[sdiy] EL Film from guy on Ebay ( Success with TG77 too! )

[Tom Arnold]

My TG77 now has a backlight!

What I found : No output from stock inverter.  Transformer looks like it got
a little warm at some point.  I tried replacing the 2sc945 on the board but
no go.

So I poked at the supplied 12vdc inverter.
With a very small EL sheet attached, it sat around 120vac.  With a larger
TG77 one attached it sank to around 90vac.  When run at 5vdc ( what the TG77
supplied to its original unit ) it sank to 60vac which, while noticably
dimmer then 90vac was still just fine and that should give me an extended
lifespan of the EL itself ( we'll see how the inverter likes it ).

So, I removed the little sockets from the old inverter.  Cut a 1" square
board to mount the sockets on and solder the leads from the new inverter to,
and wedged it all nicely into the shielded can the old inverter lived in.

So I think I've proven to myself that DIY backlight repair is doable and
quite affordable. The total came to $32 for two sheets and two inverters.
The sheets are a little short for something as large as the TG77, but even
without carefull cutting it still *works*. you see some dark areas around
the very edge of the backlight where contacts are located.  I have found
other companies that do 8.5"x11" EL sheets for about $35US, so someone real
picky could go that route.  I'm just happy I can read all those nested menus
again...

-- 
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 - Tom Arnold       -  Free Synth DIY webspace http://www.sdiy.org 
 - SynthGeek        -
 - BBD Fanatic      -  "...is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?" 
 - echo evho wjxo   -    Juanita Shrugs. "What's the difference?" 
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