I am assuming that this, found copied and pasted to the Apple Forums, is the "Channeler Method." To be honest, it sounds a little dicey, and the writer's flip language and constant 'print smirking' does not inspire. But, if you want to try it.... Me, I'm buying a new screen from Tascam. - GJ
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Ok - first i'd like 2 say Thanks to Tonguetied and Phoneeko whose posts were instrumental to me diagnosing and ultimately repairing my beloved mixer!
Tascam Tascam Tascam - what a love hate thing i have for you grin - you bless us with beautiful products and yet leave us hanging with some awful issues
At any rate lets begin:
THIS IS NOT A REPAIR FOR THE TIMID !!!
If the thought of cracking open your beloved Console to mess with its delicate and fragile inards fills you with nervous ticks please procede right to the Tascam service area and purchase a new drop in screen !!! This repair will require you to have your mixer open and exposed and powered on while servicing so u can see the results of your work - there is NO way around this!
Just as a note - i service all of my studio equipment, build computers, do console modding and such, so i am very comfortable around exposed electronics, AGAIN if this is not you - get out your wallet and go here
http://www.tascam.com - and find the appropriate service rep. smile
Next:
I am not responsible for any of your crap!!! This information is for educational purposes only!!! If u make a paperweight of your console while attempting this mod/repair you are solely responsible and can go here
http://sweetwater.com and they'll be glad to help you find a solution for your sudden mixer needs - grin
Truthfully if you are careful the worse you can do is jack up your screen which is probably jacked already and will just have 2 suck it up and order a new one from Tascam which is what i was facing when i decided to give this a try.
OK:
There are other great posts about how to get to your screen and remove it from the mixer so i wont go into any details about that - just read the posts if u need 2 find them, Do be careful cause i imagine its a pain 2 get those **** buttons back in if they pop out!!!
Like in Phoneeko's repair you will need a rubber material and thin tape in for this repair - I used a rubber insulting material about 3/4mm thick in 2 thin strips, has 2 be sturdy but give a lil.
My method of repair went beyond Phoneeko's as i totally removed the Vertical ribbon from the LCD screen - ****, i totally removed the LCD screen from its attached circuit board! - I did this because my first attempt at Phoneeko's solution did not give me great results - i could only clear some lines by applying pressure. So my decision was to totally remove the ribbon cable and attempt to reset it into position -
3 sides of the LCD screen attach to the circuit board - my references of top/bottom/and side refer to the top horizontal/bottom horizontal/and right side vertical of the LCD assembly if u were looking at it from the normal front position.
The top and bottom contacts connect through a very sturdy rubber material - easy to clean and reset - shame this assembly didnt' use that material for all 3 connects we'd all have been better for it !!! - anyway the Side ribbon is attached directly to the circuit board and LCD with glue, it is this connection that frakks us loving Tascam owners with problems and lines.
The assembly is held together by a metal plate pressure fit by simple bend clamps, remove the metal plate to get to the LCD ribbon - once the plate is removed you can easily see the offending ribbon cable - if u run your finger along the LCD side of the ribbon with power on u will see your 'once thought dead' LCD screen flicker back 2 life! thats the ribbon that needs to be repaired.
Truthfully I was terrified of removing this cable totally from the LCD because there are about a million lines that connect through the ribbon, but if u look closely into the LCD u can see where the ribbon and LCD should line up - i used that as my guide when reseting the cable! and worst off you'd just have your display off a line up or down because i found that it works even if its not set totally center.(i did get mines centered though with a lil patience and effort!)
To remove the Side ribbon u have 2 flip the plate, there is a clear thin plastic screen, peel it back so u can get at the 3 yellow tapes - CAREFULLY peel the yellow tapes back some and CUT them off just below the exposed ribbon connect. (I tried 2 save these yellow tapes but they were more in the way then any help they could have been so i'm saving you some time and aggravation i went through by just tellin u 2 cut um which is what i ended up doin.
Examine the the ribbon - MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AT LEAST 2/3mm OF CONNECTABLE RIBBON UNATTACHED BY GLUE!!!! YOU WILL NEED IT.
Now you can flip the LCD and carefully peel the ribbon from the screen - take your time!!! the glued area of my ribbon was about 2mm with about an additional 3 mm beyond that - i was relying on that 3mm because i figured 2 have a hard time peeling the glued portion of the ribbon cleanly from the LCD and i was right - it quickly became detached and stuck to the LCD, thats why i say 2 examine the exposed ribbon area - i've seen another of these DM-assemblies so i'm assuming this was a common design and they should all have some overlap of exposed non-glued ribbon. but CHECK.
