Thanks for all your research and effort, Dustin! I'd have never imagined this solution. Our Carousel has been unreadable for a LONG, LONG time. In a last ditch try before looking for a new one, I just randomly landed on your video. Totally worked for me! I bought the same iron and set it on 200. It took me four times to get all the light bits to work, cautiously pressing a little harder and slower each round. Every time I powered the LCD up to test, a few more elements were back working. I did both ends of the cable as well so not sure which was the culprit...though I suspect the whole band had loosened over time. Thanks again!
I find that folding some baking paper over a few times and pressing your soldering iron through that onto the join will attenuate the heat and allow you to control the pressure without melting the plastic and still remakes the join.
I have this same exact microwave. Had the same issue. I cut a small strip of aluminum foil to protect the ribon, and applied heat over the aluminum foil. Took 2 tries. However i dont believe that tnis is a permenant fix as after 6 months 2 segments have died, sometimes they will flicker and come back on. Like you said this was a common issue. I really think sharp could of done this a different way. However they do it the cheapest way they can.
This is a very helpful and clear video, thank you. I'm going to be attempting this soon, i'm going to try foil/baking paper backing, as i've seen in the comments, as it is not my microwave, and i'm wary of screwing it up. Thanks again!
We have a Sharp Carousel microwave that has had no issues with the actual LCD or touchpad controls, but I believe its backlight has started to falter, as half the time the LCD screen becomes incredibly dim and almost unreadable. What would you recommend for replacing the backlight / backlight circuit?
AB if it’s the same setup as this microwave, it uses LED’s for the backlight, which are likely wired in series, meaning if one goes out, they all go out. I would suspect that you have a similar issue that I had where the LCD is not receiving sufficient voltage to energize the cells which makes them transparent allowing light to pass through. See 1:50 to see what I’m talking about.
Good tips, but note that this won't work for the Sharp Carousel Convection microwave, which is almost the same size and similar in appearance. The display is more complex, alphanumeric, and the ribbon cable has 56 traces rather than 15. Plus they've put a strip of putty-like adhesive over the contact points, providing access to only a millimeter or two of area to try to reheat on the board end, and none whatsoever on the LCD glass end. The traces are just too narrow to try to reheat. I tried protecting the board by cutting a slot in some reflective insulation and using a heat gun at 200C, but it didn't improve things. At least I was able to reassemble it all and be back to the same missing segments fault I had before. We just follow the steps in the manual for the button presses, and pretty much ignore the display.
Worked for me. Direct contact with the ribbon melted a little. Another comment said use folded parchment paper. Watch out for door latch switch. Trying to unplug mine I broke a pin holding it in place. Had to use a small screw to remount it.
Thanks for the easy to follow explanation (and lack of silly music that people often add over their videos). I'll give this a go on my Mum's old Sharp R-774 that has a similar problem. I may need to buy an adjustable soldering iron though, as mine is just a cheap basic one and I've no idea what temperature it operates at. Will post back to let you know how the fix attempt goes. Out of interest, you mentioned that you shouldn't power on a microwave with the cover off - but is it safe to do so if only the lcd display is powered, and you don't activate the actual business end of the microwave?
Kind of both. This type of connection is formed via heat and pressure. Similar to an iron-on patch for clothing. Ideally you’d heat the entire width at once while applying pressure, but I just used the tip of my iron to apply pressure as I moved the heat across the connection.
Husain B it would definitely be worth a try. And best of all, it will only cost you a little bit of time if you already own a soldering iron. If it doesn’t fix it, you’d have to replace the entire control panel assembly, which is what you would have to do to get a working display without trying this method.
Buenas noches, tengo un panelbcasi igual,mi problema aparte de los medios números en display,no me activa inicio,ni la mitad hacia arriba tampoco, ahora ya arreglada membrana,hace todas bus funciones pero al conectar a tarjeta ,me bloquea las funciones indicadas,que puedo hacer,Tampico activa si puenteo en conector
@@geoffroy9383 my light inside microwave was not working i thought it was bulb,i tightened a screw inside circuit that fixed it,the microwave i have is 40yrs old so getting very fragile
soupflood if you have this same microwave, look at the green ribbon cable at 1:44. Make sure that cable is fully seated. It’s the keypad connector. If it is seated and the keypad is still not working, you may unhook the cable and use a pencil eraser and rub both sides of the end of the cable. This is a safe way to clean those contacts. If they keypad still won’t work, I suspect that the keypad itself is faulty. As far as the digits, does it look like mine at 6:53? If so, that’s just the default when the microwave is powered up before the clock is set.
