Repairable : istick tc100 side switch

[davetherayon]

Symptom : the istick tc100's got a rather nice side-activated fire button, simple enough in that one of the magnetically held on battery covers rests against a push-to-make switch button. But if it suffers, let's say, a trauma due to being dropped on its side, the button will push all the way into its hole in the side and not actuate.

Diagnosis : the unit's easy enough to dismantle, two screws hold the section on that when removed reveals the switch which is on its own small pcb, and connects to the positives of battery and control board. The problem was clear, this wee board is just held in place on the main board by a bit of glue, and some dabs of solder that connect them.

Fix : superglue the button board back on (make sure it's oriented correctly), then solder across the 4 broken terminals on the button side. To reach the two inner terminals, pull and hold the switch spring up and out of the way (it doesn't detach, well not without looking like it'd break the switch altogether). I used a croc clip lead weighed down to provide the pull.

The repaired unit in my case takes a little more pressure to activate, as it's been glooed back on a little further into than it was originally held in. But it ain't shifting any time soon, and best of all it works.