xm display

mark bodsworth · Post by **mark bodsworth** » 12 Aug 2004, 01:27

Can anybody help?
The dot matrix display on my xm always seems to have some lines missing. However the lines missing will change every time i switch on. Can this be a loose connection?
Cheers Mark

crooser · Post by **crooser** » 12 Aug 2004, 01:58

the display unit itself is probably on its' way out.replacement cost £300+.mine is the same.what year is you car,i may have an early unit.

mark bodsworth · Post by **mark bodsworth** » 12 Aug 2004, 22:20

Hi
Its a 1998 model (2.0 ct turbo)
I think i will try a breakers first!
cheers mark

mark bodsworth · Post by **mark bodsworth** » 12 Aug 2004, 22:22

Is the display unit one section or are the 3 windows individual?
mark

Mosser · Post by **Mosser** » 13 Aug 2004, 03:14

You will probably have to live with missing pixels/lines on teh XM, my 2 year old XM that i used to own as a company car had lines and pixels missing from the day i got it, i got the display changed for a brand new one and it only lasted 4 months before it went again, that one got swapped out under warranty and it then lasted 9 months before the lines started dissapearing again, after that i decided to live with the missing lines as you can still make out the display

Fridgemagnet · Post by **Fridgemagnet** » 15 May 2005, 20:43

A couple of weeks ago I gritted my teeth and stripped out the dash on my XM Turbo CT, partly to look at the accumulation of electrical faults therein, but mostly because the ventilation was stuck on "nuclear". I also had a look at the notorious dot matrix display, as mine was losing (seemingly) random rows and columns. After much investigation, here are my conclusions (as an electronic engineer) on the dot matrix display:
1) Missing rows and columns are due to faulty connections on the flexi ribbon cable between the printed circuit board and the liquid crystal display (LCD).
2) The connections on the flexi cable are made by the application of pressure from the rectangular rubber gasket that goes around the LCD. Before too long the rubber will lose it's springiness, and the contact pressure will slowly decrease over the years.
3) You can fettle it by bulking out the rubber pressure ring with some tape or bits of old inner tube or whatnot. Don't try and solder it because there's nothing to solder to. Don't try and remove the flex either as it's not designed for refitting, and you'll break the original weak adhesive bonds. These are particularly delicate on the LCD end.
In conclusion, if you've got missing rows or columns on your XM LCD display, don't bother buying a new unit as it'll be just as rubbish eventually. It's a bad design, full stop. Bodge the one you've got, and if you're ingenious in your application of pressure to the right places you'll have a display that works better than the original spec.

Post by **Peter.N.** » 15 May 2005, 23:10

Me TV engineer, Fridgmagnet speaks truth, I also have stripey XM display.

vanny · Post by **vanny** » 16 May 2005, 04:37

hmmmm, it sounds like the magic rubber that has a black (sort of strippey) core and usually pink outsides (in layers, much like a sandwich). If so then you can by the stuff as lengths of almost any size or shape and it is for all intents and purposes 'universal', most multimeters that i have seen seem to use this in two strips and i works quite well.
Would it not be possible to simple replace the magic rubber?? I've not seen the rubber and only hve vague recolection of the LCD display in the XM (though it worked!), but there must be some sort of permanat cure! Personally i love it and i really want to fit one to the BX or at least build something similar!

rg · Post by rg » 16 May 2005, 20:27

Mark Bodsworth advised on the yahoo XM list that he managed to repair his.
Maybe he's not monitoring this forum anymore, but it seemed that he had had some success withthe repair.
rg

crooser · Post by **crooser** » 21 May 2005, 22:42

does anyone know where the other end of this flat cable goes to?