This Back to the Future car has a Problem - 'TIME' to Fix it

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In this video I attempt to repair a VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) original clock on a beautiful 1981 DMC DeLorean car, the Back to the Future car. This was sent in by Jon who has owned this car for 18 months and the clock has never worked, it looks like it hasn't worked for many years previous to that. Has time run out for this time travelling machine or can it be fixed? Let's find out.
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Remember that this is just for entertainment and I am not an expert in these repairs. The processes in the video may not be the best way, the correct way or the safest way to fix these things. I do love fault finding and trying to fix broken things, so I hope that comes across in this 'Trying to FIX' series. Many thanks, Vince.

[@Mymatevince]

Spoiler Saver and question. Do you like the DMC DeLorean? What would be your dream car new or old? (price range up to £100K / $120K only). I think mine would be a 1960s Porsche 912 or maybe a 912 Targa. Cheaper than the 911, same looks and I could easily live with the 4 cylinders.

[@audibell]

I would have an old 66 Ford Mustang cabriolet

[@Regaljester75]

1982 Pontiac Trans-am (black of course)

[@ScarbadosSlim]

​@@Regaljester75 Pretty much the same, but mine would be from 1978. Smokey and the Bandit as opposed to Knight Rider.

[@ScarbadosSlim]

My dream car is either a rodded '32 or '34 3 window Ford coupé. Think American Graffiti's yellow deuce coupe or ZZ Top's Eliminator. I'd be deliriously happy with either.

[@Lazerz27189]

My dream car would be a Toyota twin-cam AE86, that 4A-GE sound is incredible!

[@devttyUSB0]

Oh wow, you actually saved this piece of electronics from an imminent and certain death. Real nice!

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks devtty 👍👍👍

[@jamesmatlock2001]

Vince, I’m not even into microelectronics or fixing things, but I love watching your channel. Brings me true joy to see a new video ready to watch.

[@Danechip]

Always good to learn James ;)

[@AtariFitness]

“If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious s***.”

[@Vermilicious]

That's truly an iconic car model, and still to this day looks really cool.

[@HavingFunRepairs]

Great Scott! Also, well done. Enjoyed this video immensely. My dream car when I was younger was a DMC DeLorean. Christopher Lloyd's portrayal of Dr. Emmett Brown is one of the reasons why I got into my specific career.

[@Mymatevince]

😂 I went to see the BTTF stage show in London around a year ago and Doc Brown stole the show on that as well. I have missed so many opportunities for BTTF quotes on this video. I should be ashamed of myself 😂

[@Fifury161]

@@Mymatevince Yes - I wondered why you missed all those opportunities - especially when using flux around the capacitor!

[@russmelanson6038]

@@Fifury161 Oooh, that's better than 1.21 jiggawatts!!

[@HavingFunRepairs]

@@Mymatevince I'm hiding my disappointment 🤣

[@HavingFunRepairs]

@@Fifury161 yes!

[@M1LAD81]

Fun fact, you can still get these or very similar VFD's. Futaba are still making them. Also fun fact another company called Delorean is making a new car. I think they bought all the designs and metal stamping equipment to also reproduce parts for the original DMC Delorean DC-12.

[@markwanklyn4195]

they brought up everything that was left at the original factory when DeLorean went out of business - they have been on TV and said they have enough parts to build complete new DMC-12s from scratch and when they run out they have everything needed to reproduce every part again.

[@patrickhostler5939]

Your attention to detail is like that of a watchmaker or jewelry craftsman… astonishing ❤

[@GadgetUK164]

Great job! The Delorian looks like a car from the future, and the past!

[@Mymatevince]

Hahaha, yes so true, how is that even possible!!!! 😂

[@TheDefpom]

Great to see you were able to bring the clock back to life and help restore a piece of that iconic car.

[@telemedic5142]

I really enjoyed this video, great fault finding, and super preventative maintenance. Also great to see it back where it belongs. Well done!

