Maker Pro
Maker Pro

Temperature probe - LCD display missing segments

Martfoxy

Apr 25, 2013
62
Joined
Apr 25, 2013
Messages
62
Yes I was waiting for Edds special cleaning method.
I have another working probe and tried the LCD plus Zebra strip from that in this one and works fine.
 

Technomaniac

Oct 31, 2020
100
Joined
Oct 31, 2020
Messages
100
You might try cleaning the contact points with pure alcohol. Also as a variation on slipping tubing over the pillars, a suitably sized coil spring. (If metal can't s/c anything in the vicinity. (A spring can adjust slightly to fit the pillar size) . Watch using rubbery cement, it can stretch. Possibly Loctite 406 but watch your fingers don't become permanently attached.
 

Martfoxy

Apr 25, 2013
62
Joined
Apr 25, 2013
Messages
62
I haven't got any pure alcohol to clean the glass maybe I should order some.
Tried cleaning the copper contacts on the board with a pencil eraser but it hasn't fixed the fault.
I have used Bondic to repair the pillar - its not ultra strong but will hold.
 

Technomaniac

Oct 31, 2020
100
Joined
Oct 31, 2020
Messages
100
You may have left rubber fragments behind. Metholated Spirits or CO cleaner- something that doesn't remain and will remove any oils or other foreign matter. I have fixed hundreds of IR remote controls, which use a silicon rubber membrane with all of the buttons moulded into it, and one of the things that happens with them is that a film of oil appears across the surface of the contacts and prevents their touching. I normally wash it all in Palmolive dishwashing liquid (diluted muchly with water) and then rinse with clean water, dry in the sun. If that rubber strip is reversible, you could try end-for-ending it. The dishwashing liquid is safer, if you use anything more potent, don't leave it there for long!
Another thing that happens with the remote controls is: The buttons have a coat of carbon paint. Continual use deposits carbon across the contacts on the PC board where the button touches. If your rubber strip uses carbon for the conductors, you might have that problem. I've fixed several of the missing segment problems but never even considered that possibility.
 

kenny256

Jan 4, 2020
54
Joined
Jan 4, 2020
Messages
54
Were the zebra strips stuck to the glass?

The contacts on the glass can be cleaned to remove the build up with any kind of alcohol on a cotton swab. If you intend to use this device for long time, then why not just go ahead and buy some new zebra stips. Sure you might get it working with the old ones, but for how long will that last? The quick cleaning trick is only to limp along until the proper parts can be ordered and installed. The money you save by doing the repair versus buying new gear is worth investing in the consumable parts, such as foam sponge rubber conductive strips.
 

Martfoxy

Apr 25, 2013
62
Joined
Apr 25, 2013
Messages
62
Yes looking like the best bet would be to get another zebra strip I think it has just failed and no amount of cleaning is going to fix it.
Thanks everyone for all your helpful comments.
 
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