Project:
Nikon D800 IR mod

Contents:

1. Nikon D800 IR mod
2. Removing outer shells
3. Disconnect the circuit boards
4. Disconnect the sensor circuit board
5. To be continued

Note:
I take no responsibility or liability for what are written here, you use the information on your own risk!

Related projects:

• Nikon D800 overview
• Duo narrow band filter

3: Disconnect the circuit boards

Don't forget to protect against electrical discharge. I recommend to follow this YouTube video: Nikon D800 / D810 : full spectrum conversion : How to , its good.

Display lid:

The display cover should now be loose, but still electrically connected through three flat ribbon cables. Carefully loosen it and fold it down without pulling on the fragile cables.

Detach the three ribbon cables one by one.

Almost all ribbon cable connectors have some form of lock to prevent the ribbon cable from slipping out of the connector.

I used a small screwdriver to open the locks on the connectors. Even better would have been to use a plastic tool.

On this connector, the black strip is the lock. Carefully place a screwdriver under the black strip and pry it up. It will turn 90 degrees and stand up straight when unlocked. Now you can carefully pull the flat ribbon cable out of the connector.

On this connector, it is the brown plastic strip that needs to be pulled out downwards. It is best to use two screwdrivers, one of each side, when doing this.

Here is the brown strip that needs to be opened, pry the strip upwards to unlock it.

Here is the cover with the display completely removed from the camera. Put it aside in an antistatic bag.

Metal shielding:

Here it is the metal shielding that must be removed. 4 silver screws with a length of 4.1 mm.

Put the metal shield aside. There are many sensitive electronic components underneath.

Control circuit board:

On the circuit board under the metal shield there are many contacts. This contact does not have a lock, carefully pry with the screwdriver under left/right white edges of the contact.

Another connector without a lock, carefully pry with the screwdriver under the brown flat ribbon cable.

Same construction as the two previous connectors, no lock. Carefully pry under the brown ribbon cable.

The black connector is a little different, it is angled up from the back edge when pry underneath on it.

The very small connector is unlocked by prying up the black strip.

The wide white connector is unlocked by prying up the black strip.

This connector doesn't seem to have a lock. I was able to carefully pull the flat ribbon cable out of the connector.

Another white connector of the smaller type. Pry up the black strip with the screwdriver.

This connector has a different design. With the screwdriver I press down a pin on the lock and carefully pull out the connector with a small pair of flat-nose pliers. Look at the photo downwards.

This is what it looks like so far, 13 flat ribbon cable connectors detached, 6 remain on this circuit board. To better access the last connectors, I now need to loosen the last 2 screws that hold the circuit board in place. 2 silver screws with a length of 4.1 mm.

There is another one under the previously disconnected flat ribbon cable connector. By pulling the circuit board forward a few mm, it becomes easier to access. This also has a black strip that you can pry open with the screwdriver.

The second white wide ribbon cable connector can now also be unlocked. As before, place the screwdriver blade under the black strip and pry upwards.

The last connector to be disconnected. A small white connector with no lock as far as I can see. I pull the connector out carefully with the pliers.

Battery discovered:

When I turn the circuit board over I see that there is a battery on it. This is not the battery for the clock, maybe it is for older memory cards that need power, not sure. Handle the circuit board carefully so the battery does not short circuit and get damaged. Considering that the camera is over 10 years old, the battery should be dead, but there has been no warning message about it on the camera's display.

Sensor's cooling brackets:

We have now come all the way down to the circuit board where the sensor is located. The aluminum bracket we see also functions as a heat sink. The two screws that hold the copper profile in place must be loosened. Two silver screws with a length of 4.2mm.

Detach the copper profile and set it aside.

On the opposite side there is another copper profile. This also needs to be loosened. Two silver screws with a length of 4.2 mm.

Pick up the copper profile and set it aside.

Now I find that I missed a flat ribbon cable connector. It is a bit tight and I loosen it at the other end where it is connected to the circuit board in the bottom of the camera. Here the lock is a brown plastic strip. As before, put the screwdriver blade under the brown strip and carefully pry upwards until the lock opens.

To be continued.