Grymmtymm
Offline
KC

just got a gray dmg off of ebay for the screen to switch out the sceens on my green dmg, it was working fine when I got it out of the package.

opened it up and cleaned the pcb off with denatured alcohol and put it in the green one now the whole screen is completely black and the contrast wheel does nothing to change it!

still gets sound and game loads but the screen is absolutely black! I can hear the game if you press start to move to next screen but just black image!

What would this be and can it be fixed?

kitsch
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matt's mind

did you let it dry off?

different brands of denatured alcohol use different additives, it could be that one of these left something behind.  or it didn't dry and you shorted something out.    i'm not really sure though. 

did you backlight it or anything else?

Grymmtymm
Offline
KC

no mods yet thats why I got it to mod and replace a screen in my green one.

I used computer duster to blow dry it before I put it back together

kitsch
Offline
matt's mind

take a look at the ribbon cable on the LCD screen.

its slightly possible one of the additives in the alcohol ate away ate the cable a little, or something like this. 

they can really add anything to that stuff, if it was acetone this may be your issue.  i'm not sure what the range of stuff they add is really, its just so you don't drink it (its just ethanol+poisonous chemical).  its more of an industrial solvent if i'm not mistaken, not a contact cleaner.  then again, really not familiar with it, other than seeing it in the store.

Grymmtymm
Offline
KC

whats the best thing to use for cleaning?

thursdaycustoms
Offline
Cleveland, OH

You blew something in the LCD board. I just ruined 2 LCDs this way. Looking forward to a solution!

Grymmtymm
Offline
KC

yeah too bad no one will really say much or at least point me in the right direction as to where or what I should be checking for

thursdaycustoms
Offline
Cleveland, OH

Because it is probably not fixable. You probably blew the IC.
Also if that alcohol hit either of the ribbon cables it could have caused damage. I know I've accidentally let it flow into the side cable when cleaning the LCD and it basically dissolved all the glue.

Last edited by thursdaycustoms (Apr 23, 2012 8:45 pm)

Apeshit
Offline

You can get the exact same symptoms from damage to the ribbon cable that connects the two boards. This happens all the time.

I've never used denatured alcohol, but rubbing alcohol evaporates within seconds, and you'd have to try very hard to short something out. However, if you short out the 18v for the LCD then you could surely do some damage.

Grymmtymm
Offline
KC

thats why I used denatured alcohol because it evaporates faster than rubbing alcohol. that's one reason they put those additives in there.
to make it evaporate faster and so you won't drink it.

guess it's too harsh though.

thursdaycustoms
Offline
Cleveland, OH

Try heating up every little solder pad on the main ribbon cable and the two going to the LCD. This sometimes worked for me.

Grymmtymm
Offline
KC

funny thing, just tried this gameboy again for the hell of it and now the screen isn't black and is working normal. hhhmmm.

hopefully it continues to work without problems. I'll have to check it out more thoroughly later when I have time.