@@DustinRogersinMO Thanks for your reply. I troubleshooted it for several hours, first bypassing the relays to make sure everything else works. Then checked the microcontroller board, the ribbons, the rubber stripe... I even replaced the electrolytic filtering capacitor with a larger value one. Nothing. Then I found out that 88:88 is the default display when first powered on for the model I have (it's not mine). Then I shorted the keypad contacts on the microcontroller board at random. I heard a beep. Finally, I inspected the keypad sheet, which had 3 oxidised traces... And I connected two button switches for "2" and "start/extra minute" options (I only had 2 switches and thought those options would be enough).
Not to nitpick your comment, but this IS a LCD display. The LED is only used as a backlight. The LCD (liquid crystal display) does not emit any light. It just modulates the light that can be seen (from the LED backlight). A LED display would either have an independent led for each segment or multiple LEDs to make up each segment, in which appropriate LEDs would be switched off/on to form the digits. I’m sorry that this was not the video you were looking for. What type of LCD display are you trying to repair?
@@DustinRogersinMO There’s little else as satisfying as a well-executed “nitpick CLAPBACK”, which you managed to do politely and professionally. As a further bonus, in your answer you managed to also explain to your audience the difference between LCDs and LEDs. THANK YOU for your impressive skills. You reallly helped me, and I now feel more confident in (**carefully**) tackling my identical microwave LCD issues. You are the MAN!!
Thank you! I saw the clock for the first time in 11 years, I don’t know when was the last time I was so excited 😀
LOL. Awesome!
Thanks for all your research and effort, Dustin! I'd have never imagined this solution. Our Carousel has been unreadable for a LONG, LONG time. In a last ditch try before looking for a new one, I just randomly landed on your video. Totally worked for me! I bought the same iron and set it on 200. It took me four times to get all the light bits to work, cautiously pressing a little harder and slower each round. Every time I powered the LCD up to test, a few more elements were back working. I did both ends of the cable as well so not sure which was the culprit...though I suspect the whole band had loosened over time. Thanks again!
Mark Smith great. Glad you got it fixed. Thanks for watching and for the feedback.
I find that folding some baking paper over a few times and pressing your soldering iron through that onto the join will attenuate the heat and allow you to control the pressure without melting the plastic and still remakes the join.
Thanks Dustin! I'm trying to fix my Sharp microwave and was struggling to determine how to remove the control panel. Didn't realise it was that easy!
I have this same exact microwave. Had the same issue. I cut a small strip of aluminum foil to protect the ribon, and applied heat over the aluminum foil. Took 2 tries. However i dont believe that tnis is a permenant fix as after 6 months 2 segments have died, sometimes they will flicker and come back on. Like you said this was a common issue. I really think sharp could of done this a different way. However they do it the cheapest way they can.
Love the applause when all 8's lit up
This is a very helpful and clear video, thank you. I'm going to be attempting this soon, i'm going to try foil/baking paper backing, as i've seen in the comments, as it is not my microwave, and i'm wary of screwing it up. Thanks again!
@@thejudomadonna just remember, it’s already broken or you wouldn’t be attempting the repair. Let us know how it goes
We have a Sharp Carousel microwave that has had no issues with the actual LCD or touchpad controls, but I believe its backlight has started to falter, as half the time the LCD screen becomes incredibly dim and almost unreadable. What would you recommend for replacing the backlight / backlight circuit?
AB if it’s the same setup as this microwave, it uses LED’s for the backlight, which are likely wired in series, meaning if one goes out, they all go out. I would suspect that you have a similar issue that I had where the LCD is not receiving sufficient voltage to energize the cells which makes them transparent allowing light to pass through. See 1:50 to see what I’m talking about.
Good troubleshooting guide and demonstration, thanks.
Good tips, but note that this won't work for the Sharp Carousel Convection microwave, which is almost the same size and similar in appearance. The display is more complex, alphanumeric, and the ribbon cable has 56 traces rather than 15. Plus they've put a strip of putty-like adhesive over the contact points, providing access to only a millimeter or two of area to try to reheat on the board end, and none whatsoever on the LCD glass end. The traces are just too narrow to try to reheat. I tried protecting the board by cutting a slot in some reflective insulation and using a heat gun at 200C, but it didn't improve things. At least I was able to reassemble it all and be back to the same missing segments fault I had before. We just follow the steps in the manual for the button presses, and pretty much ignore the display.
Worked for me. Direct contact with the ribbon melted a little. Another comment said use folded parchment paper. Watch out for door latch switch. Trying to unplug mine I broke a pin holding it in place. Had to use a small screw to remount it.
Thanks for the easy to follow explanation (and lack of silly music that people often add over their videos). I'll give this a go on my Mum's old Sharp R-774 that has a similar problem. I may need to buy an adjustable soldering iron though, as mine is just a cheap basic one and I've no idea what temperature it operates at.
