Partially dead Lynx II screen - is it fixable?

[Kamikaze]

A good friend of mine has received this Lynx II, due to a family member passing. He handed it over to me, to see if it is fixable. 

 

I'm a bit in a doubt on this one. White screens generally need replacement, but dead lines can be fixed. This Lynx II has both. I opened it up, but the insides seem fine enough (no notable damage on the ribbon cables) 

 

Does anyone have any idea where to start? The goal is to get a full image again, but on a low budget. It has nostalgic value, but probably will not be played a lot in the long run. It's more a project for "peace of mind", so my friend can hold on to it knowing it is working as it should. 

 

Being a low-budget project, a McWill screen is out of the question (also, since adding the AV-out is not a must for this one). BennVenn screens seem hard to get at the moment (sold out?). 

A repair or affortable screen seem like the best option to me

 

I added a (high contrast) picture of the screen of the Lynx II

Edited March 23, 2021 by Kamikaze

[gilsaluki]

Not going with a McWill or the other guy's mod.  Best Electronics has new LCD screens.  I think they are around $20 or so.  I don't recommend modifying to the McWill screen.  I had a perfectly good working Lynx II modded.  It blew up within a month or so.  Waisted money/time.  I am just one opinion however, others seem to like them.  Picture is definitely improved, but at what cost?

[Kamikaze]

56 minutes ago, gilsaluki said:

Not going with a McWill or the other guy's mod.  Best Electronics has new LCD screens.  I think they are around $20 or so.  I don't recommend modifying to the McWill screen.  I had a perfectly good working Lynx II modded.  It blew up within a month or so.  Waisted money/time.  I am just one opinion however, others seem to like them.  Picture is definitely improved, but at what cost?

I'll have to look into the Best Electronics LCD screens. Might be worth it, if shipping to Europe doesn't make it overly expensive. Thanks for the mention. Never heard of them before

 

McWill is mostly out of the question due to the price. I've read a lot of good and a lot of bad things about them. For the purpose of this restoration (making the Lynx functional while keeping it a original as possible), it's not a good match

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Benn's screens are an excellent choice and I've been installing them at no extra labor for the screen portion. But all LCD upgrades really require that the power stage components also be replaced with new and replacement of the caps is advised as well and that of course costs money.

 

First, I've installed quite a few McWill's in both Lynx II and GG units and never had anyone come back with an issue with the screens. I've installed about half as many BennVenn screens and only had one client that had an issue a week after they got it back. Turns out it was a semi known issue with the quality of the screens and a simple tap on the ends of a capacitor with a soldering iron to reheat the solder on the BennVenn screen afterwards took care of it. Which, I then started to do going forward just in case while that revision was still being sold. They appear to be much better in construction on the current versions.

 

My point is that since we don't know who did the work on @gilsaluki's lynx and I don't know if he tried to reach out to who did the work to get it resolved, his is a rare case of any instance of an issue from one of these kits.

 

Having said that, if Best has replacement OEM screens, that is an excellent option for low cost. But keep in mind that his replacement screens are just as old as the ones currently installed, so while they might not have hours of use on the back light tube etc, their panels are just as aged as the rest. I've seen new LCDs that were installed that were still washed out looking just because of age.

[Kamikaze]

Recapping is something that had to be done as well. Just like the weak speaker. But both are relatively cheap compared to McWill screens. Especially since I might have the rights caps already in stock (having done a variety of electronic works in the past, including recapping GameGears). 

 

I consider those mostly labor, and not so much high-cost parts of the restoration. 

 

Out of curiousity: how badly washed out could a new "old stock" LCD be? I doubt this Lynx 2 will get a lot of playtime after restoring, so a slightly washed out image might not be a huge deal (although I have to double-check with my buddy) 

Edited March 24, 2021 by Kamikaze

[gilsaluki]

21 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Benn's screens are an excellent choice and I've been installing them at no extra labor for the screen portion. But all LCD upgrades really require that the power stage components also be replaced with new and replacement of the caps is advised as well and that of course costs money.

 

First, I've installed quite a few McWill's in both Lynx II and GG units and never had anyone come back with an issue with the screens. I've installed about half as many BennVenn screens and only had one client that had an issue a week after they got it back. Turns out it was a semi known issue with the quality of the screens and a simple tap on the ends of a capacitor with a soldering iron to reheat the solder on the BennVenn screen afterwards took care of it. Which, I then started to do going forward just in case while that revision was still being sold. They appear to be much better in construction on the current versions.

 

My point is that since we don't know who did the work on @gilsaluki's lynx and I don't know if he tried to reach out to who did the work to get it resolved, his is a rare case of any instance of an issue from one of these kits.

 

Having said that, if Best has replacement OEM screens, that is an excellent option for low cost. But keep in mind that his replacement screens are just as old as the ones currently installed, so while they might not have hours of use on the back light tube etc, their panels are just as aged as the rest. I've seen new LCDs that were installed that were still washed out looking just because of age.

Someone by the handle Cowboy360, or something like that did the mod.  

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Okay, did you reach out to them to see if they could help in some way? Do we know for sure the McWill screen was to blame? I've had Lynx II units that were working fine and then I go to test them a day or two later before installing a screen, or recapping them to find out that the zener has just gone out and it no longer powers back on. So there are other things that can happen that might not even be related directly to other work that was done. But it is why it is stressed to have all the power stage components refreshed at minimum. 

 

Again, I've done quite a few LCD replacements with both the McWill and Benn screens and haven't had any issues reported to me aside from the one I mentioned with an early version Benn screen, that was easily corrected. I would think that your situation was either very isolated (Otherwise we would hear of more people having issues with these), or perhaps something else failed within your lynx that was just coincidence. Without knowing what was done on yours or knowing how it looks inside there isn't anyway to be sure of what happened to know that the McWill screen itself is fully to blame.

 

***Added in...

 

I see that @cowdog360 is a member here and has done quite a few of these given his good feedback. @gilsaluki did you try and reach out to them to see if they could help with this at all? I also see that Codog360 tends to replace the power stage section so I would guess that was done as well. It could be something simple as a loose connection that has taken place and just needs to be looked at. Again, you can't be quick to dismiss a McWill or any LCD upgrade because of what looks to be an isolated incident with yours.