lcd panel edge connector repair free sample

This instructable came about from a broken LCD control module out of a modern VW Camper Van. The LCD module is part of a control unit which was virtually unreadable and a replacement for a new unit was £400+. It really was a no lose option, either have a go at fixing it or end up buying a new unit.

The fault of the LCD was that it only displayed a couple lines of output on the LCD. The symptoms are caused by poor location of the LCD ribbon in manufacture and also the poor position of the whole module in the vehicle which exposes it to heat and is subject to vibration within the vehicle. This causes the ribbon to fail eventually and is a known common fault.

The ribbon in this display actually controls the Rows of the LCD matrix and the Columns were handled by a rubber standoff connection on the longest side of the LCD. There were no problems with the rubberized connection.

Some re-work on the LCD ribbon had already been tried with a little improvement but the poor registration of the ribbon pushed me to try a new attachment.

From the photos below you can see the LCD control unit and the state of the LCD ribbon before repair. You can just make out the offset placement and poor registration of the ribbon before repair.

Do not under estimate the patience required for this repair as some delicate and nimble work is required and i cannot stress how important it is to take your time and not rush.  You may only get one chance with this sort of repair.

The registrations of the LCD ribbon in this repair was difficult. It took me and my friend 20 minutes just to line up the ribbon for re-attachment. The ribbon in this case is sub 1mm pitch OR less than 25.4 thousands of an inch. You may want to try a simpler ribbon repair on an old LCD clock for example before jumping in head first with fine pitch.

Also the removal of the LCD ribbon is a delicate process as you do not want to tear what is a good ribbon or damage the carbon printed lines. Also the PCB must be respected to avoid introducing other faults and the the re-attachment may need an extra pair of hands.

You may also want to review the last step for results and lessons learned from this instructable before jumping in head first but i believe this will give a you a good insight to some important factors of LCD ribbons and possible success.

Other favorites of reworking the LCD connection that i have read here are the tinfoil on a heat gun. This has good temperature management but not so good in tight spaces. The solder iron with flat blade and tin foil is more precise but a 25 Watt iron can be too brutal on the ribbon.

In the photos below you can see the available ribbon length was generous enough but do watch for mechanical constraints. In some cases you could find yourself not being able to lay down the LCD back down as it is too tight a radius to sit down.

You do not want to pull at the ribbon as you will most likely damage what you already have. In my instance it was best to cut the ribbon free as close to the PCB pads as possible.I used a scalpel to slice parallel to the PCB board to remove the ribbon. Do make a good job of this as you may need to preserve as much extra ribbon to re-attach the LCD module.

The LCD assembly was lifted off and put in safe place to avoid damage. The ribbon was then gently lifted and peeled back with tweezers to remove the bulk. You must not use force to remove the remainder ribbon especially if your PCB is off a cheap quality OR single sided cardboard type variety. The PCB pads can come off with the ribbon! If you have a double sided PCB of FR4

If you have a half decent PCB the connecting pads may be gold flashed (actually called Electroless Plated gold). This gold flashing is good as it provides a very good flatness to the PCB pads but they are not as mechanically strong as gold edge connectors (like you see on old PC adapter cards) which is a hard gold . The gold plate here is soft and also micrometer thin on the surface.

The trick to get good alignment is to allow some the gold pad fingers toes of  the PCB to be visible just beyond the carbon lines of the ribbon. You then get the pads toes to line up with the carbon lines of the LCD ribbon.

The photos below show how i handled the PCB and LCD and clamped the ribbon in place. The LCD display is being held by a plastic clamp above the PCB assembly. The PCB below which has components both sides is laying on some foam (try polystyrene). This allowed me to nudge the PCB under the ribbon into position. The plastic ruler acts as a LCD ribbon clamp. When you have got the registration get a steady handed friend to hold the ruler as a ribbon clamp in place so you can then apply the heat to stick the ribbon back down.

In our case the LCD ribbon was not only glued to the PCB pads but there was some additional tape at the heel of the ribbon to hold the ribbon in place. By holding at the heel the ribbon you get some good extra mechanical support.

I did not go further with more re-work as the VW LCD module was considered a good enough result and some other time pressures intervened. It was concluded that we could read the display well enough and operate items from the controller. It was also considered as one of those quit while your ahead things!

The technique for LCD ribbon removal and re-attachment are achievable certainly on simpler ribbons and fine pitch ribbons with careful preparation and thought. I hope this instructable is comprehensive enough for people to get some good results.

The material bonds at 180 DegreeC. Direct Ribbon connection is used for economy (i.e. no fancy connectors) and for the number of connections its offers in a small footprint which would not be possible through traditional connectors.

The other end of the ribbon that joins to the LCD is terminated on the glass on Indium tin oxide (ITO) which is one of the most widely used transparent conducting oxides.

If you want more information there are many different types of LCM assemby (LCD Display plus it driving chips) to look at but these are the main ones (increasing in density):

In manufacture of these modules a machine is used for assembly which would compress HSC to the LCD Or the PCB and then apply the correct amount of heat.

Attached is a picture of a screen from a Brookstone clock. I think it may be an LCD. The black pads show where a ribbon cable was connected and I see not transmission paths from the pads into the screen. How does this work? Is it really an LCD?

Are the paths in this ribbon cable covered on both sides as mine is and can you adhere the ribbon without removing any covering by applying heat? And what do I do on the LCD side where there appears to be no pads on the LCD but the ribbon cable was apparently applied in this manner?0

I have two items to add, kapton tape and sil-pads used to isolate heat-sinks from semiconductor devices. With kapton tape it brings the means to secure the ribbon to the board, place the tape over the whole connection area, and kapton resists heat very well, ( try and melt it with your soldering iron). This means an average soldering iron turned down will allow heat to be applied to each joint. With experience a rework can be done in a few minutes. The bond can also be renewed on the LCD glass as well, kapton also works here. Sil-pads allow heat to be passed to the joint with some pressure applied at the same time. The sil-pad can be dragged up and down all the ribbon connections allowing uniform heating. Once the bond is resurrected the sil-pad is discarded. http://goo.gl/mpZNkm0

It"s pretty cheap and easier to solder, then you just have to clamp the cable into the connector. Maybe you are interested in reworking that to get all lines back.

