Powerbook 180c Display issues

Brockley

Member
Got a really a really nice condition Powerbook 180c. The screen seemed to have 2 horizontal rows of pixels out sometimes when I turned it on. Sometimes it was fine though. I recapped the electrolytic caps on the display and sure enough there was a ton of leakage to clean off both sides of the board. I did so and upon booting it up, it seemed the problem was solved, but the next time I switched it on, one of the lines had returned. I guess its possible I could have damaged the ribbons going to the lcd during soldering, however since the lines were there beforehand I'm inclined to believe its a different issue. Opening up the display and tapping/pressing on the ribbon cable where the blank row is doesn't seem to change anything.

I've heard of people running a soldering iron over the ribbon cable to repair the lcd on old Gameboys, though I don't know if anyone else has tried that on a PowerBook. I also read on another thread of someone baking the display at 200 degrees, but the issue he was addressing seemed to be more about ghosting and artifacts rather than an entire row of pixels out. I'd be super grateful if anyone had any tips or things to try to get this display fixed, thanks!


IMG_7017.jpg
 

finkmac

NORTHERN TELECOM
it's most likely lytic fluid still under the driver ribbon connections. try to flush out all the crud.
 

Brockley

Member
it's most likely lytic fluid still under the driver ribbon connections. try to flush out all the crud.
Any tips for flushing it out? Just let ipa soak underneath?

One other thing I noticed - if I leave it off for a while, I'll turn it on and it will have no issue but after maybe 20 seconds the line fades in.
 

finkmac

NORTHERN TELECOM
IPA soak is probably a good idea yeah. maybe a partial ultrasonic soak? I dunno how that would affect the driver cables so don't do that without a fourth opinion
I repeatedly washed the area with IPA on my and massaged the driver flexes while the IPA flowed beneath. just be careful of course.
 

3lectr1cPPC

Well-known member
It's likely going to either be remaining goo, or a bad connection caused by corrosion inside those ribbons. Do you see any black spots inside the ribbons?
Don't ultrasonic the cables. Too high risk, I'd worry it would break the bonds on the zebra strips.
 

Brockley

Member
Good news! Did what finkmac suggested, letting IPA flow beneath the flexible ribbons while massaging them and making sure I saw IPA squeeze out from underneath. Tilted the display so all the IPA flowed one direction and sopped it up with Q-tips until the yellow color of the goo went away. After a good drying, the row of dead pixels is gone.

Double checked and didn't see any black spots inside the ribbons, so hopefully that was the only issue. Thanks everyone!
 
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