restore an lcd?

New Batteries or look in the instruction book for LCD contrast !

Is it missing segments or faded out?

If there are segments missing, it's probably time to replace the phone. There are some things you could try but they're iffy at best. For instance, you can disassemble the glass from the PCB, clean the contact areas, and reassemble. This only works if the display is built using a silicone "zebra strip" connector between the glass and PCB, and even then only works if dirty contacts are the actual problem. (They usually aren't). If that's not it there's probably a dead driver and most displays are chip-on-board and so not practically repairable.

If the display is losing contrast, there may be a battery someplace that needs to be replaced. Our kitchen phone takes 4 AA's (!) but they last over 5 years; when they start to go the display begins fading. We're on our third set of batteries -- do the math -- so it may be time for us to replace that phone anyway :-)

same issue with Garmin GPS 38

lcd has random horizontal rows of missing segements,no refelction or change

dissassembly yielded soldered flex circuits with no apparent break or corrosion.

it appears the driver chip has actually failed,i am sad, i liked this cheapy unit.

but good news, the data port still works and the unit remains accurate and provides good position data!

My old Nokia cellphone became harder to read.

It turned out that the contacts on the LCD were not making good connections with the circuit. The LCD unit was just physically held in place against the circuit board.

Maybe something similar on your landline?

The LCD (COG character display) on my desk phone quit, so I popped in a new module. It was a heat sealed flat cable, but pinned out to the standard 14-pin parallel interface to the HD44780U compatible chip.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Thanks for the responses. Since the problem -- loss of characters, not simply contrast -- has occurred with both phones in this set, I think I'll go with the replacement option. I'm not averse to opening the phones up and trying to clean the contacts, but since that action has several possible outcomes, most of which are bad, I think discretion will be the better part of valor here.

Thanks again.

Lynn Willis Indianapolis