Sorry, the connector on the link doesn"t match the board design... you must search for FFC, FPC connectors with the number of vias of your cable and look for the real dimensions on the datasheet.

I just thought the same way, adding aLCD flat connector... then you can swap chinese or VDO oem screens. Seems the VDO LCD(as for Audi A3-Vw golf/jetta4) have 50 pins and the ribbons is 48mm width. Then you have to look to modify the metal bracket to avoid pressure on ribbon.

i would not rule out a connector fix totally but its nice if you can fix for zero cost if possible. Also you then have to manage the mechanical constraints as well as choosing a suitable connector. Usually only the semi flexi PCB circuits ribbons go into connectors not the carbon screen printed sort so may not be so desirable.0

i have an alarm clock which doesn"t have a ribbon, but instead some sort of rubbery contact strip against which the display should be pressed. You can find pics of it on google images for "lcd rubber contact strip", it seems to be called a zebra rubber. Any idea on how to glue/solder the display to that rubbery contact strip?More CommentsPost Comment

This is probably the way to go. I would comment that in the picture it does not look like the contacts are very small pitch. I disagree with the other posters who have suggested using graphite to enhance the connection. I would not put graphite or any other conductive powder/substance on the pwb or connector.

In order for electrical contact to be made, pressure must be continuously applied to the LCD/elasto/PCB "sandwich". This is normally accomplished by the case, which is screwed together, pressing in on the structure from both sides.

Sandwich the elastomeric connector between the LCD connector and the board pads. You will need to keep enough pressure on the sandwich to keep the connector from wiggling around.

Screw the case back together while making sure the LCD/elasto/PCB sandwich doesn"t come apart. This is assuming that you still have the case, and you will be reassembling it...

Note: the LCD connector is not visually distinctive. Referring to the photo you have attached, I would guess that it is the translucent region at the bottom of the LCD module. You can just make out the "ghosted" strips which are possibly electrically conductive. Or maybe the clear strips are. You will figure it out. You probably could use an ohmmeter to test continuity if you are very careful and gentle. Anyway, the black squares on the connector edges are the conductive parts of the elasto connector, and should be lined up with the PCB pads and the conductive LCD "pads".

I once took apart an electronic guitar tuner which was having display problems, and to my great surprise encountered one of those elastomeric connectors. I had never seen one before. It totally freaked me out when it fell off and I could not see any adhesive or other fastening agent to reattach it with... but using the above procedure I put it back together and it"s working, once again...

Beautiful work. However, my modern LCD flat screen TV set uses the "No-Fuss Ribbon Cable Connectors" and I think they are fairly common in this application.

Turn the panel over so that you"re working on the front of the panel. Place the panel on a book or the edge of the table, so that the pins hang over the edge and don"t get damaged while you"re working on the panel.

Select the top film and orient the film so that the arrow on the film label points to the side of the panel with the pins, then peel the protective film layer off the bottom film. This is the side with the sticker.

Peel the adhesive release film away from one edge and apply that edge of the film to the top of the panel panel and press it down with your finger. Gradually peel back the adhesive release film and use the card or roller to work the air out from under the film. If you see an air bubble form, gradually lift the film past the bubble and then reapply.

Use the razor blade to trim the film to the left and right sides and the bottom of the panel. If the film hangs over the top of the viewable area of the panel, that"s fine, but do not try to trim it from the top side, as the IC and conductive traces are easily damaged.

Remove the white backing from the factory graphics and align the bottom edge to the panel. Make sure that the graphics are evenly spaced on the polarizing film. There should be approx 1/32" gap between the bottom side of the panel and the start of the black border. There should be approx 1/32" gap between the left and right sides of the glass, and the black border of the graphics. Stick down the bottom edge of the graphics.

Connectors are a prevalent part of almost any electronic project. Understanding the available connectors and the specification considerations that one would need to keep in mind is important throughout the design process. You don’t want to get near the end of the project and find that you need to add one and need to adjust the project to accommodate as this can end up being costly in both time and money aspects.

When selecting a connector for your project, there are a few considerations that would need to be made when specifying the requirements for your connector. Some of the more common questions would be:

In many cases, knowing the number of contacts required by the connector is known. However, sometimes, other needs for the overall application and the availability of the items can end up affecting the resulting selected item’s specifications.

Further consideration would also need to be given to the power that the connector will need to handle as this will affect the option that is selected. As the power handling capacity of a connector continues to increase, one may find that the total number of contacts for any package/shell size will go down. This is caused by needing more room for larger wire gauge and/or higher voltages. Some manufacturers have managed to increase the voltage ratings by adding more isolation between the contacts and the total “distance” that the electrical arc would need to travel from one contact to the next. Also, there are some connectors that have a grounding contact built into the rest of the contacts. They are longer than the others in the connector and are used to reduce/eliminate arcing between the two mating/un-mating connectors.

Another consideration for your project would be how you would like or need each connector to mount. Types of mounting can include the below, to name a few, and example links.

PCB pin through hole - Where the terminating leads of the connector are used to mount/fasten the item to the circuit board through holes placed in the board.

PCB surface mounting - Where the terminating leads of the connector are used to mount/fasten the item to the circuit board is it placed on to contact pad on the surface of the board.

Panel mounting - Where a hole has been made in a surface or panel and the connector is placed either through or against the hole. Fastening can vary from a thread and nut to the connector held in place as a result of it being mounted to a board behind the panel.

Board/card edge/cutout mounting - For card edge the terminations are near an edge of a board, in many cases the connector is modified in order to take advantage of it being on the edge. For board cutout, they are similar as they are near the edge of the board. However, a portion of the board has been cutout in order for the connector to have a lower profile. In both cases the lower overall board profile that can result is what is being utilized. Additionally, it can also be done because no other space is available on the board or because of other design needs.

