Lego Mindstorms Nxt Brick With Blank Lcd Screen Repair Guide

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

7

Time Required

                          20 minutes            

Sections

1

• repair LCD screen ribbon cable
• 7 steps

Flags

2

In Progress

This guide is a work in progress. Reload periodically to see the latest changes!

Member-Contributed Guide

An awesome member of our community made this guide. It is not managed by iFixit staff.

• BackLego Mindstorms NXT brick

• Full Screen

• Options

• History

• Save to Favorites

• Download PDF

• Edit

• Translate

• Get Shareable Link

• Embed This Guide

• Notify Me of Changes

• Stop Notifications

What you need

Step 1

              Diagnose LCD screen problem.               

• This guide is for NXT bricks that have blank or flickering or dim LCD screens or dead areas.
• Your brick should power up as normal - making the opening ‘chime’ and the usual button-press noises, but have issues with the screen - if you are getting nothing at all (check the batteries!) or a very quiet steady clicking noise it is probably a firmware problem so try and update or fix that first.

This guide is for NXT bricks that have blank or flickering or dim LCD screens or dead areas.

Your brick should power up as normal - making the opening ‘chime’ and the usual button-press noises, but have issues with the screen - if you are getting nothing at all (check the batteries!) or a very quiet steady clicking noise it is probably a firmware problem so try and update or fix that first.

1024

Step 2

              Open the case               

• Undo four small cross heads under the batteries and remove the pale grey front cover.
• Undo two small cross heads either side of the screen.

Undo four small cross heads under the batteries and remove the pale grey front cover.

Undo two small cross heads either side of the screen.

Step 3

              Free the speaker and its cable.               

• Very gently pry the speaker away from the white plastic case. It is held with a sticky foam pad.
• Move the speaker and its wires aside and cut a small channel in the plastic to allow the cables to pass through. TAKE CARE NOT TO CUT THE CABLES.

Very gently pry the speaker away from the white plastic case. It is held with a sticky foam pad.

Move the speaker and its wires aside and cut a small channel in the plastic to allow the cables to pass through. TAKE CARE NOT TO CUT THE CABLES.

Step 4

              Remove the screen and pcb from the brick.               

• Unplug the 10 pin connector and lift out the screen/pcb assembly.
• lift the pcb from the bottom and slide it out and away so the ribbon cable is opened out and fully visible.

Unplug the 10 pin connector and lift out the screen/pcb assembly.

lift the pcb from the bottom and slide it out and away so the ribbon cable is opened out and fully visible.

Step 5

              Heat and then apply pressure to ribbon cable connection.               

• I protected the LCD screen itself with a silicon baking mould (not sure if that was necessary!) Heat the part of the ribbon cable that attaches to the pcb. I gave it 10 secs with a small heat gun.
• Apply pressure to the area - You want to avoid puncturing the shiny protective cover-tape but to compress and hopefully re-connect the tiny terminals underneath. There are about ten of them, so i used the sharp end of a spudger and rubbed back and forth parallel to the ribbon

I protected the LCD screen itself with a silicon baking mould (not sure if that was necessary!) Heat the part of the ribbon cable that attaches to the pcb. I gave it 10 secs with a small heat gun.

Apply pressure to the area - You want to avoid puncturing the shiny protective cover-tape but to compress and hopefully re-connect the tiny terminals underneath. There are about ten of them, so i used the sharp end of a spudger and rubbed back and forth parallel to the ribbon

Step 6

              Partially reassemble to test.               

• Re-fold the ribbon cable under the screen and replace the PCB just enough to be able to re-insert the 10 pin connector. put some batteries in and test the screen.
• Repeat step 5 if necessary with more heat or pressure.

Re-fold the ribbon cable under the screen and replace the PCB just enough to be able to re-insert the 10 pin connector. put some batteries in and test the screen.

Repeat step 5 if necessary with more heat or pressure.

Step 7

              Reassemble               

• Remember to thread the speaker cable back through the channel you cut and carefully re-stick it to the white plastic housing. Be careful not to put pressure on the face of the speaker - delicate)

Remember to thread the speaker cable back through the channel you cut and carefully re-stick it to the white plastic housing. Be careful not to put pressure on the face of the speaker - delicate)

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Cancel: I did not complete this guide.

                                                                                      2 other people completed this guide.                                             

Author

                                      with 1 other contributor 

                    anna ferguson                     

Member since: 02/08/2021

433 Reputation

                                      2 Guides authored                  



                       Badges:
                       6







                                                        +3 more badges                           

Benoit Jones - May 3, 2021

Reply

Awesome! This works really well!

measterby - Jul 4, 2022

Reply

Awesome it worked !!!!