How To Replace Worn Buttons On A Concert II

How To Replace Worn Buttons On A Concert II – Part 1

Want to do something about those awful worn buttons on your head unit? You might find something in this, read on.

You have three principal choices, either buy a satisfactory (to you) complete used replacement unit [£expensive] or buy a set of stickers off eBay [cheap ~£11] or buy a donor unit and swap the worn buttons [£depends], in much the same way as the well documented climate button upgrade path. This post is about the nitty-gritty of how to perform the latter with a Concert II but I expect the principles at least to carry through to the other models of A2 head unit.

I make no apologies this guide is long and detailed, it is aimed at the less experienced, less confident member. I sometimes feel instructions are too brief, e.g. “remove sill cover trim ” – the less confident novice thinks “but how?”. If you are experienced stop reading this guide now you do not need it to perform this task, just follow your nose.
 
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How To Replace Worn Buttons On A Concert II – Part 2

Should take about an hour to complete this ‘How To’ task first time, with no electrical work and a few simple tools.

First obtain a donor unit. Do not restrict your search to A2 Concert II units, many other Audi models have units with the same button arrangement. Bought my donor unit off eBay, I was lucky, put a bid in of £5 not expecting to win and nobody else bid – the postage cost more than the unit! The unit has several faults which renders it scrap.

( Non-functional good donor candidates crop up on eBay, roughly monthly, at around £10 – be vigilant and pounce they don’t hang around. You could of course buy a fully functioning unit for £30+ but this is getting dear and wasteful of a working unit)

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Only one button has had it, the rest are mainly quite good.

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To get the buttons out of the donor unit cleanly the front panel has to be detached from the galvanised box that houses the bulk of the the unit.

Steps

1. Remove the 4 small screws located in the corners on the the back of the front panel. You will need a small Torx driver, size T6.

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2. The top and bottom faces of the main box have a small upturned lip. The front panel clings onto these lips with finger like tabs.

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[Somebody has been here before me, notice the damage done by being too gung-ho.]

On the BOTTOM side the tabs need to be lifted over the lip. I Inserted a small slotted screwdriver in the hole next to one of the end tabs and twisted to lift and then inserted a Stanley craft knife blade to keep it there, but anything thin will do. You may have to lift again to get your thin insert under the tab. Repeat similar on the other two tabs.

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Big fat thumb on the bottom side to ease each tab just past the lip and dispense with the wedges.

[You may prefer to add an extra step at this point and repeat the last step with the tabs on the top edge. I have not found this necessary but it may be help if the next step proves difficult.]
 
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How To Replace Worn Buttons On A Concert II – Part 3

3. The front panel is also connected internally to the back box by a push fit multipin plug.

The red box shows the location within.

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“Eureka” moment imminent. To unplug, clamp big fat thumb on the bottom side below the line of the plug, pull with the thumb and swivel the front panel about the top side.

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The front panel should now be detached from the back box.

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4. Remove the 4 screws(T6) retaining the black plate and lift it off.

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5. Free the circuit board by removing the 4 corner fixing screws(T6).

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I have found the best way to remove the circuit board is grip the front panel with both hands, one on each end, thumb on bottom side, second and third finger on the top side and use the free index fingers to push the knobs simultaneously through the front panel. It might feel stuck but no great force is needed, just tease it out equally on each knob so as not to flex the circuit board.

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We have what we want.

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How To Replace Worn Buttons On A Concert II – Part 4

Next is extracting the buttons you require from the donor unit, but this depends on the button position.

6A. Each of the larger buttons in the two groups of four around the knobs can be simply be pressed out from the back.

Hold the front in the palm of the hand on the button being removed and push with the tip of a single slotted screwdriver, introduced through the convenient hole at the back. A 5mm slotted screwdriver is suitable, but bigger the better as long as it fits through the hole. Exert gradually increasing force, varying the point of application around the inside face of the button as best you can - It will soon pop out. (Out of interest these buttons pop out much more easily than the buttons on the climate control units).

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A typical button.

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The exception is the TP button which has a smaller hole which means a smaller (3.5mm) slotted screwdriver. The TP button can be uncooperative, be careful or you will deform the face. If the front panel is truly scrap you might prefer to saw it out with a fine tooth saw. [Thinking about it if the donor panel is A2 width a better course of action is to put on Marketplace>Parts; some member might be grateful.]

6B. The row of 6 small ‘station’ buttons will not pop out as above but have to be removed backwards out of panel after a little more work.

Remove the grid box surrounding the back of the buttons by easing the top 2mm away from the bottom wall and then lifting out at a slight angle. (The box is pinned by interlocking lugs, one on the box, one on the wall, a pair at each end, hence the need to move away from the wall before lifting, you might well hear or feel it click free.)