Through board - Similar to cutout mounting. However, these are not typically seen next to the edge of the board. They are also similar to panel mounting connectors as they mount through a hole cut in the board. Some terminate through holes in the board and solder on the same side as the connector mates while others surface mount to the side of the board the connectors mount from (opposite from the side the connector mates). The below would be examples of this item type:

The terms mounting and termination have been known to be used interchangeably, however one would need to keep in mind that is not always the case and that there can be a distinction. Mounting indicates how the overall project and the connector as a whole interface/fasten/attach. Termination indicates how the electrical connections are being made. Through-hole mounting and surface mounting in most cases indicate items that would mount and terminate in a particular way (see Termination Method below for more). As an example of a mounting, mating, and termination combination that could happen would be:

Soldering/solder termination - For connectors, this termination method should work fine for a wide range of applications. However, if the application is going in high temperature areas, one may need to consider more mechanical means of termination. Soldering can be for wire termination as well as for board terminated connections. As such, this type of termination includes a variety of ways an item can be soldered. Through hole soldering and surface mount, as indicated above, describes a mounting and termination type.

Through hole soldering - On the termination side of the connector there are leads designed to go through holes in a board that have been prepared and usually have copper pads on the other surface of the board from the through-hole connector. Once placed they are soldered in place.

Surface mount termination - The leads of the item and the mounting pads are on the same side of the PCB. The item is either placed by hand and soldered in place or a re-flow or wave-soldering methods are used to solder it in place. Note that some board/card edge connector types are also surface mount types.

Crimping - This type of termination has been known to be quite rugged and reliable and would be used or terminating wires. However, that is predicated on the quality of the crimp itself and correct installation in to the contact housing. To achieve a quality crimp and overall connection, one would need to be sure that the correct contacts for the housing are used as well as the correct crimping tools. For these contacts, tooling is an important step. If the end quality is not a concern, then it may be possible that other tools that you may have already or lower cost options could be utilized. However, if it is or could be, then the tools recommended by the manufacturer would need to be used as well as the appropriate preparation steps for the wire and any quality of crimp data that the manufacturer provides for post crimp inspection (note - not all need to be checked, just a sample for verification). If the tooling and correct procedures are not used and a failure does occur in the connection, most if not all manufacturers of such connectors will not provide support or warranty.

Terminating to these types typically only requires the wire to be stripped, then either just pushed into the connector or a lever be actuated to an unlocked state and the wire inserted and the lever moved to a locked state.

Figure 5: This board mounting connector has stripped wires terminated to it by pushing it in to the lower opening. A tool can be used in this case to release the wire if needed.

Screw terminals - These are used in a variety of connector types and can be used in a few different ways. The following items are examples of the different types of screw termination terminals:

These connectors are not necessarily used in a product that is going to be put in to large scale production. They are used in High frequency end products and low production count prototypes

If the application is in a fairly sedate environment and it is not expected to see anything extreme, then nearly any connector would work for the specific needs defined. However as one makes projects for more hostile environments - things like vibration, kinetic shock, shielding, environmental ingress, oils, solvents, or any variety of chemicals and corrosion that the connector in question may be exposed to - one would need to be kept these in mind during the selection process.

For connections that are passing into/out of the enclosure, there can be a fair number of possible choices that could be selected for any particular type of connector.

Review the specifications for the connectors that are being considered to see if they were tested and rated for the level of shock and vibration that you would be expecting for the project to experience.

For connectors where shielding is employed, one would need to make considerations on if only a specific part would have the shielding or if the (in the case of cables) whole path would need to have a unified shield. Take Ethernet cables for example. If the environment is fairly tame, then some basic Ethernet cabling and 8 position modular connectors could be used. However, as the ambient magnetic noise increases, the usage of shielded modular connectors and Ethernet cable would need to be considered/implemented.

Ingress protection ratings indicate how well an item can prevent solids/dust and moisture/water from entering into an area that is being protected. If this is a concern it should be considered throughout the process of selecting a connector. It would be used to filter out all of the other options that don’t match the ingress requirements.

When selecting a connector, you will need to pick an option that would be able to handle the expected maximum current that could end up being applied to the connector.

When selecting a connector, you would need to pick an option that would be able to handle the expected maximum voltage that could end up being applied to the connector.

Why do monitors and TVs get image burn? Why can"t manufacturers prevent LCDs and plasma screens from a burnt image imprint? Moreover, what can you do to fix an image burn?

LCD and LED do not work in the same way as CRTs, either. LCD and LED screens use backlit liquid crystals to display colors. Although manufacturers market screens using LED and LCD, an LED screen is still a type of LCD. The white backlight filters through the liquid crystals, which extract particular colors per pixel.

LCD and LED displays don"t suffer from the same type of image burn as CRTs and plasma screens. They"re not completely clear, though. LCD and LED screens suffer from image persistence. Read on to find out more about image persistence.

Before you can fix screen burn-in, take a second to understand why these images burn in the first place. LCDs and LEDs don"t suffer from burn-in as seriously as plasma screens. But static images can leave an imprint on both display types if left alone for too long. So, why does image burn happen?

LCD and LED screens can also experience image burn, though the image burn process can take longer to develop into a permanent issue. In addition, LCD and LED screens suffer from another issue, known as image retention (also known as image persistence or an LCD shadow).

Image retention is a temporary issue that you are more likely to notice before it becomes a permanent issue. However, proper image burn can still affect LCD, LED, and OLED screens.

Image burn-in fixes exist for LCD and plasma screens. How effective an image burn-in fix is depends on the screen damage. Depending on the length and severity of the image burn, some displays may have permanent damage.

The best fix for screen burn is to prevent it in the first place. Okay, that isn"t super useful if your screen is already experiencing image burn. However, you should always try not to leave your screen on a still image for too long. The time it takes for an image to burn-in varies from screen to screen, between manufacturers, sizes, and panel type.

If your plasma or LCD screen already has image burn-in, you can try turning on white static for 12 to 24 hours. The constant moving of white-and-black across your screen in random patterns can help remove the ghost image from your screen.

Pixel-shift constantly slightly adjusts the image on your screen, which varies the pixel usage to counteract image burn. You might have to enable a pixel or screen shift option in your screen settings. Pixel-shift is a handy feature for LED and OLED screens that cannot recover from image burn and should help counteract an LCD shadow.

