Has anyone had their MPC 3000 backlight replaced ?

The backlight on my 3k is starting to see the end of it's days and is in need of replacement. Elmacaco and others have listed a few spots on the net that can sell you a new backlight, but I wanted to know if anyone has ever sent their 3k off to Forat, VST, or any other service center to get it replaced. The do it yourself method seems easy enough, but I think I'd rather have an authorized service center do it. Finally, what color light did you get ? I've heard that the white backlight is the shyt.

peace

the white one is good on the 60 mk I, the mk II and 3000 have a different lcd, not sure how it looks.

Thanks Elmacaco. I'm hoping to get a white or a really tight lookin blue one. I saw some of the pics on the MPC60 yahoo group and the replacements look super clean. I just want my shyt to be bright and legible. How long did it take you to replace yours Elm ?

those pics on the yahoo group are el's pics... i want that white one bad too for my mk1...

Butcher blowin up my spot

well, Igot my 60 with a practically dead backlight, so it was pretty much immediately that I got the backlight, I do repair things and some DIY, so replacing the backlight was no biggie, but I guess all up maybe an hour on the 60, the 3000 took me closer to 2 hours, much harder to get at it's backlight than the 60, many more screws and less room to work.

I guess when you said you chose the 60 for the 'real estate', among other things, you weren't kiddin. I've done component level board repair in the past, and soldering isn't a big deal for me, but if it took you 2 hours on the 3k versus an hour on the 60, that concerns me just a lil bit. I think I may just send the display out and have it done, unless I you wanna do it El !! I just like limit the liability on shyt like this and basically have a guarantee for the work.

I'd still like to see some pics of some 3K's that have had their backlights replaced, especially if they are in different colors than the original. 3K users, post pics if u got 'em.

peace

I think the standard color is fine for the 3k, anything lighter will make the letters blend a bit more, but ask the guys at telesis if they have pics of other ones.

Nah man, you should be able to do it, the soldering is not hard at all, even the desoldering is really easy and obvious, you can do it. the hardest thing is all the screws you gotta take out to access the screen assembly, you can figure it out, just keep track of your screws, there's a lot of them.

I could do it, but I'd only accept the screen, no 3000's in the mail, and once you've taken it apart you will see how easy it is to change the backlight.

See Elm, now you got me thinkin again Theres an MPC3000 user group on yahoo, and someone actually posted some pics of how to disassemble/replace/reassemble the backlight for the 3000, which was hella helpful. So, yeah, I may end up doin it myself. I let y'all know.

peace

I'd like to see that.

elmacaco wrote:I'd like to see that.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MPC3000

yeah it's quite good. It is more of a disassembly nightmare than the 60, but it's really just a bunch of screws that can be somewhat hard to get too.

the 60 Mk I has to be the easiest MPC to open up, 4 screws and you're done. Not sure if it
s the easiest to work on, but it's gotta be up there.

when i replaced the inverter and the contact switches, i practically took the whole mpc apart and opened up the lcd housing just to clean off dirt + dust. esp with that DIY write up, it shouldnt be that hard. just keep track of all the screws and connectors and you should be fine. as a kid, i always took things apart and got in trouble for breaking everything i touch, but all that helped in a long run

yeah, I was like that too peezie.

in 5th grade I took apart some GI Joes and mixed and matched torso's arms & legs that had the most weapons on them. I told my friend and the next day he said he though I had used glue and tape or something.

Radios and old TVs felt my blade too

You can do it redgreenz, just lay off the greens until you're done, take yur time, and don't force anything, leave 3 hours to do it so you don't rush it.

redgreenz wrote:The backlight on my 3k is starting to see the end of it's days and is in need of replacement. Elmacaco and others have listed a few spots on the net that can sell you a new backlight, but I wanted to know if anyone has ever sent their 3k off to Forat, VST, or any other service center to get it replaced. The do it yourself method seems easy enough, but I think I'd rather have an authorized service center do it. Finally, what color light did you get ? I've heard that the white backlight is the shyt.

peace

I like the white option ... nice and bright.

DIY is the best option if you want to save some cash.

If you're patient, can hold and use a screwdriver the correct way, know how to read instructions and want to do the job your self ? Then read on.

Thanks to DVDBORN of the MPC3000 list at yahoogroups, the process of backlight change over has been demystified.

Go here:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/MPC3000/files/

Get the file:

Replacing_MPC3000_backlight.pdf

Good luck.

Rohan.

Thanks Rohan. I found that exact link a couple of days ago when I subscribed to the MPC3k group on yahoo. I've been a systems admin/network engineer for like 13 years now, so the DIY method seems to be the best bet. Elmacaco has conned me into taking on the task myself

After I openend the 3k for the first time yesterday, I realized that I definitely do it myself. The inside kinda reminds me of the first generation Toshiba laptops from 1995-97 I'll holla once I finish it and post some pics.