Hi Mike No, it was easy to change. just be careful. It took about 30 mins. I was being over careful as the new VFD cost a lot. Leave VFD in box until needed!
I used a fine pair of wire cutters and cut the old VFD out of the board, as close to the glass as possible (15 pins), then gently removed it from the circuit board. Its held on with 2 self adhesive double sided sticky pads (about 1-2mm thick, you will need some new ones of these or a strip cut to size for re assembly). Try prizing a small plastic ruler between the back of the VFD and circuit board, to help lever it off. Do not risk damaging the circuit board. Then heated each pin with soldering iron and removed using tweezers. Clear out the holes in the circuit board with either a solder sucker or solder wick (RS 561-050). Check all holes are clear and clean. Remove any traces of the 2 sticky pads from the circuit board. If they wont shift, dont worry, just put the new pads in a slightly different place. I fitted about 6 pads as I had a strip of them. Tip. Dont have any overhang of the sticky pads below the line of where the new VFD will be fitted as you will see the white pads when you put the Classic back together again through the front plastic screen! Fit the new pads either to the circuit board or VDF, your choice. I fitted to board. Now get the VFD out of the box, handle really carefully as it will be static sensitive and it cost a lot :-) Offer it up to the board and check the pins all go through the holes. You shouldnt have to bend any pins to get it to go in. If happy take back out, then remove other side of sticky pads. Re fit, this time gently putting pressure on front of glass, using a cloth like you would clean sungalsses with maybe? Anything soft, that wont mark the front of the VFD. Now solder the pins, most of them solder quickly. I think a couple of the end ones took longer as there was more copper on the pcb to heat. Basically, try getting the joint soldered as quickly as possible, without getting a dry joint. I dont think the VFD can take long periods of heat on its pins. The glue that bonds them to the glass will get damaged if too hot. Also DO NOT cut the pins shorter. Leave them that long, they will be fine. Power up and check it says Squeezebox like it used too :-) I had no way of knowing for sure if the VFD actually was faulty, but after reading some posts I came to that conclusion, plus mine had taken a fall and hit the skirting board on the way down. So i kinda had a hunch it was the display as its sensitive to shock and the other electronics would not be. Also check if the wifi card has come loose as mentioned on here too. Mine hadnt. Good luck if you try it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ simon taylor's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=58133 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=48360
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