Taking apart a detector?

**jackenloper** · 08-10-2005, 08:35 AM

Hey guys,

I want to take apart my detector to possibly see if i can fix the problem of it always falsing. Once it heats up, just a little bit, even to operating temperatures, it starts falsing KA band. (sucks)

The detector is bel 980. Is it hard to open a detector without breaking the b@stard? Just pop the bottom screws right? and it will come out?

Also, do i have to worry about the capacitors inside the detectors being charged that will shock the life out of me, or not?
I learned my lesson with disposable camera's once.

Thanks.

**jimbonzzz** · 08-10-2005, 09:04 AM

Originally Posted by jackenloper

The detector is bel 980. Is it hard to open a detector without breaking the b@stard? Just pop the bottom screws right? and it will come out?

I haven't opened a 980 but it shouldn't be too hard.

Originally Posted by jackenloper

Also, do i have to worry about the capacitors inside the detectors being charged that will shock the life out of me, or not?
I learned my lesson with disposable camera's once.Thanks.

No, nothing like this to worry about in a detector.
Have fun...

Jim

**boomerman** · 08-10-2005, 09:08 AM

I took apart my Bel 980 all you have to do is remove the 2 screws on the bottom then take it from the back and pull it apart gently you will have to pull and twist at the same time to get the front part of it off.
There are 2 little tangs inside that hold it together, kind of hard to exlpain but if you are careful you wil get it apart then you will see what I am talking about.

There are no capacitors that you have to worry about on these, (I know I have been shocked by caps myself!)
I would look for heat related cracks in the soldering and around the components, I found a few in mine and since I can not solder I am having a buddy do mine, I hope to get it back this week to see if this fixes the problem.

Do you ever get the ?ll lock error on your display by chance?
Mine started doing that after it got to hot from being out in the sun all the time as well as really bad KA falses as well.
Once I get mine back I will post what I find to let you know if mine is fixed.
I am curious to see what you find with yours.

**jackenloper** · 08-10-2005, 09:36 AM

Thanks a lot guys for the very quick responses.

Boomerman, I usually get the LO3?! <-(something like that) error, then it shows "markers ??" right after.
I have not gotten a lock error yet. THe worst thing about the KA falsing when it is hot is that the detector does not pick up any other bands at all.

I will also post back later with my results.

**D.E.T** · 08-10-2005, 10:03 AM

Bel 980 has suffered such problems. I´ve returned couple units for that reason (2-3 years ago). The 980 started to alert Ka 1 after being powered sor some 15-20 minutes. The alert didn´t end at all. After You switched the detector off and let it cool for a while it worked normally a´gain until heated. No sun or any special conditoins either.

**laserblaster** · 08-10-2005, 12:40 PM

the problem is knowing whats what inside and what every electronic thing does and if its failed how to fix it...

its also knowing if its falsing ka band or any other band whats wrong with it.

know doubt mike valentine would know, and any other tech out there,

people have been on about making radar detectors but if you were like mike and know what your doing,

you could get parts from other radar detectors and make ''the perfect'' detector.

yes you'd probibly be breaking patent laws but what if you were making for yourself.

any tech out there could modify a v1 or passport or a laser jammer and make it better probibly due to pattent laws something which the manufacturer cant do!

i have opened my snooper up just to see whats inside not much,

but i would love to be able to know how it works, rather like how tv's work and cd players it seems like everyone knows how they work and what goes on them, although my dvd player broke, when you turn it on the screen would be screwed up and also it would go blocky when you play the dvd.... i opend it up and couldnt find the problem but for how much they are now i just got a new one, a philips picture qualitys amasing!

its a dissapointment when you cant fix something or dont have the tech know how to do it.

i've searched the net and find nothing on how to fix radar detectors i'm sure there is some site out there which has the nesesary tech info..

i hope you fix it, what you could do is ask a bel tech whats wrong with it.

**boomerman** · 08-10-2005, 12:53 PM

Part of the fun is just taking it a part and looking how it is designed.
Part of learning how something works is to take it apart and study it.
If you think about a radar detector in it's simplest form it is nothing but a receiver tuned to specific frequencies and an antenna.
Radara detectors unlike other electronics do not have the mass appeal to the consumer so there is not a lot of demand for parts, and most manufactures do not just give out schematics or manuals to fix them.

Yes it would be nice to be able to ask a Bel Tech what is causing the problem but I doubt you would get an answer from the person.

I have a contact at whistler that I can ask questions about and even some of the information that I have asked he can not provide due to company policy and I can understand that.

**laserblaster** · 08-10-2005, 04:03 PM

radar detector scerets!

**jackenloper** · 08-11-2005, 09:49 PM

Well... I opened the detector, only to find that it is very complex in its circuitry, but other than that, it looked alright. Nothing was burned out.

No progress so far, but also, i drove today and it was very hot... The detector did not false? :shock:

**billgerr** · 08-11-2005, 10:04 PM

You may want to examine how well the SMD resistors (beige brown rectangular prisms with solder on each side) are attached to their pads. Take a plastic fork and break off a tang or use a toothpick as a probe. Very gently, little more than a touching force, push the device at its center. Loose SMDs can give you a low-voltage error on BEL detectors and can wreak havoc on a calibration, I suppose.