TOMTOM ACTIVATE CODE

SOURCE: photos of tomtom one power on fix

Attached is a sequence of photos on how to get to and change the power control chip - the one that is probably damaged. This is for the Tom Tom I repaired and yours could be different however, there will be a power control chip of some kind (check out the part numbers to see which one it is) and it will be this that is damaged and will need replacing. The Power control chip is the hardest to replace as you cannot get to the 'legs' to solder them. To remove the old one, just apply a large soldering iron bit (with a blob of solder on it to make good thermal contact to the top of the chip) and heat up the whole chip until it is free. Lift it off straight away with tweezers. Clean up the solder pads with solder wick and then apply a SMALL amount of solder paste to each pad. It is improtant that this is a SMALL amount and is equal on all pads so the new chip sits square and true when you put it on. Make sure the chip is in the middle of the pad patern and push it into place. Now for the tricky part....either usa a large soldering iron and heat the chip until it melts the solder paste and drops into place or, use a hot air gun with a small nozzle and do the same thing. Great care needs to be taken to ensure you do not heat up the near by parts so the soldering iron is best but you have to remove it as soon as the chip falls into place. The surface tension of the solder should centre the chip up if it is slightly out but you need to get it possitioned as good as you can before you heat it up. Take care not to move the chip as you heat it. You will need a fine bit in the soldering iron for the diode and any other parts you may need.

You should start with TT1 and work through to TT7.

As well as this chip, if the power supply went high (12 volts) then the zener diode on the input to this chip will also have been destroyed - you should see signs of this just by looking at the device (see photo TT6)

The most difficult bits are: -

Opening the connector to the LCD. This can be done by gently lifting up the PCB to see the connector on the back and then pushing up the 2 ends of the connectors white locking bar. Replacement is also very tricky but with care it can be done. As an alternative, you can remove the LCD complete by gently flexing the plastic surround to it and freeing the display from the case. It is then easy to disconnect and re-connect the LCD to the PCB.

Removing the tin cover from the back of the PCB so that you can get to the power control chip. This takes time and a hot soldering iron with good solder wick to remove the solder. Having liberated a couple of lugs you can remove the others by gently lifting the cover near to a lug and heating that lug to pull it through the PCB. Don't burn your fingers though!

The parts are easy to obtain from either Farnell or RS Components - RS have trade counters you can go to and Farnell have a retail side CPC you can find them at http://cpc.farnell.com/. If you have problems let me know and I will see what I can do.

SOURCE: Tomtom GO 700 Activation.

my tomtom go 700 did not startup and I could not backup the inernal memory as it was crupted so replaced the internal hardrive but now I dont have the map and my activation code I do have the device code all it apears is a red cross flashing I need to what was on the internal memory was it just the map or other softwares to so at least I can purchase another map or do I have to, it is crasy why tomtom put a 2.5 gig internal memory insted of external I just want to smash it as I am so upset