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Get hold of the prong on the back of whichever button(s) is being removed with long nose pliers or fingers, tilt away from the bottom wall and lift out; the buttons are quite loose at this stage – take care not to damage the delicate metal strip.

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[If all station buttons are being removed, to aid replacement, I would recommend carefully lifting the delicate metal strip off its locating studs with say a couple of craft knives - might be worth doing just for one.

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]
 
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How To Replace Worn Buttons On A Concert II – Part 5

Armed with replacement buttons it is time to turn attention to removing the worn buttons in the recipient unit. If these include station buttons then 7A applies else a choice of 7A or 7B.

Either

7A .
(i)If the unit is in the centre dash remove it. This is helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtR0PqGlsjo

(ii)Remove the worn buttons by stripping down the recipient unit as per donor unit.

(iii)Any of the larger replacement buttons can simply be inserted from the front, a little thumb (again!) pressure and a button satisfyingly clicks in, and then check movement. Any station buttons can simply be dropped in backwards from behind.

Or

7B. If only non station worn buttons need to come out and you do not mind scrapping them, then they can be extracted with the unit in the dash. Drill a suitable size hole in the button face, insert self-tapper and pull the worn button out with a claw hammer Any of the larger replacement buttons can simply be inserted from the front, a little thumb (again!) pressure and a button satisfyingly clicks in, and then check movement.



All that’s left now is to put humpty back together again.

A good time to clean the screen and its annoying corners on the panel.

My experience suggests the Eject, Seek and FM button are the main wear candidates. If these buttons are too far gone then painting is an option, certainly better than mainly white. My opinion is that Eject and Seek will not look too bad painted but I am not sure an odd one about the knobs, but of course you lose the night time illumination.

8. In true Haynes manual style, assembly is the reverse of dismantling, but don’t forget to hook the front panel over the top lip of the back box before swinging the panel round to insert the multipin plug – it just easier and lines everything up.


The fruit of my labour.

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Ok not perfect, I would give it 8 out of 10 but a million times better than when I started. Just the FM button lets it down.




Hope this is of use to someone, somewhere, sometime. - Andy
 
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A useful guide .... Thanks! It is the climate control panel that is the usual item to look so worn and tatty. I would say that your guide would still be helpful for that component, though

David
 
A useful guide .... Thanks! It is the climate control panel that is the usual item to look so worn and tatty. I would say that your guide would still be helpful for that component, though

David
Yes, the climate panel is similar except no multipin plug, instead a ribbon cable that has enough slack to allow removal of the circuit board to free the button panel. However most of the climate buttons have the smaller TP size hole and can be very reluctant to pop out, but they do in the end. From memory no tabs either. There is a useful post by Steve Birchall in 'How To' on climate refurb which leaves the recipient climate in the dash. I started writing a post on my climate refurb, not a 'How To' , but my experience, but never finished it - they take such much time.

Andy
 
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Thanhs Andrew. This is great.
I painted my worn Concert buttons - okay if you aren’t too close.

Maybe we can start swapping spare buttons on the forum? Antoine got a ‘scan’...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Many thanks Andrew. Very timely. I have a donor unit to replace worn button on my Chorus (not that I have any more tapes to play). I suspect the Chorus will be very similar to the Concert.
 
Thanhs Andrew. This is great.
I painted my worn Concert buttons - okay if you aren’t too close.

Maybe we can start swapping spare buttons on the forum? Antoine got a ‘scan’...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes, painting crossed my mind too. Certainly the Eject and Seek would not look too bad painted and anonymous, but I don't know about an odd button painted around the knobs, but certainly easier to spray with the buttons out of the unit and certainly better than half white. I will add a note about painting to the guide. Main wear buttons seem to be Eject/Seek/FM.

Hope the results of Antoine's scan give the all clear:)

Andy
 
Many thanks Andrew. Very timely. I have a donor unit to replace worn button on my Chorus (not that I have any more tapes to play). I suspect the Chorus will be very similar to the Concert.
Yes, I expect similiar with your Chorus. Good if you posted how you got on for others. - Andy
 
This is a great guide which I’ve just followed and replaced my own buttons from and A4 donor unit.
Very happy with the results and thanks for taking the time to do this guide!
 
Well embarrassingly I've just done my Chorus buttons at last. Actually it was only the Scan button that needed doing.

The only difference to @Andrew 's guide is that the 4 screws in step 4 are in a different position. Agree, getting the front plate off in step 2, and getting it back on was the most difficult part. Damage is one split nail! Also on the Chorus one has to remember to lift the tape flap to put the circuit board and back plate back in.

I've read many negative remarks about many radio removal tools being useless, especially those on ebay. I used these and they were fine. The radio just poped out:

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I also used these Torx screwdrivers. Nothing to shout home about but did the job.

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Many thanks again, Andrew.
 
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