[@Xtrafix2015]

That was awesome! and congratulations for a chance working on that masterpiece you did a great job throughout and interesting to say the least. I thought it was hopeless but YOU DID IT! 🎉 You’re the best for fixing the future. Cheers ❤

[@Saturnuria]

Good video as always Vince. Here’s a thought for you though… As this video was sponsored by PCBWay, I wonder if they could have provided you with a replacement circuit board. It’s quite a simple one after all. Going though the process of how to do that might make for an interesting alternative next time you get something similar.

[@BOXTERS32]

Hi Vince, Another great video again... In the past i have used a windscreen chip repair kit to fix/hide cracks in plastic lenses (stone chips/craks) on cars and other plastic covers. All you do is dribble a little fluid on the crack and it feeds into the crack and makes it disappear i also used a heat gun to help it soak in to the crack but be careful with that or it will melt the plastic if too hot just warm it up. Once this is done you can polish it with fine car polish rubbing compound and or glass polish from T-Cut.I have had 100% sucsess with this method so far.Cheers Mitch

[@howardwood2211]

Great video Vince. Really had me on the edge of my seat, praying you didn't break the bit of glass. Keep up the good work.

[@bufordmaddogtannen]

Realistically I would have used pcbway to get a replica of the board, and used a socket to mount the display. Said that, kudos for the patience.

[@KisoX]

Finally a friend for david

[@philsinclair]

Vince’s PCB advert has confirmed he needs to be in the running for the next James Bond! 😂

[@beavis6363]

Dang, that's just fantastic. Nice workmanship and accomplishment. Great to see the OEM clock doing great and back in the Delorean.

[@unbekannterboy1069]

Such a nice fix for an amazing car, Vince! This will last for ages.

[@DeLorean45]

Great video! Thankfully the clock in my DeLorean still works, but if that ever changes I now know what to look for! Thanks for making this video! Hopefully it can help a few other owners save their original clocks as well!

[@therealgrizzly]

Might be a good ide´to take a look at how yours are looking to prevent further damage IF it is on the way out!

[@skonkfactory]

that thing that you don't know what it is is a trimmer capacitor. there are polyester segments that slide between contacts to change the capacitance by a few picofarads. It's probably to fine tune the crystal to adjust how fast the clock ticks.

[@andymouse]

You're not alone about VFD's ! there are millions of us Welcome Vince !.....cheers.

[@chasefournier]

The delorean is my FAVORITE car! Thanks for the great vid Vince ☺️

[@beenflying1]

Great video, thanks. The valves with the numbers in layers are cool also.

[@Mr-Mag00]

Bravo Vince ! great job I like getting excited with you when you solve a problem. Thank you for your time making these for all of us. What a treat a Delorian! fun car, no water cups by the clock now =).

[@hydrolisk1792]

Honestly if it were me fixing it, because of how damaged the board was and how simple the circuit really is with that all in one chip, I would have designed a board and sent it off to be printed and saved all the original electronic components from the old board and installed them on to the new board. Still, you did an amazing job saving that board mate!! Kudos!

[@lesallison9047]

Fantastic work 👏👏👏 I was surprised that you put it back in its box before checking it was working, something I used confidently do when I was a younger, but experienc teaches us ! You have just gained a new subscriber. ✌♥️🇬🇧

[@BuyitFixit]

Great Job Vince. Definitely a "Back to the Future" car that one! Good catch on the shorted solder pads, and yes VFD's are great, I'm a fan of them too! That's probably why I've done so many repair video's on old VFD games! If you like VFD's you'll probably like nixie tubes too if you haven't came across those before, there's just something about these old glowing things that make them special.

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Mick, I'll Google them to see what they are. Hope you got your car sorted👍

[@BuyitFixit]

@@Mymatevince No not yet lol. I've just abandoned it in the shed, perhaps next week... just been trying to get myself a bit motivated! I don't know how you do it (two videos or so a week) it's a fair bit of work!

