Exchange tips and tricks for the Akai MPC4000
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By Kd Sun May 18, 2014 7:02 am
Fam! Much respect. Yuup, I need a new screen. After sifting through quite alot of posts related to this topic and realizing that most are older, I'm wondering if anyone has of recent purchased an LCD screen for their 4K? I'm thinking the 4000LCD from MPCStuff.com? Any other suggestions on vendors, new screen options, general advice or new insights not mentioned in prior posts would be greatly appreciated. peace. --KD
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By tsutek Sun May 25, 2014 10:51 am
Resurrecting this a bit, regarding the LCD replacement process itself:

Do you need to connect the ground wire back to the LCD? It requires soldering to attach/detach, not my strong skills.. IIRC on the 2500 you could just change the screen without reconnecting the ground, saw it mentioned on an MPCstuff vid I think (I know ground is never a bad thing to have but)

I'm just in the middle of replacing my screen.. lot of screws ;)
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By tsutek Mon May 26, 2014 7:44 am
To answer my own question, according to mpcstuff, the ground resoldering is optional on the 4000, just like on the 2500.. Ps why can't I edit my previous post? O'well..
By Clint Tue May 27, 2014 2:51 am
tsutek wrote:why can't I edit my previous post?


Can you imagine what would happen if people could easily edit their own posts?

If there is a good reason, just ask a mod to do it for you.

We don't do 'retractions' lol, so stand by your words...
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By tsutek Tue May 27, 2014 7:42 am
I don't have a problem with that. I just caused a bump to this thread by adding info that was not really that important, and would have just preferred to edit it into my previous post to prevent the bump is all..

Back on topic - there's a "LCD brightness calibration" screw on some of the replacement LCDs - Does anyone know if such a screw is highly sensitive or not? I may have overdone my calibration adjustment :lol:
By 313 studio tricks Tue May 27, 2014 8:46 am
you just put it in and you already messed it up? :popcorn:

edit: yeah so what would happen if you were able to edit your posts?
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By tsutek Tue May 27, 2014 9:58 am
Well, the new display is working but I'm still in middle of "fine-tuning" LOL. I wasn't satisfied with the contrast knob range (had to hit max with the knob to get a readable contrast) so I thought why not adjust the calibration a little while we were resoldering the ground cable anyway? :WTF:

At least the jogwheel replacement worked flawlessly 8) We'll get the display sorted out tonight..

And yea it seems that one can only edit the last post you made :?:
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By tsutek Wed May 28, 2014 6:14 am
Soo, I got the calibration issue fixed last night, but another problem crept up: The screen starts exhibiting bad contact after abt 10 minutes of use...

The screen goes blank and comes back again, and slamming the MPC case always brings the display back, so it's gotta be a contact issue.. Any tips on what to check? The ribbon cable is my main subject, but a replacement cable will not reach me until next month.. Already cleaned the old cable last night with isopropanol, so I have treated it to the best of my ability.

Strangely enough, the old LCD never had this contact fault, so I'm thinking my replacement procedure didn't go through perfectly..
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By tsutek Fri May 30, 2014 7:29 am
Thanks, I'll check the inverter as a last resort. Right now I'm waiting for a new ribbon cable to ship from mpcstuff.. Back on the 2500 until i get this sorted out :(
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By tsutek Wed Jun 11, 2014 8:53 am
Oh Snap, the same contact problem still persists after changing the ribbon cable to a new one! Anyone have any ideas how to get rid of this contact problem?

I noticed that there's quite a lot of slack in the LCD ribbon cable, is there a specific way to place the cable? Mine is just doing an L-bend in the middle, going through the "error correction" metal ring and into the board, but there's quite a lot of loose cabling hanging from both sides.. That loose hanging cable the reason of my worries perhaps?
By dustymaestro Wed Jun 11, 2014 9:04 am
There is a thread somewhere buried that has the info to replacement screens. I cant find it, I saw it before. It had the info on where to get screens for cheaper.
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By tsutek Wed Jun 11, 2014 9:49 am
Thanks dusty, I'll try to find it.. Seems like the position of the cable doesn't matter, I connected the ribbon straight to the Mainboard making sure it's the cable is not touching anything... Same result! Must be a contact fault in the mainboard itself - sheesh :(

Not giving up, might just be a loose screw somewhere on the board joint or something..
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By tsutek Wed Jun 11, 2014 10:13 am
Well, after messing with the screws on the motherboard and refitting the LCD ribbon cable back once more, the dropouts are gone (?) Hope I got lucky but leaving the thing on for a few hours just to stress-test a little.

If it wasn't the cable (which I don't think was the culprit here), it would be a good advice for anybody picking up a 4k to go over the mainboard screws, just screw them a bit loose and retighten again.. In a decade some contact problems related to oxidation might escalate into a contact prob (?)