Re: [M100] New zebra strips for M100 display — any interest?

[Jeffrey Birt]

That is quite the initiative. I’m not sure how many LCD problems are related to 
zebra strips. Of the ones I have had with problem with or helped diagnose

 

a.  Corroded contact pad and bad LCD glass, one row was bad, you can turn 
glass 180 to verify.
b.  Bad driver chip

 

Not a big sample size. No doubt some others are zebra strip related. I have 
only heard a few rumblings about zebra strips on the various forums and such 
too. If I were to try swapping an M100 LCD glass into a T102 for example I 
might go ahead and install new zebra strips to be safe, so I don’t have to pull 
it back apart multiple times to mess with the original one. 

It might take 3-5 years to find enough folks who need to be zebra strips for 
M100s to go through 1,000 which is something to consider when you are tying up 
your money upfront to purchase them. I have commissioned a few reproduction 
parts for old computers now and just want to pass along what I have learned.   

 

Jeff Birt

 

From: M100  On Behalf Of Jamie Nichol
Sent: Tuesday, July 6, 2021 6:34 PM
To: m...@bitchin100.com
Subject: [M100] New zebra strips for M100 display — any interest?

 

Hey All,

I do consumer product R as my day job.  I’ve admired the M100 as a brilliant 
product for the past decade or so, and just picked up a really sad example that 
I’m trying to resuscitate.

A couple of weeks ago I had a some fine-pitch prototype zebra strips made up to 
fit the M100 LCD (see pic).  The first prototypes are about 0.3mm too tall.  
I’ll likely have another set of prototypes run with an adjusted height.

I have two questions:

Is there enough interest here on the list to justify an order of 1000 pieces or 
so?  (Likely price is a few dollars each strip — more to come on price.)

Do any of you have dead LCDs that you would be wiling to sacrifice to the 
testing gods?  I would like to see ten or so LCDs improved by an upgrade to the 
new strips before placing a bigger order.

—Jamie

 

 

Re: [M100] New zebra strips for M100 display— any interest?

[Scott McDonnell]

On one the M100s I repaired earlier this year, it was not so much the zebra 
strips, but that they seemed to have shrunk. I had to apply thick tape inside 
of the metal LCD frame  to increase the pressure on the strip. I think new 
zebra strips of the correct height would save quite a few M100s. I am 
interested in buying 4 of them.

I do not think it will help with missing horizontal lines. I am pretty sure 
that would be broken traces or lifted pins on an IC. I only have experience 
with the one that I repaired, so take that with a grain of salt.

Scott M.

From: Jamie Nichol
Sent: Tuesday, July 6, 2021 8:50 PM
To: m...@bitchin100.com; m...@bitchin100.com
Subject: Re: [M100] New zebra strips for M100 display— any interest?

Steve,

Thanks for sharing your experience.  Depends on the display, I guess?

New zebra strips were the answer for the display I have on hand — worked better 
than adding tape between the glass and bezel.

—Jamie
On Jul 6, 2021, 8:25 PM -0400, Stephen Adolph , wrote:

Jamie, 

Are the zebra strips a problem?  I guess you are saying that for at least some 
LCDs with missing lines, a new zebra strip would help?
For me it has usually been a pcb problem.

Steve





On Tuesday, July 6, 2021, Jamie Nichol  wrote:
Hey All,

I do consumer product R as my day job.  I’ve admired the M100 as a brilliant 
product for the past decade or so, and just picked up a really sad example that 
I’m trying to resuscitate.

A couple of weeks ago I had a some fine-pitch prototype zebra strips made up to 
fit the M100 LCD (see pic).  The first prototypes are about 0.3mm too tall.  
I’ll likely have another set of prototypes run with an adjusted height.

I have two questions:

Is there enough interest here on the list to justify an order of 1000 pieces or 
so?  (Likely price is a few dollars each strip — more to come on price.)

Do any of you have dead LCDs that you would be wiling to sacrifice to the 
testing gods?  I would like to see ten or so LCDs improved by an upgrade to the 
new strips before placing a bigger order.

—Jamie

Re: [M100] New zebra strips for M100 display — any interest?

[Jamie Nichol]

Steve,

Thanks for sharing your experience.  Depends on the display, I guess?