While the Deluxe version uses advanced algorithms to repair burned screens and prolong plasma and LCD longevity, the official site is no longer up and running, and there is no way to download the full version officially.

If your application requires a free standing card edge interconnect system, the SMP/SMA series of card edge connectors provides the lowest profile and the highest density to interconnect two printed circuit boards. Other connectors in this series have many other features such as dual-readout and a variety of materials and contact choices.

Please contact us if you are interested in additional information about our PCB (printed circuit board) card edge connectors product line or would like to receive samples or email announcements about new product developments.

To check these cables, start by turning your laptop on. Once the screen begins to flicker, slowly close and open the screen. If you notice changes to the flickering when you open and close the screen, that’s a good indicator that there are issues with the inner cables. Unfortunately, unless you have advanced computer hardware repair skills, you will need to take your laptop to a trusted repair shop to fix this issue.

A flickering screen can be a real nightmare; fortunately, screens are more resilient than they were a couple of years ago. Additionally, there are numerous tricks, tips and steps you can take before even thinking about repairing your screen or replacing it for a new one. Regardless of what kind of screen you’re struggling with, this guide offers great initial resources for solving the problem.

The playfield layouts were solid EM-esque designs, with rock-solid Gottlieb® mechanical parts. Unfortunately, the electronics were not as robust in terms of longevity. Major problems were exhibited with connectors, battery corrosion issues, and today"s unavailability of essential, proprietary system chips.

One of the biggest issues with the System 1 platform was that it had unreliable ground connections. Unlike the other popular manufacturers of the time, Gottlieb® relied solely on connectors and daisy-chained wiring to transport the ground lines from board to board. A large ground plane was used behind the boards, but the circuit boards" grounds were not physically secured to it. Gottlieb® instead opted to use plastic standoffs to elevate and secure the boards to the backbox. Thus, if a single ground connector failed in the chain, the logic ground could fail for one or several of the circuit boards. This could potentially lead to locked on coils, relays, and / or controlled lamps. In turn, transistors and chips would fail.

All Gottlieb® machines have a common naming convention for all of the connectors in the game. A specific connection uses two parts - a prefix and a suffix. The prefix is the board number or an inline wire junction, and the suffix is the connection on the board or a sequential wire junction number. When referencing a specific connector pin within a housing, a dash follows the connection number. For example, the connector pin for the slam switch signal on the CPU board is A1J6-2. The exceptions are the scoring displays. For their designation, a single digit prefix is used in front of the display board prefix for the player position of the display (ie. 3A4-J1 is the connection for the player 3 display). All in-line junctions have a common designation too. For example, the large in-line connection for the coin door is A6P1 and A6J1. The connector pin for switch return 0 on the coin door is A6J1-1 / A6P1-1.

The most prevalent connector contacts used in Gottlieb® System 1 games are Molex KK .156" 2578 series contacts. Nearly all housings, the three connections on the power supply, the top housing on the driver board (A3J1), and in-line (A6) connections being the exceptions, are Molex KK single-sided card edge connectors.

Connection A3J1 on the driver board is a Molex KK single-sided card edge connector, however, it has mounting "ears" on either side. This type of housing was used, so that the A1J5 / A3J1 harness between the CPU board and driver board could not be installed upside down. Unfortunately, this particular housing with ears is no longer available. The power supply uses three different Molex KK .156" crimp terminal housings for header pin connections. All A6 in-line connectors use a combination of Molex .093" plug / receptacle housings with appropriate Molex .093" male / female crimp contacts. Please refer to the table below for the type and connector count of each System 1 board connection.

Connections for the switches originate from the two edge connectors located at the lower left bottom of the CPU board. Connector A1J6 is used for all the switches on the coin door, the ball roll tilt (which is the second slam switch), and in some cases, the pendulum tilt. While connector A1J7 is for all of the switches on the playfield.

Early transformer panels might not have a fuse on the small transformer, which is recommended in order to protect the small transformer from being destroyed by a shorted power supply.

The -12 volt regulator (marked LIC1 on the schematic) which is a type 7912, is mounted at the top edge of the board and is bolted to the metal frame with an insulated plastic insert. At the very bottom edge of the board and also bolted to the frame with an insulated plastic insert is transistor Q2 (a type TIP31C) which regulates the +60 volts to the displays. There should be insulating mica wafers between each of these transistors and the metal frame. Silicone heat sink grease will need to be applied to both sides of the mica insulator. Attached to the large "L" bracket metal frame is transistor Q1 (original is type PMD-12K-40 but can be substituted with a NTE247, 2N6057, or 2N6059) which is the +5 volt regulator. This transistor is also insulated with a mica wafer and silicone heat sink grease.

If the sound board is missing or cannot be repaired, there are daughter boards and aftermarket boards available. A daughter board called the "MIOT adapter" is a replacement for the 6530 chip for both System 1 and System 80 sounds boards, produced in Germany. Pascal Janin in France has made a replacement sound board for both the original 2nd generation sound boards, and combination System 1 2nd gen boards / System 80/80A sound boards. These boards can purchased directly from Pascal - 2nd gen sound & combination Sys1 / Sys80/80A sound . Although Pascal does not have US distributors, Big Daddy Enterprises, sometimes has these sound boards available too.

The only major weakness to this flipper design is how the EOS switch is actuated. The EOS switch is opened via the flipper crank / pawl assembly, and it"s a metal-on-metal contact point. Even though the thicker than normal metal switch leaf where contact is made on the EOS switch, the flipper crank / pawl can potentially wear a hole in this leaf over time. Gottlieb® did rectify this potential issue in the late "80s, (around the production of TX-Sector), by offered a kit to modify the assembly. The new style crank / pawl had an added a plastic roller, which made contact with the EOS switch instead of the pointed edge of the flipper crank / pawl. The EOS switch was attached to a bracket which attached to the flipper plate"s old EOS switch bracket. This was done to compensate for the difference in spacing the roller created. The flipper mechanism was now even better, but in home use this modification may be a bit of overkill.