[@Mymatevince]

@@BuyitFixit It is Mick, people don't realise how long filming and editing takes. I was up until 5am last night trying to fix something. It is my full time job though so that is why I can spend more time on it than others. Maybe don't feel pressurised to get one or two videos out a week. Do them as and when, 1 video one video, 3 videos the next, none the week after. It makes it more fun that way, although the algorithm may not like it. Also if you have a video or 2 all finished held in reserve then it takes the pressure off if you are not as motivated one week. So right now I have 4 videos finished and edited awaiting release. It means I can have 2 weeks off without impacting the channel 👍

[@BuyitFixit]

@@Mymatevince Thanks Vince. Yes I did have about 4 in reserve but then because of Christmas etc I kind of fell behind. I've bought A few things off Ebay recently that ended up working fine! Not great for doing a repair video! Also things like when you need to order parts from China etc puts a spanner in the works as you well know. My xbox remote broke so I'm currently trying to edit that video to put out later today!

[@Mymatevince]

@@BuyitFixit Nothing worse than buying a faulty item and it works!!! Look forward to seeing the Xbox remote👍

[@lrrromicronpersei8294]

The little green part in the corner you were asking about is a trimmer capacitor I think it’s for fine adjustment of the crystal frequency to the chip for time accuracy.. sorry if you mentioned it I was doing other things as well lol Nice repair job

[@Danechip]

You are correct. A lazy way of doing things back then. I was only 6 then so mustn't grumble.

[@Boogie_the_cat]

You are the only KZbin channel I watch where I don't skip through the sponsor section. I know you have respect for your sponsor, and I appreciate your integrity by not being sponsored by Raid: Shadow Legends or some kind of sh*tty wireless earbuds that sound like tin cans tied together with string. Congratulations on the VFD fix. Those displays look excellent, and will add extra coolness factor to your viewers' Delorian

[@williamharris8367]

You forgot that Vince was never sponsored by Established Titles, either. 😂 They enthusiastically supported all sorts of random channels.

[@NewTestamentDoc]

favorite fix-it video... then again, I lived in a time when I saw these on the roads in the US!

[@sambuka57]

We went to Orlando Florida in the early 90's they had the BTTF car on show at Universal studios along with the BTTF Train from BTTF 3. And of course the ride. My lad was about 7 then and it was his favorite film. So to actually see the car and stand next to it and go on the ride. was dream come true for him. Something he often talks about now. Always a great channel Vince.

[@Fifury161]

That motion ride made me nauseous! I felt so travel sick - I also ruined the magic when I leaned forward and saw about a dozen other DeLorean "shells" on the same gantry

[@Goreface69]

John's car looks soooo clean and sleak... great stuff, lucky him! Beauty.

[@eathenalexander2836]

Great video Vince. I think investing in a ultra sonic cleaner for boards like this can very useful to you.

[@roblawrence8622]

You would make a great surgeon Vince , love your videos, thank you

[@mcreal109]

My mate Vince is some type of genius

[@technixbul]

Super! The first problem was the bad cap you've changed in the begining, the second war that broken trace. Burned resistors drop 12V to 1V for the fillament (The Cathode of the VFD), The 100k resistor (tipical value for VFDs) is pull down. I can build you an unique VFD clock with russian single digit small tubes from 70s, but i never sent something to another country. Those VFDs are very rare now and ain't cheap, if you manage to find them at all, driving them is a bit tricky, I have a bag of around 100 pcs of them and already build few clocks for friends :D

[@Mymatevince]

Cheers Technixbul, I know who to ask if I have VFD problems in the future 👌👍

[@roberttco1]

I know this is old and you may not see this, but you might want to get some flame proof resistors for replacing these sorts. @@Mymatevince

[@SY-tx5hb]

Nice repair. Inspiring. I really need that vacuum desoldering thing.

[@dawn5227]

You really brought this one back to the future.

[@randyr.parker2698]

@Mymatevince, nice job on the clock display! I just repaired the basic same thing on a 1988 truck/car radio for my brother, he owns an old 1988 Dodge Dakota pickup with a Clarion brand AM/FM/Cassette radio. The display quit working several years ago and what was wrong with his was a resistor that was either for the cathode, or anode power for the vfd display had went from 20 ohms to 200 ohms, once replaced it worked perfectly. He was happy!

