Frustration lesson 101

keggers · 10-20-2001, 08:52 PM

Here's some ways to avoid frustration.
Make sure you have a lpt extension cable before spending 8 hours in a row to get your lcd working (of course all the stores would close 2 hours before your finished)
If your kids ask you what your doing just tell them to wait and you'll show them when it's done. I love my kids but it can really slow you down when their peering over your shouldor while your soldering.
That's about it for now. (Though I'm sure there's more!)

moahdib · 10-20-2001, 09:51 PM

8hrs for soldering a parallel port LCD? i did that last night in 10 minutes...and inversed it. Actually I inversed a matrix orbital 20X4 serial LCD =)

keggers · 10-20-2001, 11:35 PM

No 8 hrs included getting the os running/ dealing with (including feeding clothing and caring) the kids, building the computer etc. soldering took 20 minutes (yeah I'm alittle slow but not really the point of the post)

SuperMatty · 10-21-2001, 12:23 PM

Moahdib, you got any tips for inversing an LCD? When I try to do it, the rubber connectors come off the PCB and I can't seem to ever align them again properly so that I don't get pixel garbage.

Jawbreak · 10-21-2001, 01:52 PM

and where you get the polarized film from?

i feel your pain my first one i did was killer pain in the ***.

SuperMatty · 10-21-2001, 03:09 PM

Got it from www.polarization.com Not sure I would recommend it to others, the piece they sent me was scratched up all over the place. Not sure it would matter too much but it was difficult finding a section of it that didn't have big scratches on it.

moahdib · 10-21-2001, 05:10 PM

Arby knows where to get cheap polarizing film. WHen you remove the LCD cover, don't pull on the rubber...you should remove the glass with the rubber. If the rubber comes off just try to put it back in same position. It's really not very hard.... if you need it done professionally ask Arby

SuperMatty · 10-21-2001, 05:48 PM

Moah, but I did do it that way, the rubber came off with the glass...it was realigning the rubber back onto the PCB that I had a difficult time with. No matter how I would put it on as perfectly as I could...when I'd boot up the system pixels would be all over the place.

Oms · 10-22-2001, 06:31 AM

SuperMatty, it seems really strange to me you're having this problem. Normally the conductors in the rubber strip are very thin and much more closely spaced than the PCB contacts. Thus they can conduct signal across the strip with no precise positioning needed. This has been the case with every LCD that I've had apart. Either you're misaligning the glass sandwich itself (i.e. contacts on the glass end up spaced in between contacts on the PCB, rather than being directly above them), and/or your rubber strip somehow gets bent or skewed out of shape when you're assembling the LCD. Also, try cleaning the PCB/LCD contacts and the rubber strip itself -- dirt _can_ be shorting the connections.