Connectors, connectors, connectors!!! Since the Gottlieb® System 1 boardset primarily relies on Molex connectors to pass data and voltages from board to board, the connectors should be addressed first. Before even attempting to turn a Gottlieb® System 1 game on for the first time, worn or corroded edge connector contacts must be replaced. Cleaning or burnishing connector contacts is not a viable option to ensure a game"s reliability.

Poor connector contacts are the number one reason why System 1 games do not function properly. Poor or missing connector contacts have a cascading effect too. The end results of bad connector contacts can be, but are not limited to:

So, it is very important that the connector contacts are shiny, have proper spring tension, and are properly crimped for the over all reliability of the game. Random, flaky issues which happen either sporadically or all the time are attributed to poor connector contacts in nearly every case.

Replacing connectors in a pinball machine is known as "repinning". Repinning a System 1 edge connector housing is difficult without the proper extraction tool. The connector housings, which are steadily becoming obsolete, are reusable provided the ear inside the plastic housing does not get sheared off. Below are the steps to remove the connector from its housing.

System 1 connector housings are primarily "single-sided" edge connectors. The exceptions are the three connectors used on the power supply and all inline connectors. To remove pins from these connector housings, a pricey yet effective tool called a Molex contact extraction tool, (commonly referred to as a Molex extractor), is needed. The Molex part number for the extractor is 11-03-0016, and can be purchased from Great Plains Electronics or other electronics vendors. Slide the extractor behind the pin to release the "locking tab" that holds the pin in. Firmly grip the wire and pull the pin out of the connector. Since the metal for this tool is tempered and thin, it is fragile. Bending or twisting the tool can cause it to shatter and break.

There are 23 discrete signals which pass from the CPU board to the driver board via this connection. Two of the connectors pass ground and +5v logic to the driver board, while the remaining signals are for lamp, relay, and solenoid control. It is extremely important to have solid connectors installed in the CPU / Driver board interconnect harness. Without decent connections, lamps, coils, and relays can either lock on or not turn on at all.

Repinning both sides of the interconnect housings is the solution to reliable game function. If repinning is not an option, several vendors sell replacement new harnesses. When buying a replacement, use some caution. The original factory harness uses single-sided Molex edge connections. There are some replacement harnesses being sold with double-sided edge connection housings. It is easy to identify these housings, as they are black in color versus the "natural" color of all the other housings used in the game. These types of harnesses do work, but there is one caveat. They are not specifically built to fit the System 1 edge connections on the CPU or driver board, and are a fraction larger than the board edges fingers they are installed on. Hence, there is some lateral (side to side) movement in the connections at both A1-J5 and A3-J1. Because of this "slop", the housing connectors can cross signals to adjacent edge fingers. The end result is relays, lamps, or coils which do not turn on at all or never turn off.

When repinning the power supply connectors, it is best to use trifurcon connector pins (08-52-0113) to ensure that there is always good contact between the header pins and the connector pins. The trifurcon pins provide three points of contact on each header pin, while the standard crimp contact used on edge connectors (08-52-0072) only offers one point of contact, which can easily be a point of failure.

Gottlieb® System 1 games are notorious for having poor ground connections. As mentioned at the introduction of this System 1 guide, ground problems are one of the biggest issues with the System 1 platform. Poor ground connections are the number two reason for unreliable System 1 games. Unlike the other popular manufacturers of the time, Gottlieb® relied solely on connectors and daisy-chained wiring to transport the ground lines from board to board. A large ground plane was used behind the boards, but the circuit boards" grounds were not physically secured to it. Gottlieb® opted to use plastic standoffs to elevate and secure the boards to the backbox instead. Thus, if a single ground connector failed in the chain, the logic ground could fail for one or several of the circuit boards. This could potentially lead to erratic behavior with locked on coils, relays, and / or controlled lamps. In turn, transistors and chips would fail.

Chiefly due to age and / or alkaline battery damage, the connectors carrying the ground lines would fail. Connectors become fatigued losing their tensile strength against the edge finger surface of the board. Thus, the ground connections would become compromised. Equally, if battery damage was present due to an aged, leaky battery, the connectors would corrode, and either have too much resistance, or completely break. Replacing the failed connectors is always a great start, and highly recommended. However, there are additional procedures to keep from the ground being lost at each board. Once the ground lines are added to the circuit boards, Gottlieb® System 1 games are one step closer to being as reliable or more reliable than the other pinball manufactures" games from the same era.

If you happen to be one of the lucky few, where the power supply does not have to be disassembled for repair, an additional ground line can be soldered to the negative leg of +12VDC filtering capacitor. The filtering capacitor is the large axial capacitor, which is oriented horizontally on bottom of power supply board.

There really isn"t a good place on the front of a Ni-Wumpf CPU board to connect to ground. The best choice is to go to the back of the board and find the large ground trace that connects to J1 pins 3 & 4. Find a nice clear spot on this ground trace and scrape away a section of the mask covering the trace. Solder a wire to this section of the trace, crimp a fork connector to the other end of the wire, and connect the wire to an existing screw on the metal rail the board is mounted to. This will connect the board"s ground to the ground plane in the back box.

The Ni-Wumpf driver board has a spot on the upper left corner of the board labelled "H2" that seems to be intended to be used to install a screw terminal to connect to ground on the board. If you don"t have a screw terminal handy, you can just solder a wire into one of the 4 mount points for H2, crimp a fork connector onto the other end of the wire, and attach it to one of the screws that hold the metal board rails onto the metal ground plane in the back box.

On the front side of the board, the C4 and C5 capacitors need a common ground with the rest of the SDB. Jump the negative side of C4 to the above C5 negative trace and continue to the main ground trace on the edge of the board. Scrape the solder mask off the trace to get a good solder surface to solder the jumper.

110v/115v/120v: These lugs are the incoming voltage to the small transformer (for US games, it should be 115v). It should have a 1 Amp fuse. On earlier games, this fuse is missing, so it will need to be added. Gottlieb included it starting with Solar Ride and all later System 1 games. However, it"s possible that someone may have swapped in a transformer panel from an older game into a newer game, so in that situation, the fuse could still be missing in a later game.

