The screen is direct contact with the main board when everything is put together? I didn’t realise that.
And I didn’t know that it can be cracked just by opening/closing the case! Extra care needed for sure!
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I might be explaining the (insert own expletive here) obvious here, but I shall state it anyway… the screen is put under pressure when dismantling the case face down by the fact that the keys on the keyboard are higher (lower?) than the rest of the case and as such push the screen upwards away from the little clips that should hold it in place in normal use. It is useful therefore to tape the screen in place and then to check before screwing the bolts back in that the screen is correctly seated.
I would also suggest that the act of unclipping and re-clipping the screen ribbon is adding extra stress onto this delicate part. I have found that I am able to remove the board whilst supporting the screen without having to play with this part but this has its own risk so if you are not sure - continue to unclip the ribbon but do so very carefully as it does not take much at all to damage these ribbons as anybody who has ever owned a Psion 5 will be able to attest.
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I’ve just cracked my screen after seeing all the advice and trying hard to avoid it! I was trying out a newly printed back-plate which would ideally reduce the amount of movement in the screen area - oh the irony! I was thinking that another option might be to attach the screen to the pcb - and the pcb to the top-plate using double sided tape? I’ve emailed to see if I can order a replacement.
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I finally received my replacement screen a couple of days ago. So decided to install this morning being as careful as I could making sure everything was aligned, powered the Pico on and the screen is cracked worse than the original one was. I don’t know if it was damaged in the post or I was sent a faulty unit but I’m positive I couldn’t be any more careful doing the install. I’m sure I ordered two but only one arrived so I’m without a Pico until I get another screen. I can’t get over how delicate these screens are, surely there is a better more robust alternative?
No !. They’re not that delicate so probably damaged before getting in your hands. Was it well packed ?
Inside an anti-static bag, one layer of bubble wrap in cardboard box. I’ve got a GameShell, uConsole & DevTerm and none of them are anywhere near as fragile as the Pico.
All it takes is for you to put the picocalc facedown on the table before screwing it together to push the screen out of position. Taping the screen helps but it’s basically necessary to put the case together while holding it in the air so the keyboard isn’t pushing against the PCB. And not putting any screws in if the case isn’t fully closed already. Using the screws to pull the case together is just a recipe for disaster.
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And the same happened with me too. Package received today, and cracked it during assembly. It plugged the pico in before placeing the board in, so either pressing the front glass to hard, or the screen got dislodged from the frame and I did not notice.
How do you get the flat flex cable out? Pull down on the black plastic and lift up, or just lift up?
the black part of the screen connector is a latch that’s hinged, you flip it up and the cable should be loose to come out
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I’ve broken several of those damn latches before on other equipment. Prise up EXTREMELY SLOWLY and gentle as hell !.
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All you need to do to safely open this kind of latch is to put a fingernail under it and lift directly up (i.e. perpendicular to the pcb). When the latch opens, if you’re lifting straight up then the latch is no longer in the way and any excess force doesn’t matter.
If you try to pry towards the top of the picocalc pcb instead, it’s very easy to push the latch past it’s physical stop and break it off.
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