Thanks for the great instructions. Finally after years of a dead display I could repair it. I just put cardboard between the PCB and the plastic that holds the display to apply the pressure on the pins.
great video and still useful years later in a way that alot of other repair related videos that I've watched for devices from amplifiers to LCD monitors to Arduino projects. Lots of them fail to give a good look at what to do when things go wrong WITH detailed explanation and good images of the process used to work out a reliable NON spec fix. Hat's off to you Grandpa Russell!
That's a good thing to ask about. The gold traces are not in the glass, the conductive material is only a very thin film on the surface. In fact it might not be "gold", it might be some other conductive material that has a gold color when it is applied in such a thin coat on the glass.
It's a pretty time consuming process. Not something a person could make money doing. But if you love helping out kids and you have a little time, you could make someone pretty happy to have their brick working again.
Unfortunately i don't know anyone in my area, kid or adult that plays with Lego Mindstorms. But I still use them for my projects, so far I've relied on open source software to mirror the screen to my PC. I can even use multiple units at a time using the software
I had a look at your video on using a remote display. I didn't know there was such a thing and am pretty impressed. Thanks for drawing my attention to it. I see you also tried soldering some of the components described in other NXT repair videos with no success. I'm inclined to think that the flexing of the ribbon cable with the proximity of a heat source "just happened" to gave a little life to those old ribbon cables.
Agreed. Once I found a software solution I really didn't need to attempt repairing them anymore. Thanks for checking out my video and subscribing! It means a lot!
Thanks for the tutorial, I bought a NXT from Bricklinks with a bad screen, I was going to send it to Lego to have it replaced but, Lego stopped that program on Jan 1st. Some of the tabs started to come lose, I used super glue to glue them down after soldering the wires on to the tabs.
Yes, the copper traces on a circuit board can break loose. Sorry to hear that you had the problem. You are very fortunate if you got it working after having pads come loose.
Awesome video. I have a question regarding the lcd. Are we able to connect the wire on top of the glass directly over the gold contact? is i able t go through the glass and make a connection with the contacts ?
Ryan Laing : That's a good thing to ask about. The gold traces are not in the glass, the conductive material is only a very thin patterned film on the surface. In fact it might not be "gold", it might be some other conductive material that has a gold color when it is applied in such a thin coat on the glass. I don't know exactly how LCDs are made, but have worked in semiconductor fabrication for years.
Thanks for the great instructions. Finally after years of a dead display I could repair it. I just put cardboard between the PCB and the plastic that holds the display to apply the pressure on the pins.
That's a great idea
great video and still useful years later in a way that alot of other repair related videos that I've watched for devices from amplifiers to LCD monitors to Arduino projects. Lots of them fail to give a good look at what to do when things go wrong WITH detailed explanation and good images of the process used to work out a reliable NON spec fix.
Hat's off to you Grandpa Russell!
Thank you for your great helpful video
That's a good thing to ask about. The gold traces are not in the glass, the conductive material is only a very thin film on the surface. In fact it might not be "gold", it might be some other conductive material that has a gold color when it is applied in such a thin coat on the glass.
Thanks for the video! I may have to try this sometime if I need one with a working screen. I have about 15 Lego Mindstorms NXT's with broken screens
It's a pretty time consuming process. Not something a person could make money doing. But if you love helping out kids and you have a little time, you could make someone pretty happy to have their brick working again.
Unfortunately i don't know anyone in my area, kid or adult that plays with Lego Mindstorms. But I still use them for my projects, so far I've relied on open source software to mirror the screen to my PC. I can even use multiple units at a time using the software
I had a look at your video on using a remote display. I didn't know there was such a thing and am pretty impressed. Thanks for drawing my attention to it.
I see you also tried soldering some of the components described in other NXT repair videos with no success. I'm inclined to think that the flexing of the ribbon cable with the proximity of a heat source "just happened" to gave a little life to those old ribbon cables.
Agreed. Once I found a software solution I really didn't need to attempt repairing them anymore. Thanks for checking out my video and subscribing! It means a lot!
Thanks for the tutorial, I bought a NXT from Bricklinks with a bad screen, I was going to send it to Lego to have it replaced but, Lego stopped that program on Jan 1st. Some of the tabs started to come lose, I used super glue to glue them down after soldering the wires on to the tabs.
Yes, the copper traces on a circuit board can break loose. Sorry to hear that you had the problem. You are very fortunate if you got it working after having pads come loose.
Blast that ribbon cable connection to the PCB with a hair dryers and while it's still hot squeeze it with a pair of pliers! Much easier.
Anthony Topper - yes much easier. I didn't try that with the ones I had.
Awesome video. I have a question regarding the lcd. Are we able to connect the wire on top of the glass directly over the gold contact? is i able t go through the glass and make a connection with the contacts ?
Ryan Laing : That's a good thing to ask about. The gold traces are not in the glass, the conductive material is only a very thin patterned film on the surface. In fact it might not be "gold", it might be some other conductive material that has a gold color when it is applied in such a thin coat on the glass. I don't know exactly how LCDs are made, but have worked in semiconductor fabrication for years.
It works, :):):) but is really time consuming...