New zebra strips were the answer for the display I have on hand — worked better 
than adding tape between the glass and bezel.

—Jamie
On Jul 6, 2021, 8:25 PM -0400, Stephen Adolph , wrote:
> Jamie,
>
> Are the zebra strips a problem?  I guess you are saying that for at least 
> some LCDs with missing lines, a new zebra strip would help?
> For me it has usually been a pcb problem.
>
> Steve
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tuesday, July 6, 2021, Jamie Nichol  wrote:
> > Hey All,
> >
> > I do consumer product R as my day job.  I’ve admired the M100 as a 
> > brilliant product for the past decade or so, and just picked up a really 
> > sad example that I’m trying to resuscitate.
> >
> > A couple of weeks ago I had a some fine-pitch prototype zebra strips made 
> > up to fit the M100 LCD (see pic).  The first prototypes are about 0.3mm too 
> > tall.  I’ll likely have another set of prototypes run with an adjusted 
> > height.
> >
> > I have two questions:
> >
> > Is there enough interest here on the list to justify an order of 1000 
> > pieces or so?  (Likely price is a few dollars each strip — more to come on 
> > price.)
> >
> > Do any of you have dead LCDs that you would be wiling to sacrifice to the 
> > testing gods?  I would like to see ten or so LCDs improved by an upgrade to 
> > the new strips before placing a bigger order.
> >
> > —Jamie
> >
> >

Re: [M100] New zebra strips for M100 display — any interest?

[Stephen Adolph]

Jamie,

Are the zebra strips a problem?  I guess you are saying that for at least
some LCDs with missing lines, a new zebra strip would help?
For me it has usually been a pcb problem.

Steve





On Tuesday, July 6, 2021, Jamie Nichol  wrote:

> Hey All,
>
> I do consumer product R as my day job.  I’ve admired the M100 as a
> brilliant product for the past decade or so, and just picked up a really
> sad example that I’m trying to resuscitate.
>
> A couple of weeks ago I had a some fine-pitch prototype zebra strips made
> up to fit the M100 LCD (see pic).  The first prototypes are about 0.3mm too
> tall.  I’ll likely have another set of prototypes run with an adjusted
> height.
>
> I have two questions:
>
> Is there enough interest here on the list to justify an order of 1000
> pieces or so?  (Likely price is a few dollars each strip — more to come on
> price.)
>
> Do any of you have dead LCDs that you would be wiling to sacrifice to the
> testing gods?  I would like to see ten or so LCDs improved by an upgrade to
> the new strips before placing a bigger order.
>
> —Jamie
>
>
>

Re: [M100] New zebra strips for M100 display — any interest?

[Daryl Tester]

Oooo yeah (to the first question) .

On 7/7/21 9:03 am, Jamie Nichol wrote:

Hey All,

I do consumer product R as my day job.  I’ve admired the M100 as a brilliant 
product for the past decade or so, and just picked up a really sad example that I’m 
trying to resuscitate.

A couple of weeks ago I had a some fine-pitch prototype zebra strips made up to 
fit the M100 LCD (see pic).  The first prototypes are about 0.3mm too tall.  
I’ll likely have another set of prototypes run with an adjusted height.

I have two questions:

Is there enough interest here on the list to justify an order of 1000 pieces or 
so?  (Likely price is a few dollars each strip — more to come on price.)

Do any of you have dead LCDs that you would be wiling to sacrifice to the 
testing gods?  I would like to see ten or so LCDs improved by an upgrade to the 
new strips before placing a bigger order.

—Jamie

Re: [M100] M100 / 102 Wanted

[Jeffrey Birt]

Bum LCDs are often the most difficult thing to fix. If the problem is a
corroded connection to the LCD glass there is a 50/50 chance of fixing it
and getting the glass lined back up properly. I have also seen a missing
horizontal line be due to a bad LCD glass. The driver ICs can also fail and
they have to be scrounged from other LCDs are they are an odd/smaller
package that seems to be unique to the M100/T102.

 

Jeff Birt

 

From: M100  On Behalf Of
lloydel...@comcast.net
Sent: Tuesday, July 6, 2021 3:47 PM
To: m...@bitchin100.com
Subject: Re: [M100] M100 / 102 Wanted

 

I wish I had known about this group prior to forking over $200 to eBay for a
M100 in "mint" condition.

