Digital dash issue - failure #2

Ouch! Another dash failure. This time I hadn't driven the car for but an hour when it went all dark on me. No errors or anything this time. It just went dark while driving. I described the symptoms to diyautotune.com and they had me open the display and take photos of the LEDs. At the time they said it appeared to be a power supply issue so another RMA was created. I tore down the instrument panel and pulled the center console for the umpteenth time, boxed up the digital dash and shipped it back to them. Their findings:

Findings: Blown transistor identified

Resolution: Replaced the damaged transistor and added a built-in fail-safe to help this from happening again the future. The issue was likely caused by a voltage spike. We also recommend inspecting the vehicle's electrical system to identify and correct the source of the voltage spike before installing the ECU. Unit passed a full QA test after repair.

Voltage spike... hmmm. This time I am not taking any chance so here is the game plan:

The clock plug was a very convenient source for the power inputs but the wiring may be undersized and the clock plug itself may not be making good contact. Instead, pull the power from separately fused circuits and add two separate voltage regulators that provide a constant 12V output:

• +12V always on: Pull from Cigar Lighter (converted to HDMI port) circuit; fuse XX. Add voltage regulator #1
• +12V ignition on: Pull from XXX circuit; fuse YY. Add voltage regulator #2
• +12V lights on: Pull from XXX circuit; fuse YY.
• Improved ground

The two voltage regulators fit perfectly inside the left driver's side knee pad:

Voltage regulators

I am also redoing the terminal strips. The ones I have used until now are not the best of quality and the way they are installed have the input/output wiring awfully close to a metal bracket that is grounded so there is a potential for shorts. Instead I will install a higher quality terminal strip onto a wooden strip further up on the fiberglass, away from the metal.