When done, install the fuses, and with a multimeter, perform continuity tests from the original wire to the transformer lug. As a safety measure to protect the electronics before turning on the game, disconnect the power supply, MPU, driver board, and sound board (if applicable). Then, turn on the power, and use a multimeter to test the voltages to ensure the voltages are correct and going to the right connector pins.

Once the switching power supply is ready to be installed, desolder the wires for the small transformer. Put ring terminals on the hot & common AC wires, and connect those to the appropriate hot and common/neutral terminals on the power supply. Add an AC ground wire from the power supply ground terminal to the EMI filter"s middle terminal. Get a J1 connector (09-01-6061) for the MPU, and connect +5vdc, ground, and -12vdc (if applicable) to the appropriate pins (remember, -12vdc is only used on an original MPU, and can be left out if using an after-market MPU).

The first power problem is more of a word of caution than anything else. The issue stems from the power input to the power supply, which is located at the bottom connection of the power supply. A2J1 is a 7 pin connector, which is fed power directly from the transformer panel. The problem is that the female connector is not keyed. Since the connector is not keyed, there is a risk of installing the connector upside down or shifted over. On most games, Gottlieb® affixed an orange sticker to this connector, stating THIS SIDE UP. However, over time due to heat, moisture, and other circumstances, the warning sticker is typically missing.

The correct orientation has the red wire on the right-most pin, and the thicker-gauge black grounding wire to the left of the center pin. Also make sure to double-check that you have not shifted the connector one or two pins over.

NOTE: THIS CONNECTOR INSTALLS UPSIDE DOWN VERY EASILY ON A ROTTENDOG POWER SUPPLY!!!! Please make certain that it is oriented correctly before installing!

Additionally, it is easy to plug in this connector so that it is shifted one or two pins over. This too can cause problems. To correct this, some later System 1 games used a 9-pin connector with keying plugs in pin 1 and pin 9. On games that use the 7-pin connector, it can can be replaced with a 9-pin connector (Molex 09-50-3091) and keying plugs (Molex 15-04-0297).

A Gottlieb System 1 power supply can be repaired/refurbished for a only a few dollars in parts. However, it is one of the trickier boards to work on because of the way the regulator is mounted through the heatsink and onto the PCB.

If a power supply is untested, but none of the components appear to be burnt or damaged, you can test the power supply by connecting it to a game with nothing else connected and checking the output voltages of the power supply. Note that the additional fuses that are recommended for the bottom panel to protect the small transformer should already be in place before attempting to test an unknown power supply. This is to protect the small transformer from being destroyed by shorted components on the power supply.

If the power supply has components that are visibly burnt or damaged in some way, do not attempt to connect it in a game for testing. Power supplies in this condition can be refurbished, however, there is a chance that additional components beyond the recommended replacements have failed and will also need to be replaced. Depending on your skill level with PCB repairs/troubleshooting and the condition of the PCB itself, it may be better to install an after-market replacement instead of attempting to repair an obviously damaged power supply.

Note: All the diodes should be mounted so there is a small gap between the diode and the PCB to allow air flow to help keep these components cool. If using a 9-pin connector housing for J1, CR1 may need to be bent down towards the lower edge of the PCB (depending on the size of the air gap between the diode and PCB) in order to accommodate the size of the 9-pin housing.

All the .156" header pins will need to be replaced. It is best to use locking header pins for J1 so that the connector doesn"t come loose or fall out. In turn, a female housing with a locking ramp (Molex 09-50-8071, or 09-50-3091 with two Molex 15-04-0297 keying plugs--on pin 1 and pin 9) should be used to ensure that the housing actually locks with the header"s friction lock. When repinning the connectors, it is best to use trifurcon connector pins (08-52-0113) to ensure that there is always good contact between the header pins and the connector pins.

Position the wire so that it reaches one of the PCB"s corner screws. Trim and strip the end of the wire. Crimp a #8 terminal ring connector so that it can be held by one of the PCB"s corner screws.

If you did the grounding mod as indicated earlier, position the terminal ring connector and screw down that corner PCB screw. Tighten the loose PCB corner screw

If using a 9-pin connector housing for J1, CR1 may need to be bent down towards the lower edge of the PCB (depending on the size of the air gap between the diode and PCB) in order to accommodate the size of the 9-pin housing.

If all the voltages are correct, then proceed sequentially with connecting the MPU, displays, and driver board one at a time. Turn off the game whenever you plug/unplug connectors. Stop if there are any problems along the way.

So, what"s so bad about having a battery on the CPU board? Well, nothing really, unless it becomes forgotten, and most cases it does. While you let your pinball machine sit unplayed for weeks, months, or even years at a time, the battery remains perched on the circuit board like a ticking time bomb. I"m not saying the battery is going to blow up, although some replacement non-rechargeable batteries could overheat and / or explode if not correctly installed. The battery is like a ticking time bomb, because it is a threat to the overall health of the electronic components, traces, and connectors attached to your CPU board.

Well, while you were out having a good time and enjoying life, the poor, aged, neglected battery decided to wreak havoc all over your CPU board. The CPU battery spewing its guts all over the place is akin to the batteries in the flashlight you haven"t turned on since the last power outage over a year or two ago. You go to turn on the flashlight when you need it most, and find out there"s something wrong. So being the curious type, you open the flashlight"s battery compartment only to find some kind of funk leaking all over, or the batteries now look like they need a shave. The resolution to the flashlight scenario is pretty simple. Throw it away, and buy a new one. Your CPU board problem can be resolved the same way, except it will be a lot more costly, and is not recommended to just pitch it in the trash. If the battery damage to the CPU board is not overly extensive, attempt to repair it.

Edge connector fingers at A1J6 and A1J7, in worse cases, A1J5. The associated edge connectors inside the housings will be effected in part or in whole too.

If the spider chip U5 took a substantial hit, writing off the CPU board for parts only may be the best approach. Although it can be a tedious repair, any of the other components mentioned above are readily available, and can be acquired for replacement.

Electronic components, related solder joints, circuit board traces, connectors, and even insulated wire will become unreliable and/or fail. In all cases, the effected components are less conductive.

