🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <728068245.14740.0@romulus.mercury.andrew.cmu.edu>, Ken Zuroski <kz08+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
> Greetin's:
> 
> I have a Tandy 1400 laptop computer, dual disk drive, backlit LCD screen.
> It's an obsolete beast, maybe 3 or 4 years old, but since I used it mostly
> for word processing it fit my needs perfectly (semi-portable, etc.) 
> Unfortunately the other night my wife spilled water on the LCD display
> and shorted something out; the screen lost several "rows" of LCD's, thus
> making reading your writing kinda difficult, if not impossible.
> 
> Now, I'd rather not buy a new computer right now, but the 1400 seems to
> be discontinued and I'm not sure if I can get it fixed; and, if I could
> get it fixed, I'm not sure I want to pay Radio Shack's fixit prices, since
> basically all they have to do is remove the LCD screen as a unit and plug
> another in (I've had the computer apart already and it's very easy to
> replace. I also made note of the contacts on which several IC's are mounted
> in the exact place where the water was dumped, so I have a good idea what
> shorted out).
> 
> Question: if you were me and wanted to fix this thing, how would you go
> about it cheaply? Should I find someone who knows how to troubleshoot
> the circuitry to find out which IC's are burnt? Should and can I find
> some mailorder place that sells LCD boards that would fit this computer?
> Your suggestions are most welcome.
> 
> Thanks--
> 
> Ken
> 
> ---
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Ken Zuroski
> Department of English
> Carnegie Mellon University
> Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA
> kz08@cmu.edu

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm not familiar with the Tandy 1400, but have had this same problem with other
laptops. Often there is a flat flexible cable connecting the LCD display to the
motherboard; the cable resembles a flat strip of mylar, with the parallel
conductors etched onto the strip.  Typically, this strip just pushes into a
mating connector on the motherboard, sometimes held only by the friction of the
contacts. You might try unplugging the flat strip and wiping the ends off with
a lint-free cloth and reinserting it into the connector.  I doubt that your
problems are caused by an electrical failure of a component; the problem is
more likely an intermittent or bad contact.