pcplantdb

[Sean Maley <semaley@yahoo.com>]

This ribbon cable problem plagued the Sinclair ZX-81
(TS-1000 after Timex marketed them in the US).  I
suspect it was worst with my brittle ZX-81, but you
should be able to salvage it.  It would be ridiculous
for you to send it here to NYC, particularly where my
electronics tools are stuffed into the bowels of a
closet (and we are considered to have ample closet
space relative to most of the city).

In any case, if you want your screen fixed, let me
know some details about how the ribbon cracked,
ripped, or tore and the materials involved, if known. 
With the proper electronics tools, the laptop should
be recoverable.

Brittle ribbon:
The idea is to carefully expose the conductors and
then tape the ribbon on one side for structure (book
binding tape?).  With a structurally sound ribbon
having the exposed conductors close enough along the
break, there are some conductive inks or cold
soldering techniques to reconnect the bus of wires. 
This repair may require you to convert it to a fixed
location.

PVC ribbon:
Get a wiring diagram and test for electrical
specifications if wires have become jumbled.  This
should otherwise be trivial with careful soldering and
ample heat shrink.

Board trace:
I doubt it's this, but let me know if it is.


-Sean.

--- John Schinnerer <john@eco-living.net> wrote:

> Aloha,
> 
> >     Things seem to be slow at moment.
> 
> Yeah...my trusty laptop is out of commission, from
> nothing more than the 
> ribbon cable that connects lcd screen to body
> finally dying internally 
> somehow (it had been getting flaky, finally bit the
> dust, the whole rest 
> of the machine is fine but of course not very
> useful, except maybe as a 
> headless server... :-/).
> 
> I should have a replacement on the way (three cheers
> for eBay listings 
> :-) fairly soon but it will probably be a week to
> ten before I have a 
> working unit at "home" so I may be slower than usual
> if the rest of you 
> start increasing traffic.
> 
> cheers,
> John S.
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> John Schinnerer - MA, Whole Systems Design
> ------------------------------------------
> - Eco-Living -
> Whole Systems Design Services
> People - Place - Learning - Integration
> john@eco-living.net
> http://eco-living.net
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