[@Fifury161]

Spooky coincidence as I have planned a visit to the Ulster Folk & Transport museum tomorrow - which includes a permanent exhibition of the DeLorean DMC-12 car. The cars look awesome - from a distance, sadly once you get close you realise they where literally thrown together (There have been a few documentaries about DeLorean - worth a watch!). Another fun piece of trivia - when the factory closed, many years later a clever chap in America bought up all the remaining factory parts and had them shipped to America - he has about enough spares to build 12 full DeLoreans IIRC!

[@qquasimodo]

Console clock circuit requires generated power of 1.21 GW otherwise VFD will might malfunction again ;) Great video as always !!!!

[@cigarboxguitar9519]

Great job Vince. Tenacity personified.

[@patrickjmorgan]

I was a final year apprentice (for Otis) in '75 and was given a project to convert the clocks- that were flip flop , like the old info boards at the stations- to accept a clock kit using those VFT displays. those clocks lasted about 35 years- this was for the lifts at the Shell Center in London.

[@mikeciavarella316]

Good job Vince.

[@chrisstyles4630]

Vince you're soldier mask covering has come a long way it was very neat & a great bit of history to work on a part of a special car excellent work 👍

[@fouroakfarm]

Looks like you uncovered another broken trace at 19:30 near the pin. Probably was able to be bridged with solder though. Excellent fix! Well done. VFDs truly do have a special appeal, I agree

[@eman59461]

I love VFPs too. I used to love picking up mini stereos from 90s in the trash and fixing them only to marvel at its display and spectrum analyzer.

[@sp523]

Great fix Vince! I really enjoyed your repair.

[@jamiepaget9466]

Literally saw my first one today Vince, outside the pet shop I use. As you say, it was never a great car, but became an icon, didn't it.

[@markteeee]

Great video, seeing the car was a nice surprise.

[@macrook1961]

Finally the two magic words talking about the Time machine, Flaux Capasitor.

[@jaimecosta2966]

Excelente vídeo.. Love the car.. I remember when i lived in the Uk and the company lumenition had a lotus esprit as a test car magical days..

[@marcellipovsky8222]

Ohers would deem this a no-fix. Not Vince, this man Rolls-up his sleeves and gets to work. Unbelievable patience and persistence! Good job Vince! P.S.> Somehow I have the feeling that this won't be the only one you fix.

[@Mogipbob]

I was thinking the flux capacitor caused the failure :). Great video!

[@TheDefpom]

For corroded traces that are basically intact what I do is scrap them back to clean copper with the fibreglass brush, and then flux them and put a layer of solder over them to help reinforce them a bit.

[@Okurka.]

He can just design a PCB and actually use the sponsor's services.

[@TheDefpom]

A tip for desoldering stuff that is this old, first re-solder all the joints with fresh solder, then desolder them, it makes the job so much easier to do. EDIT: well done 🙂

[@Danechip]

Mine is fuck the planet. Go back to leaded solder (60/40 lead and tin). Put a bit of the good old stuff on, suck it off and start again.

[@Danechip]

Church roof and rain puts more into the ground than our old little dots in electronics. I know/understand it all adds up, but a church roof gets lead again and again. In 2014 for work, still used leaded solder for boards used in US military. (Or sodder as they say, but not odder (older) for a change in age) Yanks annoy me. Aluminium is a whole new debate.

[@Okurka.]

Re-soldering the joints makes it easier because of the fresh flux, not because of the fresh solder. So you can instead just add flux before de-soldering.

[@TheDefpom]

@@Okurka. it’s not just the flux, I have used both methods and using fresh solder is much more effective than just using flux.

[@Okurka.]

@@TheDefpom Use tacky flux.

[@johnlarro6872]

Well done! I'm sure we were all super excited when we saw that green light! I used to drive a Nissan Z which was full of non operational gizmos... if I still had it, I'd have loved to have sent the "Talking Lady" to you to try figure out!