OK - so now we have our LCD completely removed from the LCD circiut board - i used Goo Gone and a soft plastic scraper to remove the stuck ribbon material off the Side of my LCD screen - just use a lil and take your time 2 clean it DO NOT use a blade or metal scraper!!! i'm not sure how the LCD lines connect internally 2 the actual screen, you dont want 2 take any chances scraping or cutting something.
I cleaned the ribbon cable and all connections of the Ribbon cable and LCD circuit board with electronic contact cleaner including the rubber material the top and bottom contacts connect with, note - i did not remove the rubber material from the LCD screen, dont you either -
Now - i used 2 strips of rubber material for my repair - the first strip i placed between the LCD backlight and LCD screen right on the edge at the ribbon side, this strip was cut just short of the length of the backlight plate and about 5mm wide, i placed it on the backlight plate so that about 2mm hung over the side of the backlight plate - this is to provide support and pressure to the LCD screen when your second strip is placed over the ribbon cable and LCD .
Reset your ribbon cable in place NOTE - DO NOT cut off the portion of your ribbon cable that might be missing contact material if it peeled off during removal!!! - this ribbon has a perfect flat edge so all you need 2 do is place it right up against the lip on the LCD ribbon plate and use some tape to hold it in place.
Remember - the tape is just to keep the ribbon from moving NOT to attach it back to the plate - your second strip of rubber material will press the ribbon against the LCD plate and secure the contacts when you put the metal plate back on!
OK with me so FAR?
So the ribbon gets set on its mounting lip and then you place your second strip of rubber material across the ribbon, it was cut a trace longer then the lenth of the ribbon and NO wider then the lip the ribbon sits on - i tried many different ways and that size yielded the best results, remember, the goal is to apply constant pressure across the entire section of ribbon - a nice clamp would have been great, but dont forget you have 2 reapply the plate to make the top/bottom contacts work, so u have to work with the space under the plate - NOTE the end of the plate we are working with isnt attached the greatest to the rest of the plate - be careful not to bow or bend the plate - although you could certainly clamp that back down easily with something if u needed 2 once the assembly is back together - my metal frame did not close nice and flush after my repair - oh well - no biggie long as it fits back in the frame of the Console.
NOW the fun begins - you would think that getting the Side Ribbon back attached and in place would be the hard part - but that wasnt hard at all - once i got the old material off, ribbon cleaned and everything lined up my tape held the ribbon in place perfectly. What i had the hardest time with was getting my top/bottom plate lined up so i could read the **** screen! seems simple enough - but u can only read the screen by applying pressure along all sides of the LCD assembly so that all 3 sides make contact - well to do that u have 2 place the metal plate back on - basically it becomes a serious excercise of trial and error - place, press, check, reset - repeat and so on until u get a good spot - now NOTE - i did this by myself - this is a area where another pair of hands would have been a godsend - because with your constant pressure repairs in place it takes a nice grip to compress the plate, then u have 2 check the screen and be able to flip it and close a few of the clamps on the bottom without anything moving under the plate, trust me - it was a pain - and two and a half hours later i finally got it closed and had a beer - lol.
I found that the best way 2 check screen alignment was 2 place the plate over the LCD and hold it sideways with the ribbon side facing me - then i could compress the plate on just the that end making contact with my Side ribbon and the ends of my top/bottom plates - then i could see enough of the screen 2 know if i was lined up good or not - it'll be very easy 2 tell - if your not lined up right screen looks like some alien language - - like i said - trial and error until u get it right - NOTE - you should only need moderate pressure to get results - if u have 2 use a vice-clamp to hold your assembly together your strips are WAY to big - HA.
After you get everything clamped down assembly is the reverse of removal - again take care of your BUTTONS when putting the PCB back in - i smushed one of mines a lil - no biggie still works perfect but just something 2 look out 4.
This repair was a TOTALLY awesome - i was was able to repair my screen which was HALF gone to 98% total use(i ended up with 2 lines in the end, i'm sure i could have went back an got it 100% but i said frakk it - lol - after having only half my screen for so long i was MORE then happy !!!!
Please feel free if u have any questions lemme know- be more then Happy 2 help if i can.
Richard A. I.
Producer
Channeler Media Group
ChannelerMG@yahoo.com
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