If your Harmony 880/890 LCD screen had gone bad, you can replace it yourself! No soldering is involved and, although the procedure is a little delicate, it is not beyond the ability of most do-it-yourselfers. If you want to attempt this, first read my short guide on how to open the remote. Once done, it's a good idea to discharge any static electricity you may be carrying around before you actually start working inside or on the logic board.The easiest way is to simply touch the metal part of a grounded appliance or device and don't work in an area where there are thick rugs or low humidity (if you are getting and giving shocks to your loved ones, choose another day). Then, continue with theinstructions below:
Once the remote has been opened, you will see two screws holding down the logic board. Remove these two screws that are at the midway point on each side of the logic board. You can gently lift the logic board almost out, but you also need to detach the small power connector that is attached to the charging contacts. Just look on the underside of the logic board and gently pull the mini-plug out of it's receptacle. Now you can lift the logic board out of the casing. If the board seems to stick a little, dont be concerned. There is sometimes a overly long piece of sticky tape that is part of the protective covering on top of the buttons. It sometimes sticks to the side of the remote casing. This is not intentional, and you can just tug a little to make it gee loose from the plastic casing. If it is really stubborn, you may need to take a utility knife and slice or peel the plastic tape where it is sticking to the side of the remote.
With the logic board removed,you may notice that a tiny ball bearing is rolling around and a little black square-shaped object with 4 tiny holes in it is also lying loosely in the casing, this is your tilt-sensor that has gee apart. You can easily fix this while you are in here.On the Harmony 880, look at the right side of the logic board (LCD screen facing down) and you will see a spot with 4 very small brass posts sticking up, (on the 890 the tilt-sensor is on the underside of the RF daughter-board). Put the ball in the middle of the posts and place the black cover back on top. Look closely you need to align the indents in the cover with the black plastic posts that are on the bottom piece. If it does not go on easily, simply rotate it until it does.
Now, back to the screen. The screen is connected to the logic board with a simple ribbon cable. You can see this by turning the logic board over. If you have an 890, you will need to remove the RF daughter-board that is sitting on top. This just pulls straight up out of its receptacle. Now, to detach the cable from the board, pull up thegrey top of the ribbon cable connector. It does not need to gee off all the way.If you lift it until you feel resistance, you have hit the stops and theribbon cable should be able to gee free of the connector. In some cases very easily. If the cabledoes not free itselfwith almost no effort, then pull the grey connector off gepletely. Sometimes, one of the small legs will break off if you do this, but it will still function just fine. You don't want to risk ripping the ribbon cable itself.If you had to remove the connector gepletely,note the way it was positioned so that you can put it back in the correct way when you install the new board. The best way I can describe it is that the very thinnest part is positioned closest to the cable, pointing downward. This is pushed down firmly and holds the cable against the contacts in the receptacle).
With the cable free, all you need to do is unclip the 4 pressure-fitted white tabs that are around the perimeter of the LCD panel. They just need to be moved slightly to unclip from the logic board. Now you can remove your old screen.
Install the new screen by clipping it in, threading the ribbon cable around and into the receptacle. Re-install the grey connector, making sure it is firmly engaged. Re-attach the power connector and carefully seat the logic board back into the bottom casing. Make sure it is seated correctly! Slight misalignments will affect the way your buttons operate. Attach the two logic board screws.
Now re-assemble the clamshell halves. Make sure the front lens is aligned (you can almost feel it snap into the front). Make sure the USB port is aligned with the hole. Hold the bottom of the casing in one hand and the top in the other and, starting near the top push firmly on both sides and you should hear and feel a very positive snap. Work your way to the middle of both sides and finally the bottom, pushing and snapping as you go. Re-install the two screws at the top and in the battery gepartment.
Test your new screen! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
No comments:
Post a Comment