worked like a charm, just finished two sensors. had to weld the red wire on one of them, but everything worked fine on the other. used the sharp blade knife to CAREFULLY cut the sensor open.
you got a magic knife, I can't manage to open mine. I broke a cutter blade and just damage a bit of the plastic with a good knife. I afraid to cut myself if I insist cause it is not easy to have a grip.
I just opened mine up in less the 5 minutes by a actually cutting it open with a small razor blade by rotating it back and forth on the rounded ends until I could work my way all the way around the sensor.
That first picture of you with the knife cutting towards your other hand reminds me of something similar I was cutting last year; turned out that cutting TOWARD yourself is unsafe especially cutting something that might give way, and once that baby slips you will get 20 stitches. I had about half of my thumb reattached (longways) using a dull knife. I suggest learn from my mistake and hold the sensor with a vise or use a different non sharp tool. Otherwise great idea!
honestly not cutting towards yourself in any fashion is good advice, but I believe he is simply using the knife as a wedge, kinda like you would a butterknife to unseal a frozen jar lid, in which case there is a lot less likelihood of slippage, and more cautious finite control over the tool is being used anyway due to the shorter axis of rotation that comes from twisting the blade into the area between the plastic pieces, as compared to a cutting arc when digging through tough plastic, or sawing at it.
I used a vice to hold it, then i used a box cutter with a new blade to repeatedly score the seam between the orange and white layers. I found light, controlled, repeated scoring allowed me to open it up after about 30 minutes... and I didn't cut myself!!;-)
I tried prying it with a knife for half an hour before I sliced my thumb open very seriously (i might need stitches), then it took my brother another 10 minutes to get it. I think advising people to pry it open with a knife was a bad idea. My brother ended up using a screw driver to drill very carefully into the seam and then pryed it with a flat head screw driver.
I broke a cutter blade and just damage a bit of the plastic with a good knife.
I afraid to cut myself if I insist cause it is not easy to have a grip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E1ufxNG6zc
His work looks very clean and definitely no knife boo-boos!