I keep blowing LCD Controllers

**raggedrebel92** · 02-14-2012, 05:41 PM

Alrighty guys here whats up:

I bought a new screen from motor city tech (duayn) for $200 w/ hdmi and touch. I keep blowing up the LCD controller and at $56 a pop, its expensive..

My car is a 05 Crown Victoria.
Initially, I wired the screen directly to the radio harness +12v and Ground. (I even tried using an "egg" from a Lilliput power adapter to fix it. still blew it out the water.

Then I tried hooking it to the psu floppy cable. (using one of those barrel connector setups)
So, Today, after spending some time running new wire threw the car, I blew my 4th (or 5th) board.

So I had my mechanic friend bring by his voltage checker. At the radio im at 12v constant (we sat with it hooked up for 5 min and watched it) And the ground registered 0.0

So then I tested the barrel connector, the inside pin showed between 11.8 and 12v. and the outside (ground) showed .01 I checked the silver plate and it was also .01 So.... is that a problem as I think it is?

And.... whats causing my screen to blow.

Important:
As of 1/17/12 I am throwing in the towel on this project. I have invested way to much for this screen, and have not gotten good results. I am now working with the seller to create me a better solution. I would recommend anyone needing a custom screen go to duayn. How ever, I would not recommend going with no-name parts. Spend the extra and go genuine.

**soundman98** · 02-14-2012, 07:07 PM

what screen model are you using?

**raggedrebel92** · 02-14-2012, 07:17 PM

Its a no-name monitor from Motor City Tech:

http://www.display-touch.com/open-fr...y/prod_25.html

**soundman98** · 02-14-2012, 08:13 PM

maybe try a name brand screen like a lilliput or zenarc? :dunno:

has duane said anything about issues with those screens from other customers, or implied your the only one with issues?

how long has it taken so far to blow a controller? and what voltage reference were you using for those voltage readings?

**raggedrebel92** · 02-14-2012, 08:36 PM

No i haven't tried the name brands cause I just don't have a whole paycheck to throw at the thing.

I'm almost certain its a me problem, cause I had this setup in another car and never had this problem.

And.... Idk? It was a probe like item that was 12-24v and he attached it to + and - on the battery and then used the tip to read the volts.

**raggedrebel92** · 02-14-2012, 08:39 PM

And his tool didn't test amps (amperage?) so, my thoughts are maybe i'm pushing 12v but a crazy amount of amps?

**Civic Modz** · 02-15-2012, 04:56 AM

I am in the same boat, I have the exact same LCD controller. I'm not sure how much you spent, but I am close to $800 in spare parts. I narrowed it down to the 8pin micro-controller IC (U2 is the designator on the PCB) I basically pulled out most of the parts and replaced them. If you replace just this IC it will 100% work. I wouldn't bother as it will just blow up on you again. After several tests (ie blowing up LCD controllers) i figured out that the damage occurs if there are rapid power fluctuations or slow rising/falling input voltage. I thought this was just me!!

The sign that your controller has blown up is if you see a completely black or white screen.

I wouldn't recommend this monitor for in car use.

.. Just my 15+ blown up LCD controllers worth

**raggedrebel92** · 02-15-2012, 10:48 AM

Civic,

Did you buy the unit from Motor City? Its good to see what the problem is. Im right at $400 invested. And yeah, the screen would start to go white and then It would die. I was thinking it was my screen that was the problem.

Any recommendations as for replacements?

**tft_lcd_org** · 02-15-2012, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by soundman98

maybe try a name brand screen like a lilliput or zenarc? :dunno:

has duane said anything about issues with those screens from other customers, or implied your the only one with issues?

how long has it taken so far to blow a controller? and what voltage reference were you using for those voltage readings?

Unless they did not inform me, only rebel92 has had problems. The latest board I sent to him was powered on my bench for almost 24 hours before I sent it to him.
I used a Lilliput ac/dc adapter to test with.

Now to be honest, I have only sold about 50 of this particular display, so I think it is safe to say the problems must be install related.

Not sure where or why, but my guess is there is either a voltage spike, or a short somewhere.

In all instances, rebel92's boards gave up heir smoke within 10-15 minutes of operation.

That just does not make sense when they run for literally days on end in my shop (of course there is the whole Regulated Power thing.....)

**raggedrebel92** · 02-15-2012, 04:51 PM

Alright so I just tested something I hadn't thought of yet (I have no idea why).

I installed a liliput screen and controller. I've had it on for 30 min now and it hasn't done as much as flicker. And its not even using the liliput egg.

Now on the subject of a short. My car is wired as follows:

Red 8guage wire +Battery-fuse-Amp
Black 8 guage wire --- -Battery to amp (gnd)
Blue 8 gauge wire +battery---fuse---CPU
Black 12 guage wire ---- cpu--- amp ground
18 gauge wires (pwr/gnd) cpu--screen

And I just ran new wires Tuesday when I wanted to try the latest screen board.

So, I'm still not sure what's causing the power issues.