How do you change the backlight display on MPC60II?

Can anyone explain the step by step process in changing the backlight display on the MPC 60II and which color backlight do you recommend for it? Thanks.

Hey Big G! I owed you one for the friendly dealings with the emax!

It's a piece of cake......

First off, you'll need a philips screw driver, soldering iron and solder, wire cutters/strippers and a wooden spoon! Please ground yourself with a wrist strap or by touching the metal chassis before beginning, static electricity will damage this stuff, I've done it! Make sure it's unplugged too......just saying=)

1. Remove the 3 screws form either side, 5 from the back, 4 from under the front lip.

2. Carefully lift the lid (I prefer going through the back, rather than the front) as it's attached to the mobo in several places by wires and ribbon cables. It may help to have someone hold the lid for you or prop it open with a drumstick or wooden spoon.

3. Notice that there is a wire in a clear plastic housing between the lcd backlight and the power supply. Clip the zip tie holding the wire, and be very careful not to damage the ribbon cables it's attached to. This wire is attached to the power supply with a small clip connector, gently detach it. This wire is the power to the backlight and the only place that the backlight is connected

4. The entire lcd mechanism is attached to the screen housing with 4 screws. Only remove the 2 screws that are on the same side as the wire attached to the backlight (right side of screen if unit was closed)

5. The backlight will now slide out from behind the lcd very easily. When it's exposed, you will see the power cable is actually split into 2 wires, + and -.

6. Desolder, or cut the power cable from the old backlight. Cutting is fine because this power cable is waaayyyy too long anyway. Your new backlight will have two contacts attached, solder this puppy right back in the same place.

7. Slide the backlight into place, making sure the backlight power wires are well insulated and don't touch.

Make sure you power it on and test it before you put all the screws back in!

I've tried most colors, but the 60 has a greenish tint and the 60ii has a bluish tint, no matter what you do. This means that I generally only use the color closest to the original or white (which still ends up blue or green)

If you've got any questions homie, let me know.

-Leland

Goodlooking out on this one Leland. I wanted a heads up on this before I venture into replacing the backlight. Once again, Thanks-Gee.

No problem man, I just got a dead mint 60ii and it's been at the studio with me everynight, I've been loving it. I do most my work on the 3000, but this is such a great middle ground between the sp1200 and 3000. I'm re-appreciating it! This is my desert island joint. Good luck with the operation!

Ok, here's the deal. Got my new backlight, installed it and everything looks good. I just would like to know, if you turn off all the lights in the room, are you suppose to be able to see the display, because I don't. But when I have the overhead lights on in the room, the display looks fine and I can read everything. I'm just asking because I never noticed that before(How often do you have the MPC60II on in a dark room). If the screen should be lit, I've been reading in other threads about replacing the inverter. Is that easy to replace or should I send this unit off to get repaired? Thanks.

Does it make a high pitched whine? That's a definite sign that the inverter is going. I can see mine just fine in the dark, nice and bright. Is there light coming out of the backlight at all?

No, there isn't a loud whine coming from the unit. When the lights are off, I cannot see anything on the display.

The whine isn't necessarily loud, my s1000 does it and it's kinda quiet. If there is no light at all (you should see it in the dark) than either the backlight is bad, not installed properly, or there is another problem, like the inverter. Fixing the inverter yourself is a possibilty, I know it's not too complicated, there is info on the web. Diagnosing the problem 100% is the hard part. Since you're in NY service is a more viable option than it is for most people.

monogee wrote:No, there isn't a loud whine coming from the unit. When the lights are off, I cannot see anything on the display.

Is the backlight working though?

Is the problem no light from the backlight, or that you can't see any text ontop of the backlight?

Maybe the contrast?

You can see the text, but no light from the backlight. My contrast works fine.

Is it more dim than the one you replaced? Make double sure you have it in there right, sounds like the backlight isn't functioning. How are your solder joints? Are the right tabs soldered to the right wires?

Useful thread!

I ordered and recieved a backlight from the ebay company that's been doing them in the uk... Got it today

Problem is, the instructions came for an S1000... so I can use the excellent instructions in the thread above, but I don't know if they've also sent me the wrong backlight!

Its a strip of what looks like laminated card, white on one side, pink on the other with the two filament conections in the middle of one side. It's EXACTLY the same size as the light brown surround which goes around the PMC60II LCD (if that makes any sense...it will if you've got one.

Does this sound right?

My soldering skills are ok, but I don't want to open the thing up before I know I've got all the right bits (anti-static foam cleaner and contact cleaner at the ready!).


Cheers

Sounds correct. That's the same way my backlight looked when I received it. Pink on one side, silver on the other.

well it's not silver at all, white actually!?

Well mine is silver(metallic looking). When I installed it, it worked nicely.