Thread: Remote faceplate with Alpines (interconect, wire, solder)

You might be able to get longer distances with the cat5 since it elminates crosstalk.

If you fail, send it to me I'll try.

The first time I relocated a HU was super easy for me. Why has it gotten harder???

I would take the unit apart and trace the leads to where they are originally soldered too and then solder to that. Isn't that possible? LIke i did here - Relocating headunit and extending faceplate somewhere else.

Many units now use thin ribbon cables that plug into a socket on the PCB and there is no place on the PCB to which you can solder your wires.

Here is the problem. If you solder wires to the gold contacts you will likely never be able to return the unit back to stock and have it work as normal. That means if you go through all of the effort to extend the faceplate, and it doesn't work, then you've wrecked a good radio. Many of the faceplates won't work if you extend them. The LCD displays won't function. I think that is because there is not enough power being sent to the LCD.

I asked around on here and found someone who gave me a brand and model of unit that did work when it was extended. I bought the same one off of ebay (still waiting for it to arrive).

I also made a mold of the male connector and I molded my own male connector for a pioneer! I'll solder my wires to the metal strips on the male connector that I made.

Like I said, seems to be proven for my model, as this guy did it!

Remote faceplate almost done

DaveB: whay do you say this? I think that if you solder through the gold contacts and it doesn't work, you can always desolder and remove the thin layer of solder from the contacts (you can suck that with special tools) and have it work as normal again (and even return it).

I would say soldering to the PCB on more risky, and prone to screwing something irreversibly!

Originally Posted by DaveB

Here is the problem. If you solder wires to the gold contacts you will likely never be able to return the unit back to stock and have it work as normal.

could you not get some sort non-conductive glue and avoid having to solder to such small connectors? basically touch the wire to the connector and then glue it down. I am 98% sure I have seen someone do this and have it work...

Yeah, I completed the remote faceplate extension several months ago. Most faceplates cannot be remote located. Most have such small microcontollers and so little power between the faceplate and the HU that they can't talk to each other over the extension wires.

I ended up finding someone else who had extended a faceplate and then I bought the same model HU as he had. I bought it off of ebay.

I tried about 5 other head units prior to buying the Pioneer off of ebay. That is why I know that very few models will work with the extended faceplate.

Bought all materials/parts, but have not done it yet.