[@markdunstan8277]

Keep on makings these videos They are excellent Many thanks

[@AnonymousRepair]

very nice repair well done 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@craftsman123456]

When I started watching this totally reminded me of repair work I had to do on my Dodge Dakota LCD display that heat just Cooks the capacitors

[@travisritenour1849]

Awesome video and such a clean car

[@typhdecker4099]

Amazing job for an amazing and iconic car!

[@FTBonito]

Hey mate, awesome job. There are verry few Deloreans who have a working clock. Even mine. Pulled it out today after you inspired me. Sadly my little worm thingy was missing. New VFD boards are sadly not to be found anymore.

[@howardbaldwin1226]

Hey Vince I hope you have better luck with your Swatch Omega Speedmaster Bioceramic Moonswatch than I did. After two faults in six months and the offer of a new replacement watch from the store I just asked for my money back. Once bitten ........ Love your videos.

[@sparkstron73]

Great scott you fixed it😂Inspiring stuff, got some stuff I'm gunna try fix. Got an action man command cebtre that was working but I shorted something and blew something, maybe a transistor or ic. Got a tester so will check what I can

[@RoosterMontgomery]

I found a company through a DMC message board that built one, completely accurate to the original, right into the removable bezel. They spliced new wires into the old harness, and it was plug and play! Interesting fact: all DMC's come with the clock wire harness plugin, even the after the clock was discontinued. How can you not tell time when in a DeLorean?!

[@susanmcmaster7894]

Great Scot !youve done a great job vince 😊

[@dash8brj]

I used to have a 20x4 VFD hooked up to my computer showing stats such as coolant temperature (water cooled PC), cpu horsepower, clock frequency, time etc. My mate and I were dancing to some music and having a bit of a laugh till he accidentally bumped the pc, sending the VFD flying and broke it. He's lucky I'm not a bloke that holds a grudge, and besides, it was an accident, but he was in my bad books for a day or 3! VFD's are amazing. They look much nicer than LEd/LCD.

[@TheDefpom]

Yes the green thing is a variable capacitor, will be to tune the crystal frequency so that it keeps time correctly.

[@Pistol_Knight]

Very good fix, that small wire fitted perfectly

[@Watch-Crazy]

Typically I was distracted by your very cool MoonSwatch!

[@SrWolf90]

VFD screens are unique, I'm a fan, I'm collecting equipment with that type of screen. I even have a clock from a Toyota with a VFD display.

[@jensschroder8214]

VFD are directly heated Triode tubes. 1.3 volts is definitely the heater. I am surprised that only 12 volts are used for the anode voltage. The gate segments are probably switched with 6 volts. Congratulations

[@rabmillar7471]

Keep up the good work vince 😊 your videos are awsome 😊

[@Fifury161]

6:25 - well done! That is indeed a tuneable capacitor! Also that blue capacitor does look like it needs replaced.

[@mikecass8306]

Well done Vince

[@Foxhound682]

Tip Vince after soldering on a board look at the board through you're microscope to check for soldering bridges

[@oldguy9051]

It's interesting that VFDs are getting so much love now. Back in the day they were seen as "outdated" (thanks to the "calculator war") and power hungry -- compared to the fancy new LCDs. After the even more power hungry early LEDs (usually as bubble displays) VFDs were the next victim of "something better has arrived". And LCDs were indeed exciting back then as the countless LCD watches with special functions etc. prove. Now LCDs are so common that people apparently want the old stuff back. What do they say? The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence? ;-)

[@mrjsv4935]

