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PowerBook 145B (also for 140, 160, 145) Display Capacitor Replacement Video Tutorial

Ferrix97

Well-known member
Hello!

Finally decided to make a video about the display repair

there are also two capacitors on the inverter board:

33uf 10v

47uf 16v

let me know if it was useful or if you have any questions or suggestions!

http://youtu.be/XP-fWaDbv5s

 

pintodave

Well-known member
It's nice to see these repair videos up on youtube. visual representation of repairs makes things easier, for some of us!

 

Rajel

Well-known member
Necromancy!
Ferrix: Making a capacitor order for my screen. I've got all ceramics in the cart for the screen itself, would you recommend going with ceramics for the Inverter board as well? It definitely needs a recap as I'm experiencing a lot of contrast drift.
Your video is fantastic btw.

 

Ferrix97

Well-known member
The drift in contrast as the machine warms up is normal, I would stay with regular electrolytic con both the inverter (thru hole) and display panel (SMD cans) It looks like they work just a bit better than ceramics

 

zuctronic

Well-known member
The drift in contrast as the machine warms up is normal, I would stay with regular electrolytic con both the inverter (thru hole) and display panel (SMD cans) It looks like they work just a bit better than ceramics
I wonder why SMD electrolytics are working better than ceramics here. Has anybody tried tantalum caps on the display? I might go back and re-do one of mine (I've done five displays now) with SMD cans to see the difference.

 

Rajel

Well-known member
Tantalum has sigificantly higher ESR than the electrolytic or ceramic capacitors. They can add a resistance of 1-2ohm each.
My engineer friend recommended going with ceramics all around on the display and inverter board. I'm going to try that and if the result isn't desirable, then I'll go back to electrolytics for the larger cans.
At the time, SMD ceramics for some of these values were not available at a reasonable price point. They're still more expensive than their electrolytic counterparts, but generally affordable for us who are looking to repair these machines and use possibly even better components than stock.

There's essentially no difference between radial and SMD electrolytics, either. Ferrix runs radial electrolytics for the large cans in the video, and they'll work just as well as the SMD. I replace SMD electrolytics with radial all the time. They can be easier to solder in after forming the leads, especially in tight spaces

 
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perez6991

Well-known member
Very nice and informative video but there's a few issues, you didn't use while soldering was flux. The method you used might create weak solder joints and is just overall more difficult to get solder to "stick" to components and the pads. I highly recommend getting some good quality solder and soldering wick to clean off all of the old solder to flow some fresh stuff on. Other than those smallish issues the video is informative for anyone who wants to attempt to recap their LCDs or Logic Boards.

 

Ferrix97

Well-known member
The solder I used (Multicore 288718) already contains flux, In the past I also used flux, but ended up being messy and unnecessary, You don't want to get flux and other junk near the panel or the ribbons.

I use a solder sucker because if you use the wick you have to be careful to not rip those fragile pads. 

 

Rajel

Well-known member
I used a wick to clean, but then I'm use a good temperature-controlled iron, and am accustomed to cleaning solder pads like this with wick.
Also, every 3.3uF capacitor on my LCD had leaked, and solder sucker isn't enough to clean that properly.
Got it all recapped last night and it's SO much better now. Didn't even do the inverter board caps yet, and already the contrast drift has either stopped completely or is so slow that it's not noticeable over a span of even half an hour.
Thanks again for the info and video on the process!

 

perez6991

Well-known member
The solder I used (Multicore 288718) already contains flux, In the past I also used flux, but ended up being messy and unnecessary, You don't want to get flux and other junk near the panel or the ribbons.

I use a solder sucker because if you use the wick you have to be careful to not rip those fragile pads. 
Usually the flux in the solder isn't enough to allow it to stick, besides it cleans up nicely with alcohol (in my case of recapping a Duo it did anyway). Using wick is fine, if it sticks just hold the iron on the spot to free the wick.

 

Rajel

Well-known member
Most solder contains flux, but in many cases it's not really enough. A flux pen really does make SMD work a *lot* easier.
Just got the rest of my parts for the 160 in, about to have it running off SD with freshly recapped screen, and a custom battery pack!

 
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