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Saab SID display

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone here has attempted (and hopefully had success with) repairing their own Saab SID display.

These System Information Displays are renowned for having segments of the display go dead. The problem is caused by faulty connections between a ribbon conductor that connects pads at one edge of the main board to the (separate) display unit. My understanding is that Saab chose to attach (and connect) the ribbon conductor to the main board pads using some sort of conductive adhesive. Over time, the connections become intermittent and you start losing rows and/or columns of the segment display.

There are a myriad of fixes for this on the Internet along with replacement SIDs for sale on places like eBay. Most of the fixes involve applying additional pressure to the adhered connections to try to reestablish continuity. I've tried these but those that give some improvement don't last.

So I am wondering if anyone has tried to repair one of these themselves and what success you've had. I was thinking of trying to replace the existing ribbon cable with either something thicker or something wire-based so that I could perhaps solder the connections to the board using a low temp solder.

Any info/insight/experiences are appreciated...

Reply to
Mr. Land
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Can you rob zebra strip from some suitable sort of scrap equipment and then add pressure somehow?. How removable is the original stuff?

-- General electronic repairs, most things repaired, other than TVs and PCs

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Diverse Devices, Southampton, England

Reply to
N_Cook

IME I would have to say this is a major design fault that has no solution, other than the adding pressure bodges you have already seen, that merely address the symptoms, not effecting a cure. I very quickly gave up attempting to repair similar ribbon connectors found in synthesisers/keyboards etc.

Hard wiring 200 or so connections each end at this density is really beyond the realms of sensibility, even if it could be done with some degree of reliability.

Your suggestion of low temp solder is probably the best you could hope for, given the ribbon connector is plastic.

There is a product call Chipquick

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which is an alloy that melts at 58 degrees C. It might be possible, using the right fluxes and techniques, to solder the plastic ribbon connector to the PCB, but I suspect you might have to spend a good few months and use up quite a few Saab displays before you get this to work properly.

Gareth.

Reply to
gareth magennis

On Thu, 22 May 2008 11:58:24 -0700 (PDT), "Mr. Land" put finger to keyboard and composed:

3M makes some products that bond flex cable to coated glass and PCBs. These include "Z-Axis Adhesive Film 7303", "Film 5460R", "Film 5552R", "Scotch 9703 conductive tape".

Here are some old posts on the subject:

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- Franc Zabkar

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Reply to
Franc Zabkar

Post your question in the Saab group. It's come up many a time.

Graham

Reply to
Eeyore

Thank you all for your input - all quite helpful.

I will look in Saab group as suggested, maybe post question there. Sorry if this was OT, but I figured it was an electronic problem, so...

Reply to
Mr. Land

I don't know the layout, ribbon density, etc, but ribbon cable is pretty standardized. I don't see why you could'nt solder a ribbon header to the boards, and just trim the ribbon and lock it in. JR

Mr. Land wrote:

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Reply to
JR North

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Reply to
gareth magennis

JR, I'm not familiar with ribbon cable/headers but it looks like it's time to study up. Thank you for your reply.

Reply to
Mr. Land

Seen (and tried) this one, but thanks very much for posting it.

Reply to
Mr. Land

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