The only silver lining with System 1 battery alkaline damage is that in most cases the CPU board will still boot. That"s not saying there won"t be issues with the switches not reacting or solenoids locking on, but the potential for the board to boot is there. So, if you"re curious whether the board is worth repairing, first see if the board boots with only A1J1 (power) and A1J2 / A1J3 (displays) connected. This is of course provided that there is no alkaline damage on any of these three connections. The connections may have to be repinned prior to an attempt of booting the board. Likewise, the slam switches will have to be disabled on the CPU board.

If battery damage has occurred, the related parts must now be replaced. Attempting to remove soldered through components on the circuit board is now even more of a task. The green / gray dull solder does not transfer heat well. Battery damaged solder does not flow like clean solder. Also, crimped connectors are more difficult to remove from their housings, and have a tendency to break before they can be successfully pulled out.

After all the effected electronic components are removed, the board must be treated. This process starts by sanding the traces and solder pads until shiny copper is exposed. It is worth mentioning that a battery damaged board can be treated by bead blasting instead of sanding, however, most people do not have access to such a machine. After the copper areas of the board have been either sanded or bead blasted, an acidic bath of 50% vinegar and 50% (preferably distilled) water is applied to the board. A small brush like a toothbrush can be used to scrub the board"s area. The purpose of introducing an acid to the effected area is to neutralize what the battery has left behind. The liquid and fumes from the battery are actually a base, not an acid. Next, rinse the area of the board with water. Once the board is clean, isopropyl alcohol (the higher the alcohol percentage the better) is applied to the same area to rinse away the acid bath, and hopefully dissipate any remaining water. Finally, the board is either blown dry or air dried. This may be a given, but DO NOT ATTEMPT TO APPLY POWER TO THE BOARD IF IT IS STILL WET! Most liquids are conductive to some extent. After the previous steps are performed, the task of installing the new components begins. If any traces or solder pads were damaged, see the Repairing Traces portion of this Wiki guide on to to fix them.

The point I"m trying to ultimately make is this. . . regardless of age, shape, or form, remove the battery from the CPU board, as soon as it realized that there is a battery on the board. If not, the board can be damaged, nonfunctional, and become more difficult or even impossible to repair.

Early in the production of System 1 driver boards (during the run of Close Encounters), diodes intended to protect the CPU from transistor or coil issues, were omitted. Later production driver boards included these diodes in series with Q25-Q28 as well as Q30-Q32. If you have a Cleopatra, Sinbad, Joker Poker or Close Encounters, inspection of the driver board is highly recommended. Even if your game was produced after Close Encounters, inspection of the driver board is still recommended since boards were frequently swapped for repair purposes.

Another problem related to the cabinet switches is the female spade connector used to connect the cabinet wiring to the switch. These spade connectors can sometimes become sloppy or break. In most cases, the break is not evident, until the connector is removed and reinstalled on the cabinet switch tab. The spade connector can be removed and a new one crimped on, or the better solution is to solder the cabinet switch wires to the tabs on the cabinet switch.

Lamps are constructed of an equal balance of glass and conductive metal. If a bulb slips out of one"s grasp when trying to remove or install with the power on, there are many areas in the bottom of the cabinet, where the metal of the bulb can short across. A short across other circuits could potentially lead to other unplanned or otherwise unnecessary repairs needed to perform.

If testing a controlled lamp socket, remove the A3-J3 and A3-J5 connector housings from the bottom of the driver board first. Then remove the fuse for the controlled lamp circuit. Clip one lead of the battery to the lamp socket mounting bracket and the other to the solder tab. The orientation of the negative and positive leads of the battery terminals makes no difference. Again, keep the battery connected just long enough to see if the lamps lights to determine whether the lamp socket is good or not.

Determine if the connector and wiring from the output of the driver board to the lamp socket is good. With the power off, check the continuity between the solder tab of the lamp socket and the collector (right leg) of the associated lamp transistor. If there is continuity, it’s time to test the transistor. See the How to test a transistor portion of the PinWiki guide. If the transistor tests fine, a gate on the 74175 may be bad. The use of a logic probe on the input and output of the associated lamp gate would be a the best test procedure for definitive results.

One last thing to keep in mind is that the grounds for the lamp drive transistors are discrete, and they are not all tied together on the driver board. If more than four lamps are not lighting, one of the grounds may potentially have a bad connection. Here are the groups of lamp transistors which share common grounds and their associated ground connector pin:

If cleaning a switch does not resolve the issue, carefully inspect the switch contacts with high magnification. If the contacts are drastically scored or appear to have been sanded, the only resolution is to replace the switch pair. During the EM era, the common practice was to clean switches with an ignition file or a flexstone. Because only high current switches were used then, these were both acceptable practices to clean a switch. However, some operators or repair people did not initially grasp the concept of not cleaning solid state switches by filing or burnishing.

The connectors at A1-J7 and A1-J6 handle all of the switch strobes and returns. If the connectors have not been repinned, it is common for the metal connectors to loose tensile strength, become corroded due to alkaline battery damage, or break. If any of these things have happened, the connection to the CPU board is compromised, and switches may work sporadically or not at all. The best recourse is to remove all the existing connectors, and replace the connectors with new ones. Replacing connectors by crimping new ones in place is the proper method. Cleaning connectors with contact cleaner, sanding the connectors, or bending the connectors are all considered only temporary fixes, if they even work at all.

As mentioned above, the switch strobes do have 1N270 Germanium diodes soldered in line. The diodes are located on a centralized diode board. Although it"s not too common, but the diodes can fail. It is best to remove the appropriate connector on the CPU board, either A1J7 or A1J6 before testing a switch diode. In doing this, other components on the CPU, if they have failed, will not skew the readings. Using a DMM in diode test mode, the typical readings seen when testing a 1N270 diode are ~.18 - .27, and no reading when the DMM leads are reversed. These numbers are just a gauge, and different DMMs will yield different results. To best identify a failed diode, take sample measurements from several other switch diodes. If a specific diode under test is comparatively out of the range with the other diodes, chances are that particular diode has failed. Replace failed diode with a 1N270 diode only.

