So though if its already stuffed, lets open it up and have a squizz and see if there's anything obvious on inside which points to an issue. Sadly it didn't, and I'm still up for buying another unit but anyway enjoy.

If anyone can reccomend a reputable seller of a knock off tech2 please let me know, I bought this off Aliexpress around 8 years ago (maybe, ages ago anyway) and now there seems to be a lot more choice in terms of sellers and combinations on both there and ebay that I had years ago. Also was a lot cheaper back then as well of course.

First step of disassembly, 6 torx Screws on the back which hold the two halves together.

With the front cover off this is the lower half of the main board, ribbon on the left connects the the keypad buttons

LCD without the cover

Removing the 4 screws around the LCD removes the LCD and attached circuit board, there is a multi pin connector which just presses in on the RHS.

Reverse side of the LCD board

I've just realsied I forgot to take a photo of the upper half of the main board, though its similarly unexciting looking circuit board with no burnt bits.

The card in my unit

Good news, I didn't break it more. But openeing it up for a squizz didn't magically fix it either sadly.

 

[Lex]

So after many years my trusty knock off Tech 2 decided to crack the sads the other week. It still turns on but gives nothing but a blank white screen, itinially I thought it was the CAN interface module which wasn't talking to the car but after testing it with another still no dice as well as testing it on multiplle cars too. So though if its already stuffed, lets open it up and have a squizz and see if there's anything obvious on inside which points to an issue. Sadly it didn't, and I'm still up for buying another unit but anyway enjoy.

If anyone can reccomend a reputable seller of a knock off tech2 please let me know, I bought this off Aliexpress around 8 years ago (maybe, ages ago anyway) and now there seems to be a lot more choice in terms of sellers and combinations on both there and ebay that I had years ago. Also was a lot cheaper back then as well of course.

First step of disassembly, 6 torx Screws on the back which hold the two halves together.

With the front cover off this is the lower half of the main board, ribbon on the left connects the the keypad buttons

LCD without the cover

Removing the 4 screws around the LCD removes the LCD and attached circuit board, there is a multi pin connector which just presses in on the RHS.

Reverse side of the LCD board

I've just realsied I forgot to take a photo of the upper half of the main board, though its similarly unexciting looking circuit board with no burnt bits.

The card in my unit

Good news, I didn't break it more. But openeing it up for a squizz didn't magically fix it either sadly.

I'm wondering if the problem is in the wiring harness (of the tech2) as the cable usually gets moved around a bit, when connecting to a port & disconnecting from the port?

 

[Sandman]

Possibly, but tried it with another CAN unit and cable that was only 6 months old and same thing.

 

[Drawnnite]

Wonder if there is a capacitor or super cap in there that has gone. (dried out i think is what happens with a super cap)
Or a resistor has cooked itself
Or a chip has losts its inner workings.
So many things could have gone wrong.

Would be incredibly hard to find unless you know the circuit and can draw it out and do the calcs to know what values you should have in places.
Although one of the blokes at work did exactly that on one hard to find test device over a long time and got it working.

Definitely keen to know what tech2 you go with, as really need to pull the trigger on one myself.

 

[Sandman]

Quite possibly, I didn't think I was likely to find the answer but I figured I couldn't really break it any more than it was already. I shall report back with what I end up with. It appears the ones on ebay are about $150 more than Aliexpress currently but the Holden variant is out of stock (of course). So might go the aliexpress one again as I gather they're all from the same place with the local ebay ones being just a reseller.

 

[Sandman]

So I've just ordered one of these off Aliexpress like the last one. Will keep everyone updated with how it goes. Came to $430ish AUD once they added tax on at the end. Sneaky bastards....

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...450915903!sea!AU!0&curPageLogUid=d3flSs1bUEaM

 

[Lex]

So I've just ordered one of these off Aliexpress like the last one. Will keep everyone updated with how it goes. Came to $430ish AUD once they added tax on at the end. Sneaky bastards....

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005275658716.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.2bc913c0zkH3gG&algo_pvid=a2cf2af6-4827-40d9-83e7-16534aefa610&algo_exp_id=a2cf2af6-4827-40d9-83e7-16534aefa610-0&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id":"12000032450915903"}&pdp_npi=3@dis!AUD!466.56!396.58!!!!!@211bea6216794917377295752d06fe!12000032450915903!sea!AU!0&curPageLogUid=d3flSs1bUEaM

That link is for the opel/saab?

 

[Sandman]

Yeah you just click the Holden option on that before you add it to your cart.

 

[Sandman]

So update time. Don't buy the one I linked above. Was mean to be here by last Friday. Still no tracking and no response from multiple message I've sent to the seller. So have requested a refund and will buy one through an Aussie seller on ebay for $100 more..... Which I'm sure are the exact same unit, but atleast I should hopefully recieve it...

 

[DavesSV6Tonner]

So update time. Don't buy the one I linked above. Was mean to be here by last Friday. Still no tracking and no response from multiple message I've sent to the seller. So have requested a refund and will buy one through an Aussie seller on ebay for $100 more..... Which I'm sure are the exact same unit, but atleast I should hopefully recieve it...

Keep your fingers crossed you get your refund. Good luck.