Mystery smoke from gauge cluster

Wreck0nin said

The battery was disconnected, I reconnected it to do a function test before installing the cluster, but I didn't realize the cluster was chassis grounded. I'm just worried that I'm going to reinstall the cluster and it's going to burn down before I can get it out. I have inspected the board throughly and I can't see any burned spots at all. Is it possible that the smoke was off the wire in the gas gauge?

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I guess, it could be. It could also be that maybe you dislodged some dust or dirt and it fell into the IVR inside the fuel gauge and just got burned producing smoke. These old girls have lasted way longer than anyone ever thought they would, so naturally they have dust and dirt everywhere. Maybe you got lucky. Probably not, but maybe. lol Perhaps before you reinstall the cluster, blow it out real good with compressed air.