PB 100: Another victim of vinegar syndrome?

[techstep]

My PB100 seems to have suffered some major screen damage over the past few years. When I got the pb in 2019, it was completely fine. Then last year I noticed a small discolored spot. And this year it has basically taken over most of the screen. I assume it's the typical vinegar syndrome and the display is shot. It's a shame, as both the display and the logic board were previously recapped.

Any hope in fixing/restoring this? I'm also curious how it started happening from a seemingly perfect screen and how the pace of degradation appears to have pretty rapidly hastened in just over a year. Are there recommended storage practices for these old laptops to lower the probability of this from happening, or will all inevitably be affected over time?

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Ugh, yes, it is. It really sucks, because you can't get the right film to repair those. TFT Color displays can be fixed but passive matrix can't. You can sort of fix them, and they will work with the film you CAN get, but they won't look quite right.
The only storage practices I know of are to avoid heat and humidity, and avoid storing screens around other screens that have vinegar syndrome (that's to say, don't store your 100 next to other laptops). I hear leaving them open can possibly help but that's neither proven or practical.

 

[MacUp72]

I'll 'highjack' this thread for just a moment..
I could get a Duo 230 but the screen looks bad, vinegar syndrome? ..is it fixable when I try to peel off the polarizer film and replace it?

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Nope. Same deal, you can do it but it won’t look quite right without the STN film that isn’t made anymore.

 

[mitchW]

I have 4 laptops of similar vintage, all developed vinegar syndrome. All of them have passive matrix of course, so that means they are just for parts now if there is no source of STN film.

Too bad, as I modded them with CF-IDE adapters, rebuilt 2 batteries with fresh NiMH cells, recapped some...

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806171221164.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

There is now a source for FSTN film.
This will definitely work on a passive matrix grayscale LCD, and I’m told it should also work on passive color panels.

 

[mitchW]

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806171221164.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

There is now a source for FSTN film.
This will definitely work on a passive matrix grayscale LCD, and I’m told it should also work on passive color panels.

Thanks, but it is awfully expensive. Almost $70 (incl. shipping) for just one small sheet of film... and I might need two of them in the end which doubles the price

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Well it’s the only source for this film. There wasn’t even this one a few months ago, so I’m just glad it’s available at all. If you can find a cheaper source, please let me know.

 

[mitchW]

Thanks, you are welcome
I wouldn't risk it as I don't know if it will work, nor if it needs to be oriented in a specific way (like 90 or 45 degrees off axis).
Also I found some NOS LCD panels for about $100 few months ago (don't know if they still have it), so I'd rather take full panel instead of trying to fix this one

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Even with an NOS panel you’d have to recap it, just to warn you. That and it will be just as likely to develop vinegar syndrome as a used one - may be more worth it to get the film, but it’s a very difficult repair so I get not wanting to deal with it.

 

[mitchW]

I know, I recapped mine years ago, when I started collecting these PBs. But reccaping is easy compared to polarizer replacement...
If NOS one was stored in original packaging, and never used, then it will be most likely still fine for few more years.
Also I found that NOS units usually don't suffer nearly as much from leaky caps. There will be probably some leakage, but much less than on a normally used unit that was put in storage. Of course you need to reccap it anyways.
Btw, I restored a PB Duo 270c some time ago that was used just for few months, then put in storage (in original box). So almost a NOS specimen. There was no leakage on any of the capacitors on logic board, and only when I desoldered them, a bit of fishy smell came through. Also the original battery had no leakage whatsoever and still held few minutes of charge