So I've been reinstalling the OS on the PowerBook, which has given me much more usable time with the screen and with a lighter background, it's actually not too bad.
However, what I have starting noticing is that the contrast can start pulsing/changing. Like it will for a split second fade to...
Oh, if I *could* I would. Part of the reason I enjoy this hobby is to improve my electronics knowledge. But I think it would go beyond simple capacitor replacements to get these screens working better.
One of these 160s is a little beaten up, but the other one is immaculate and has a 120MB hard...
Thank you so much for this. I genuinely did not notice that he was running that video in monochrome. Mine is at least that good in monochrome.
I did a bit more hunting for other PowerBook 160 videos and found at least 2 that looked just as bad as mine - which corroborates with those articles...
I just tested these 3.3s for ESR and its 3.5 ohms and 5ohms for the 4.7s. That seems very high compared to the 100uf which only has 0.5ohms.
I pulled out my selection of 603 SMDs and found some 475s - they measured in at 3.5uf (!) but sub 0.1ohms. It will be tricky soldering, but should at...
Yes, that's true - although from memory I had used 4.7s, not 3.3s on the 145 and put the difference down to that. I might not have some 3.3s in ceramic, but considering the DC bias, I could potentially throw some other values in there and see how they do. I'll measure the voltage over those 3.3s...
I'd soldered those before - I can do it again. Although last time I used ceramics I was lectured about the noise issues they can generate and the DC Bias issue (https://www.murata.com/en-eu/support/faqs/capacitor/ceramiccapacitor/char/0005), which is why I went electrolyte this time.
The...
Yeah I would describe my contrast change as quite sudden - I have to be very careful moving my fingers and the top 50% of it is pretty useless as it's off the chart bleached out.
I guess the most obvious thing is the choice of caps. @Mac84 used Tantalums on his video, I've used electrolytic...
I had a backlight, but no image. Adjusting either slider didn't seem to make a difference other than shutting the backlight off completely. I would say that's likely the "minimum" contrast setting, but even with that I would expect to see an image if I shine a torch against it, which I didn't...
(I will add here that I believe the original "bleaching" issue was because I used the wrong size capacitor to replace the 22uf, so don't let that confuse matters.)
I have two displays and two units and the combinations don't seem to make a difference.
The sliders are functioning, and as I say...
Very clean? No. Clean enough? I think so.
I've just switched the invertor board with the one from the 145 - no difference at all.
I gave it a thorough clean up, and even removed a component that looked like it might have some gunk underneath it and put it back, no difference.
Looking up the...
So on C3, it turned out to just be a blob of solder that shouldn't have been there but wasn't affecting anything.
I touched up all the caps and then did a continuity test on the pads to make sure they were connected properly. I also measured a sample of my cap using my ESR meter and they were...
Hard to get good angles - not sure what specifically you are looking for. It does look like maybe of the legs isn't happy on C3 - but I find it hard to believe I'd have made exactly the same mistake on both screens.
If I end up opening it up again - more than happy to. I'm not arrogant enough to assume I didn't mess something up. I did exactly the same as I did when I recappped the 145 (which seems fine). Removed the old ones, clean it up with IPA, then solder in new ones using some flux/solder paste. They...
That's exactly my thought. The question is - what? I'm not really sure what to try next and they aren't exactly the easiest things to work on as you have to keep reassembling etc.
I now have two PB160s presenting in exactly the same way.
I found this footage of another 160 and it looks 1000x better.
I've added a couple more pictures to emphasise.
What's interesting is if I switch it to 2 or 4 colours in the control panel, it looks great!
I also feel like I'm seeing some overall shimmering on the display which does suggest to...
https://mac84.net/web/macintosh-powerbook-160-lcd-display-recapping-guide/
When I look at "after" pictures here, it feels like that is considerably better than what I have.
I have a second PB160, so I just re-capped that screen (same issue - nothing coming up) and the result is almost...
I've now replaced the caps. I'm still getting the same effect - but it seems to go away once I get into the OS. I know from what I've read there is a software aspect to the brightness/contrast controls as well - so something is clearly sorting itself out. It's possible the re-cap did nothing...