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Can a DMD with a line out be repaired?

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Mavrik8511

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Oct 14, 2009, 10:46:51 PM10/14/09
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I have a DMD with 1 line out. Can this be repaired? Is there anyone that does repair on DMD's? I have a couple that have issues.
 
Thanks,
Maverick

chuck

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Oct 14, 2009, 10:53:43 PM10/14/09
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It can. It's usually a broken trace from the display to the board.
Search for conductive epoxy; thats what you'll need to fit it.

Kerry Imming

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Oct 14, 2009, 11:28:47 PM10/14/09
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I've repaired two Cherry brand DMDs with the flex cables. Do yours
have a thin multi-conductor flex cable folded over connecting the DMD
glass to the board? If so, it is possible to cut out a section of
broken trace(s) and solder small jumper wires directly to the glass.
I used 30 ga. wire wrap wire.

- Kerry

ldnayman

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Oct 14, 2009, 11:31:05 PM10/14/09
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Some have had luck but I find it a frustrating exercise.

Hardware

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Oct 15, 2009, 7:43:18 AM10/15/09
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On Oct 14, 10:46 pm, "Mavrik8511" <Mavrik8...@aol.com> wrote:

Someone on this group showed me this.

http://www.txpinball.com/fixing_DMD_displays.html

Damian Parrino

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Oct 15, 2009, 9:57:19 AM10/15/09
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that's a great tutorial, and super detailed pics.

but I guess I won't be doing those fixes... at least until I learn to
be that precise.

regards
Damian

beachcomber

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Oct 15, 2009, 6:09:43 PM10/15/09
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> >http://www.txpinball.com/fixing_DMD_displays.html- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I've done this repair on a DMD that had a couple of lines out. I
didn't have to grind the glass, and only had to resolder the breaks.

PinHead

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Oct 15, 2009, 6:22:52 PM10/15/09
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On>

> I've done this repair on a DMD that had a couple of lines out.  I
> didn't have to grind the glass, and only had to resolder the breaks.- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

Does soldering work as opposed to the epoxy?

Kerry Imming

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Oct 15, 2009, 6:59:25 PM10/15/09
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I can say for sure that soldering works on the flex cable versions. I
scraped the adhesive off with a toothpick, but the soldering iron
seems to melt it away quite well. These displays are high-voltage and
low-current, so the connection doesn't have to be that good.... I'd
think you'd be able to solder it.

- Kerry

machine.slave

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Oct 15, 2009, 7:56:08 PM10/15/09
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This is a great tutorial but I'd love to see how you guys do it with
the ribboned version.. I've got a horizontal line out on my Wipeout
DMD and it's driving me nuts.. but unfortunately the horizontal ribbon
is someone trickier to get to :(

Thanks for your help

Kerry Imming

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Oct 15, 2009, 9:15:11 PM10/15/09
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On Oct 15, 6:56 pm, "machine.slave" <brockhemm...@gmail.com> wrote:
> This is a great tutorial but I'd love to see how you guys do it with
> the ribboned version.. I've got a horizontal line out on my Wipeout
> DMD and it's driving me nuts.. but unfortunately the horizontal ribbon
> is someone trickier to get to  :(
>
> Thanks for your help- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

I put together a short description with the picture I took. I'd be
happy to answer any questions you have.

See if this helps -> http://kcimming.charterinternet.com/dmd_repair/DMD_repair.html

- Kerry

kbliznick

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Oct 15, 2009, 9:16:38 PM10/15/09
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I have repaired dozens of displays

On metal pin ones alway use epoxy, solder almost never works. Also
as someone else noted there is no need to grind the glass. Always
error on the side of too little epoxy. It is easier to add more than
it is to remove excess. Also sometimes I like to remove the broken
leads and replace them one at a time with thin leads cut from a small
resistor or diode. This gets the other leads out of the way and makes
it easier to add epoxy to the site of the break on the glass.

On the plastic ribbons you can still use epoxy, but it doesn't always
work. You can try to solder it but must set you iron on low heat as
it will melt the ribbon cables in no time and make the situation worse
(more lines out). I have also tried adding my own jumpers from the
pcb to the glass, but that is messy and generally not the best way to
do this.

My experience is that ALL metal pins are repairable ALL of the time
with silver epoxy. and the plastic ribbons is less than a 50/50
chance of making it better.

Kris

machine.slave

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Oct 15, 2009, 9:50:08 PM10/15/09
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Wow, this is very helpful. Thanks to both Kris and Kerry for the
great advice (and Maverick for starting the thread.. lol)

At the very worst I'll make more dead lines.. but I'm thinking at most
I'll just make that one line unrepairable.. and I suppose I can live
with that. Can't learn without trying, I suppose.. :)

Thanks again

Kerry Imming

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Oct 16, 2009, 9:37:46 AM10/16/09
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On Oct 15, 8:50 pm, "machine.slave" <brockhemm...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Wow, this is very helpful.  Thanks to both Kris and Kerry for the
> great advice (and Maverick for starting the thread.. lol)
>
> At the very worst I'll make more dead lines.. but I'm thinking at most
> I'll just make that one line unrepairable.. and I suppose I can live
> with that.  Can't learn without trying, I suppose..  :)
>
> Thanks again- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

Yes, since the alternative is buying a new display you really have
nothing to lose. On the first one I went from 3 bad columns to about
10 before I gave up and started soldering. The good news is that with
three (or more) adjacent columns to repair there's more room to
work :-)

The patched display has been working for over a month now, so we'll
see how long it holds up.

- Kerry

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