 

The seller's definition of "mint" differed a bit from mine in that a
horizontal row of pixels is out and there is a column of pixels that is out
for the top 1/3 of the column.

 

Do you fix these and if so, how much would it cost?   The Y2K updated ROM
sounds useful as well.

 

Lloyd

 

Re: [M100] M100 / 102 Wanted

[Scott McDonnell]

Lloyd,

I have successfully fixed vertical line issues with a Model 100, but I am not 
sure about a horizontal line. That could be a solder fracture on one of the 
controller ICs. For the vertical lines, my issue was a dirty zebra connector 
and not enough pressure on the metal LCD frame. I took the LCD apart and 
cleaned the zebra connector and then applied some thick tape to the inside of 
the metal frame and squished the entire assembly back together. It has been 
working well for several months now. It was a bit nerve racking because it will 
likely be worse when you first put it back together and you have to keep 
adjusting it until it is right. Then twist all the metal tabs careful not to 
damage any traces.

Thankfully, I paid less than $80 for both of mine, but I expected to have to 
deal with some issues no matter what an eBay seller says. 

Scott
--

Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2021 15:47:26 -0500
From: 
To: 
Subject: Re: [M100] M100 / 102 Wanted
Message-ID: <003a01d772a8$217bc270$64734750$@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I wish I had known about this group prior to forking over $200 to eBay for a
M100 in "mint" condition.

 

The seller's definition of "mint" differed a bit from mine in that a
horizontal row of pixels is out and there is a column of pixels that is out
for the top 1/3 of the column.

 

Do you fix these and if so, how much would it cost?   The Y2K updated ROM
sounds useful as well.

 

Lloyd

Re: [M100] M100 / 102 Wanted

[lloydelmer]

I wish I had known about this group prior to forking over $200 to eBay for a
M100 in "mint" condition.

 

The seller's definition of "mint" differed a bit from mine in that a
horizontal row of pixels is out and there is a column of pixels that is out
for the top 1/3 of the column.

 

Do you fix these and if so, how much would it cost?   The Y2K updated ROM
sounds useful as well.

 

Lloyd

 

From: M100  On Behalf Of Robert J.
Hutchins
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2021 11:45 AM
To: m...@bitchin100.com
Subject: Re: [M100] M100 / 102 Wanted

 

Bill, 

 

I have clean Model 100, that has a Y2K updated ROM,

with a new memory battery installed.

It also will come with an original manual.

The price is $150 plus shipping.

 

Thank you

Robert

 

From: M100 [mailto:m100-boun...@lists.bitchin100.com] On Behalf Of
bill.mira...@gmail.com  
Sent: Monday, July 05, 2021 6:20 PM
To: m...@bitchin100.com  
Subject: Re: [M100] M100 / 102 Wanted

 

Thanks Robert. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

From: M100 mailto:m100-boun...@lists.bitchin100.com> > On Behalf Of Robert J. Hutchins
Sent: Monday, July 5, 2021 7:49 PM
To: m...@bitchin100.com  
Subject: Re: [M100] M100 / 102 Wanted

 

Bill,

 

I have a few. One M102 some M100s and an NEC 8201.

Let me check them and see how they are.

 

Robert

 

Re: [M100] M100 / 102 Wanted

[Robert J. Hutchins]

Bill, 

 

I have clean Model 100, that has a Y2K updated ROM,

with a new memory battery installed.

It also will come with an original manual.

The price is $150 plus shipping.

 

Thank you

Robert

 

From: M100 [mailto:m100-boun...@lists.bitchin100.com] On Behalf Of
bill.mira...@gmail.com
Sent: Monday, July 05, 2021 6:20 PM
To: m...@bitchin100.com
Subject: Re: [M100] M100 / 102 Wanted

 

Thanks Robert. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

From: M100 mailto:m100-boun...@lists.bitchin100.com> > On Behalf Of Robert J. Hutchins
Sent: Monday, July 5, 2021 7:49 PM
To: m...@bitchin100.com  
Subject: Re: [M100] M100 / 102 Wanted

 

Bill,

 

I have a few. One M102 some M100s and an NEC 8201.

Let me check them and see how they are.

 

Robert