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Canon Vixia HF R400 camcorder - black screen LCD

This camera has one of those rotating displays so you can see it from the front of the camera. The display was working fine, then just died. No light at all. I tried the flashlight test to see if it was just the backlight, but there's nothing visible. However, the camera seems to boot up, and if I connect an HDMI cable, I get video. So apparently the camera is still working ok except for the LCD display.

I found a couple disassembly videos on Youtube, and thought I would take it apart to see if perhaps a ribbon cable has come loose, or if the switch that tells the camera that the display door is open isn't working. But before undertaking that, I wanted to see if anyone here has a suggestion for a simpler solution. I guess the problem could also be in the pivot connections, but if that's the case there's nothing I could fix there.

Reply to
Fred
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You have identified the two most common failures for these units. The ribbon cable is the more likely. Being a Canon, you are not likely to find a replacement cable.

Dan

Reply to
abrsvc

Thanks. Yesh, I'm hoping it's just that the ribbon cable has come loose. Well, it's an old camera, so I may need to get a new one. But I think it's worth the effort to try to fix it. I don't think it would make sense to send it to Canon for repair, but I'll check with them if I have no luck.

Reply to
Fred

I was able to disassemble the camera, reseat the ribbon cable, confirm that the switch is working, and reassemble everything. But nothing has changed, The LCD is still dead. So it may be some problem on the main board. I would have no way to fix that, even assuming I could identify the exact problem. So I'll probably look for a used replacement for the camcorder.

Reply to
Fred

Look at the ribbon cable carefully with magnification. The problems with these is not that the cable gets loose but that there are small cracks in the cable itself. It is possible that there is a problem with the board as well. Look for small SMD caps that may have leaked in the area. These too can cause problems of various types in cameras of that age.

Dan

Reply to
abrsvc

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