Very very cool fix for this awesome car :) I once had a 1990 Mazda 323 BG Sedan, and I think it had VFD digital clock as well at the dashboard, as it looked similar glowing green, like this DeLorean clock. It also had dim feature, when head lights were switched on, the clock display brightness was reduced. Sadly the top edge of the windshield leaked water at one point, and the clock was directly under, where the water droplets came down, and of course it killed the clock. Tried even disassemble the dash to remove and perhaps fix the clock, but dash panel around the clock didn't want to come apart. I gave up as I was afraid I'm going to break it. I don't know why it was so tightly there, maybe I missed some screw or clip or some clip was just so incredibly tight it didn't let go the panel easily. I had clock in the radio display though, so that did the same thing, but of course would've been nice to fix the actual car dash clock as well. I did fix the leak though, brought the car to a car glass shop and they injected windshield glass glue to the leaking seam from inside the car, and the leak stopped right there. Had to remove sun visors and pop open interior roof upholstery panel near windshield, so repair guy gained access to the windshield top seam. Oh, and my dream car, 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am, the Knight Rider KITT base car :)

[@paultasker7788]

Great fix and the car looks epic.

[@Mymatevince]

Cheers Paul?

[@guystevens162]

Great video and great classic cars to. 😆😄

[@andyroberts9562]

Awesome fix, im with you them displays look properly nice ive got a calculator somewhere with one of them and omg that delorean was super nice but i dont think they are much fun in warm weather as the windows dont open much due to the shape of the doors 😊

[@kareemtawab]

That car is absolutely beautiful! I wish I have one!

[@haactgaming9687]

Very satisfying!

[@spikekent]

I'm with you on the VFDs Vince, maybe it's an age thing lol. I have seen (and have photos) of the original DeLorean from the film, complete with Michael J Fox signature on the dashboard. I came accross it by chance several years ago. What a day that was.

[@SimonQuigley]

The Haha! Was hilarious

[@dodgydruid]

BTW I reached out to somebody in an article of the Watford Observer, regarding the Leavesden Murals as I worked at Leavesden and Abbots Langley hospitals back in 90-91 and remember these lost murals well, was quite sad when they closed the hospitals as they were quite peaceful to work at as a nurse but greed and money got in the way of helping people so ended a little bit of history.

[@Abh_92]

Great Car&Fix 🎉

[@TechGorilla1987]

@13:55 - I stripped down an old 70's Pioneer tape deck. The record levels were displayed on a VFD. I have it in front of me looking to light and use it. It's produced by that same company from Japan. They must have been big in the VFD field.

[@luke27luis]

I also like VFD very much as well! I did choose an old HTPC case just because of the VFD, and also have a couple more safely stored which came from now deceased music players, waiting for me to drive them some day with a microcontroller to fit them in a new device!

[@russmelanson6038]

uh... thanks. Now I have to start running around to all the Goodwills and thrift stores buying broken VCRs and calculators to scrap VFDs out of... as if I didn't already have enough problems hoarding electronics parts. ;) Love the idea!!

[@markemarkpsv1]

Vince didn't take into account that the DMC was lefthand drive! So it's the "driver that will get a distorted view" What a great video and car. 👌😇🤘m-E-m

[@Fifury161]

Good point - there are no factory built DeLoreans that are RHS - although there were "factory authorised" conversions by one or two companies in England (13 by one and 3 by others that are currently known).

[@Mymatevince]

Yesssss, I spotted that when Jon sent over the footage😂

[@dany-ps2my]

Top notch, a professional couldn't have done a better job

[@TampaTec]

Sweet car, now u can go back in time ⏲️

[@Mymatevince]

😂👍👍👍

[@TheTony111111]

Nice fix Vince. my dream car from the 80s was the Ford Escort RS Cosworth. the closest i got to a similar one was a Ford Esort RS Turbo in the early 90s. Nice motor. unfortunately had to sell it as the insurance went from £400 for the first year then to £3400 the second year. A highly sought after car for car thieves. 😢😢

[@frankiejkh1]

Well done vince 👍

[@JB-np4lp]

THAT…was Awesome! Thanks

[@TheAussieRepairGuy]

10:54 - apply a little bit of flux core tin/lead solder to the contact first, it will break up the oxides, I have to do the same on a lot of old oxidized solder joins.

[@wisher21uk]

Excellent fix Vince you need it justice, look up nixie clock they look fantastic 😊