Will post back to let you know how the fix attempt goes.
Out of interest, you mentioned that you shouldn't power on a microwave with the cover off - but is it safe to do so if only the lcd display is powered, and you don't activate the actual business end of the microwave?
It’s only unsafe if your touching components that have 120vac to them. Just to avoid electrocution.
Hello, nice and informative. I might have missed it but did you discharge the capacitor?
I always discharge capacitors if there’s a risk of contacting it, but I don’t recall if I showed this one on camera without going back and watching.
Having this exact issue but my soldering iron is a cheap non-temperature adjustable. Might have to invest in a decent one and give this a try
What's the cause if the led is still working but very dim. Can we just order the entire LED?
do you have to remove the strips of led
You’re right, it is a transmissive LCD.
Are you heating the joint between the ribbon and the board or are you heating the ribbon?
Kind of both. This type of connection is formed via heat and pressure. Similar to an iron-on patch for clothing. Ideally you’d heat the entire width at once while applying pressure, but I just used the tip of my iron to apply pressure as I moved the heat across the connection.
Gracias por su esfuerzo en la reparación y, en la explicación. un abrazo fraterno
wow,you actually can see those strips straight back out after u tip it with the soldering iron.
mine is just displaying part of the last character on the display... do you think this fix will work for it? thank you
Husain B it would definitely be worth a try. And best of all, it will only cost you a little bit of time if you already own a soldering iron. If it doesn’t fix it, you’d have to replace the entire control panel assembly, which is what you would have to do to get a working display without trying this method.
Thank you!
Tank you , your Video it was a Big Help. I saved a lot of Money.
My sharp carousel numbers 1234 do not work.
Buenas noches, tengo un panelbcasi igual,mi problema aparte de los medios números en display,no me activa inicio,ni la mitad hacia arriba tampoco, ahora ya arreglada membrana,hace todas bus funciones pero al conectar a tarjeta ,me bloquea las funciones indicadas,que puedo hacer,Tampico activa si puenteo en conector
Nice video, Thank You
You should wear gloves so you won’t get fingerprints on the LCD glass.
How about there's no light? I need to use flash light to see the number in the screen
Seems like your "led" back light/s not working ??(guess)
@@geoffroy9383 my light inside microwave was not working i thought it was bulb,i tightened a screw inside circuit that fixed it,the microwave i have is 40yrs old so getting very fragile
What if all digits are displayed, but they're frozen and the keypad doesn't respond?
soupflood if you have this same microwave, look at the green ribbon cable at 1:44. Make sure that cable is fully seated. It’s the keypad connector. If it is seated and the keypad is still not working, you may unhook the cable and use a pencil eraser and rub both sides of the end of the cable. This is a safe way to clean those contacts. If they keypad still won’t work, I suspect that the keypad itself is faulty.
As far as the digits, does it look like mine at 6:53? If so, that’s just the default when the microwave is powered up before the clock is set.
@@DustinRogersinMO
Thanks for your reply.
I troubleshooted it for several hours, first bypassing the relays to make sure everything else works.
Then checked the microcontroller board, the ribbons, the rubber stripe... I even replaced the electrolytic filtering capacitor with a larger value one. Nothing.
Then I found out that 88:88 is the default display when first powered on for the model I have (it's not mine).
Then I shorted the keypad contacts on the microcontroller board at random. I heard a beep.
Finally, I inspected the keypad sheet, which had 3 oxidised traces... And I connected two button switches for "2" and "start/extra minute" options (I only had 2 switches and thought those options would be enough).
@@DustinRogersinMO if keypad does not work i would pull it apart and clean it.
Nice intro music.
Mine barely shows at all. Only shows an L on one place . Nothing else .
diane
nn nn
I don't like to nitpick but this is an LED display not an LCD display, which is what I came here looking for :(
Not to nitpick your comment, but this IS a LCD display. The LED is only used as a backlight. The LCD (liquid crystal display) does not emit any light. It just modulates the light that can be seen (from the LED backlight). A LED display would either have an independent led for each segment or multiple LEDs to make up each segment, in which appropriate LEDs would be switched off/on to form the digits.
I’m sorry that this was not the video you were looking for. What type of LCD display are you trying to repair?
@@DustinRogersinMO There’s little else as satisfying as a well-executed “nitpick CLAPBACK”, which you managed to do politely and professionally. As a further bonus, in your answer you managed to also explain to your audience the difference between LCDs and LEDs. THANK YOU for your impressive skills. You reallly helped me, and I now feel more confident in (**carefully**) tackling my identical microwave LCD issues. You are the MAN!!
@@dave-ospamalot6502 Good luck with your repair. If you have any questions along the way, feel free to ask. I’ll answer them if I can.