Before even attempting to work on System 1 displays, there are two caveats to heed. First and foremost, the displays function due to the necessity of several voltages, including high voltage. IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WORKING ON HIGH VOLTAGE CIRCUITS, THEN DO NOT WORK ON SYSTEM 1 DISPLAYS! High voltage can hurt or even kill you. If you don"t feel comfortable working around this type of scenario, then hire a professional to do the work. Secondly, any time a display connector needs to be disconnected, DO NOT REMOVE ANY DISPLAY RELATED CONNECTOR WITH THE POWER ON! This goes for the connectors located directly at the display, connectors A1J2 and A1J3 on the CPU board, A2J3 on the power supply board, and A6J3 / A6P3 from the transformer. Removing connectors with the power on can damage the display, the CPU board, and / or you. Sorry to "yell", but it is extremely important to stress the above two statements. Now that this is out of the way, let"s move on.

With the game still unplugged, the next course of action is to place connector A2J1 on the power supply. A2P1 is the bottom connection on the power supply, and receives all voltages directly from the transformers and a single ground from the ground strip. The connector can be plugged in upside down, but it will take a fair amount of effort to do so. Just be careful when plugging this connector in. Once A2J1 is connected, remove any other connections from the power supply (A2J2 and A2J3). All voltages should be tested before any boards or displays are connected to them.

However, if there is a muted white blotch visible at the corners of the display, it means the display"s "vacuum" has been compromised, either due to a cracked glass or broken nipple. If this is the case, the display glass can not be repaired and is useless.

When there are display issues, one first has to determine whether there is a problem with the display itself, the connectors involved, or the chips on the CPU board that control it.

NOTE: when removing the connectors from the displays or the connectors on the CPU board (A1J2 & A1J3), have the power to the game OFF. Failing to turn the power off can result in damage to the CPU board and or display board.

If the problem is only showing up one display, suspect that the connector at the display itself is problematic, or there is an issue on the display board. Problems on the display board can consist of a bad solder joint, a broken display lead from the display glass, or faults with the driver chips (Sprague UDN6118 or Dionics DI513) on the board.

If the problem shows up on two or more displays, suspect one of the two connectors on the CPU board (A1J2 or A1J3), or the chips which control the display data on the CPU board. If there is a digit issue, the issue will be present on player 1 and 3 or player 2 and 4 displays. If there is a segment issue, the issue will be present on player 1, 2, and the statusdisplays orplayer 3 and 4 displays. Although the picture shown to the left is from a System 80A game with 7-digit displays, the problems illustrated apply to System 1 games as well.

System 1 displays, especially those that haven"t been turned on for a long time, sometimes fade. These displays can be rejuvenated by applying voltage to the outside pins of the display glass. Note that voltage should be applied to the display glass pins, NOT the card edge pins. This process "burns" the impurities that accumulate on the filaments off.

Another potential reaason why chimes may be weak is due to the 6-pin in-line Molex plug. Oxidation, corrosion, or the female connectors "egging" out can create resistance or discontinuity, causing the chimes to be weak or not function at all. It is best to replace both the male and female connector pins. The plastic housings can be reused. The female connector pin is Molex # 02-09-1104, and the male connector pin is Molex # 02-09-2103. Use Molex / Waldom extration tool W-HT-2038 to remove the connector pins from the housings.

Converting from a 3 tone sound board to a a mechanical chime box is rather a simple process. There is a 6-pin Molex connector (A6-J2 / A6-P2) located just prior to A7-J1 of the tone board. This connection carries the driver signals for each chime tone, the knocker, and two +24vdc solenoid lines. A factory System 1 chime box conveniently has the exact same connection.

If the pendulum tilt, switch 04, in Sinbad does not work at all, there are a couple of things to investigate. If the pendulum tilt wiring is corect, (the connections at the ball roll tilt can sometimes be incorrect), first look for a purple wire connected to A1-J6 pin 7 on the CPU board. Secondly, look for a 5th switch diode located on the diode strip on the transformer panel located at the bottom of the cabinet. One side of the diode will have a purple wire, while the other side will have a purple-white wire. Finally, look for a purple-white wire at inline connector A6J4 / A6P4. This is the 12-pin inline connector which connects the playfield to the transformer panel wiring harness. The purple-white wire will be located at both sides of pin 9 of this connector.

When Gottlieb starting making System 1 games, they included two discrete switch strobes and switch returns for the tilt pendulum in the cabinet and the weighted tilt switch under the playfield. This meant that wiring for the tilt switches would be on both connectors A1J6 and A1J7 of the CPU board. Sometime during the run of Sinbad, Gottlieb removed the extra wiring on A1J6. The "new" alternate style of wiring up the tilt switches was to daisy-chain the switches. This path started at A1J7, continuing on to the switch diode board underneath the playfield (upper left corner) where it daisy-chained, and finally continuing on via the inline connection A6J4 / A6P4.

To overcome the lack of a pendulum tilt, a wire can be added to the inline connector A6J4 pin 9 on the playfield side. The wire will then have to be routed over to the diode strip underneath the playfield, and soldered to the existing white-blue weighted tilt strobe wire. Adding any color wire is possible, but purple-white is preferred. It will make future troubleshooting easier.

The A6J4 / A6P4 inline connector. Note the lack of a purple-white wire on one side of the connector. The yellow wire is an added jumper for free play.

A PC (or phone) with USB Type-C connectors has larger power limits. If the connector supports USB Power Delivery, it can charge even faster at greater power levels.

A PC (or phone) with USB Type-C connectors has larger power limits. If the connector supports USB Power Delivery, it can charge even faster at greater power levels.

When you connect your Surface to a TV or monitor, your Surface tries to set the best resolution based on the connector and the resolution of your TV or monitor.

Glass substrate with ITO electrodes. The shapes of these electrodes will determine the shapes that will appear when the LCD is switched ON. Vertical ridges etched on the surface are smooth.

A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directlybacklight or reflector to produce images in color or monochrome.seven-segment displays, as in a digital clock, are all good examples of devices with these displays.