display fading (MFD B, not bulb related)

[sks01773]

Regarding automatic wipers,as far as I know there is a rain sensor somewhere near the rear view mirror and was standard on my car a desire model,
have never used Lexia so I cannot advise.

[sks01773]

after the my last post this week the orange display has gone completly blank,
i have been looking at 307 displays will they work straight away just plug in?.
also as they are black background orange digits are they prone to fade when hot ? 
as this was my original reason for changing the display.

[saskak]

after the my last post this week the orange display has gone completly blank,
i have been looking at 307 displays will they work straight away just plug in?.
also as they are black background orange digits are they prone to fade when hot ? 
as this was my original reason for changing the display.

All the MFD B that will fit (12 pins; two buttons at front) and have the orange letters will fade, apart from the green Citroen C5/8 displays. I have no idea why this happens, but it is probably some difference in production. You can find how I fixed that at the beginning of the thread. It's been 3 years now and it is not fading. The other, I think 18 pins will not fit.

If you think that you might get lucky with a 307 display that will not fade, think again. I have at home ~5 displays from 307s and all fade, but nevertheless, you may be lucky (I doubt it).

[sks01773]

after the my last post this week the orange display has gone completly blank,
i have been looking at 307 displays will they work straight away just plug in?.
also as they are black background orange digits are they prone to fade when hot ? 
as this was my original reason for changing the display.

All the MFD B that will fit (12 pins; two buttons at front) and have the orange letters will fade, apart from the green Citroen C5/8 displays. I have no idea why this happens, but it is probably some difference in production. You can find how I fixed that at the beginning of the thread. It's been 3 years now and it is not fading. The other, I think 18 pins will not fit.

If you think that you might get lucky with a 307 display that will not fade, think again. I have at home ~5 displays from 307s and all fade, but nevertheless, you may be lucky (I doubt it).

Do you think the centre display from peugeot 1007 will work ,the only difference i see it says emf A on label

[cancunia]

EMF A is probably a 2 line display vs the EMF B which is 3 line.
You can tell from the pictures of the item for sale if the screen is the same height as yours.

[saskak]

What cancunia said, you need EMF B. The EMF B+/C+ or whatever they are called, will not fit. I think I had one of the 1007, they fade. There was not much of a difference in the production of these orange displays, all made to last probably ~5 years, designed obsolescence and all or lack of testing, etc.

I also read all possible forums about these displays. I got one of the t-bar solder thingies and tried to re-heat/solder the connection from the display to the board and in addition I bought a new connection, removed the old one carefully and re-soldered the new one. It made 0 difference to the fading. It maybe that some of solder points on the board are getting older and current is changing, but have not tried this.

[sks01773]

The 1007 casing has same model number printed on the white casing,it seems you have researched a lot what is the difference between the green display and orange one as you have taken a lot apart ,is it the filter or do you think the screen is different ,so it does not fade

[saskak]

The 1007 casing has same model number printed on the white casing,it seems you have researched a lot what is the difference between the green display and orange one as you have taken a lot apart ,is it the filter or do you think the screen is different ,so it does not fade

Yeah, it was driving me mad this fading. Originally I had the 2-line and replaced that with a 3-line EMF-B display so to have computer and temperature. I think the problem is the glass itself rather than connection or anything else.
I heated the glass only and then powered it up and the letter were already faded. I also heated the connection and/or the board and there was not an effect.

Because I managed to swap the diffuser and filter from the orange one to the green and this is as far as I went to investigate why it fades.

When I said glass, I mean it could be the lcd not the glass (they are one thing anyway), it could be they microscopically separate with temperature or something.

EDIT: Ha, now thinking about it, it could be that the polarizing film could be damaged from the prolonged exposure to heat rather than the LCD. Now, it was awhile ago and I do not quite remember, but as far as I remember it was a 90 degree polarizing film. A quick test would be to buy a polarizing film, strip the old one and apply the new one to the back. I might try that for completeness.

[mikeB]

Firstly thanks to saskak for posting the colour change instructions. I have an '04 Berlingo with a 2 line display that I'm intending to change with a 3  line 'EMF B' from a C8. The C8 display is green and I'm also not too sure about the colour so will make the filter & diffuser swap if needed.

On the question of fading, if it's heat related, has anyone tried LEDs instead of bulbs? I came across this supplier while reading about colour changing somewhere else. It seems that the flat LEDs spread the light as opposed to the domed LEDs which are a bit like spotlights. I expect that there are other suppliers too, but this is a good example.
http://www.crazyleds.co.uk/286-T5-Capless-LED.html

Does anyone know the correct wiring for powering the display outside of the car? So far as I can make out from diagrams, it's pin 8 for ground then 7 & 9 for permanent / switched live. But I'm not 100% sure about this and don't know which one is switched and which is permanent. There are also the VANBUS lines which I think are 4&18, but they're not really needed afaik for turning the clock & display on.

Thanks

 Q: has anyone tried LEDs instead of bulbs? . . .  Yes I have and put back the normal bulbs . .The problem is that the light from the LED bulbs project the light as a  beam and you end up with a round bright circles where is LED bulb is.  where the standard bulbs distribute  the light evenly 


I have replaced the bulbs with LEDs and also found they create a round beam on the screen. HOWEVER, simply grind the LEDs flat on the bit closest to the screen and they behave like standard bulbs. Simples

[saskak]

The wiring for the display is at the beginning of the thread, I think I put a pdf with pictures of how to wire it and my power adapter. It does not switch on straight away, there is a pause for a few seconds, then it lits.

I have tried the LEDs, but although the fading is delayed in time, it still fades. It was discussed on this thread, but the LEDs have a more focused beam and you can see it on the display. I still use the regular light bulbs, more uniform light.

EDIT: just saw the grinding thing, not entirely clear on that.