Why I do not like fractals on my LCD...

[hgg]

"Fungus" the forum user...  Was just joking...

[jpanhalt]

So "We just found the culprit" was not serious?  What was the culprit?

Microbial contamination shouldn't be dismissed.  That is a significant problem in jet fuel, which has very little water present:
https://conidia.com/jet-fuel-contamination/#:~:text=Microorganisms%20found%20in%20aviation%20jet,that%20can%20accelerate%20metal%20corrosion

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6029836/

[hgg]

Microbes need food.  What are they eating in there?

[jpanhalt]

Anything with carbon and an electron acceptor (required for energy).  The electron acceptor can be an organic molecule, which is often called fermentation, or an inorganic molecule/atom.  When the latter is oxygen, what is called aerobic.  It is what humans do.

Of course, some other elements are needed, like nitrogen. Jwillis gave one example:
4′-Pentyl-4-biphenylcarbonitrile

[hgg]

Please do not tell me that I have a petri dish...

[RJSV]

Hey, ...is that a DAVIS Inst. ?
(I wrote code went in the Davis Instruments, they had similar looking compass circle.)

   The pattern is also visible all through that LCD, although not pronounced distinctly.
   

[hgg]

Spot on!   

Its a Davis Vantage Pro2.  It has been working flawlessly for years.
This is the second unit though.  The first one stopped working giving
a PLL could not lock error or something similar.  I never found out the
cause.

Which part did you code?

[amyk]

Definitely looks like some sort of bacterial culture.

[hgg]

It does, but I think is very improbable.
There is no water or some kind of food in there.

I've just sent an email to Davis as well to ask them if they had seen anything like
this on other customer consoles.

[coppercone2]

I would just use one of these with a 0-24 v input
https://www.ebay.com/itm/363960461904

and put these for minutes and seconds
https://www.ebay.com/itm/192149233125

I think they make the mechanism overcomplicated for most clocks

[Gyro]

 Huh?

[MrAl]

lol, no Jesus yet.



They all look like dots but not in any matrix formation.
I can also see a loner in the lower left.
I might have a look under the microscope.
It is also over the LCD segment.

Looks like a sea horse. 

[jpanhalt]

It does, but I think is very improbable.
There is no water or some kind of food in there.

I've just sent an email to Davis as well to ask them if they had seen anything like
this on other customer consoles.

I think you underestimate what some microorganisms can survive or even multiply in.  As two examples, look up Deinococcus radiodurans and chemolithotrophs.  Again, organisms living in jet fuel do no have much water available.

As for your second approach, I agree.  You don't have many options:
1) Live with it
2) Try to get a replacement screen
3) Trash it
4) If #2 or 3, then investigate what it is.  A decent microscope might reveal whether the defective areas are shaped like pixels or more amorphous.  Pixel ("point" ) defects are well known.  If amorphous, any microbiology lab could help identify whether bacteria, fungi, or something else.  Something else might include a change in form from liquid crystals to solid crystals.

[james_s]

It's worth contacting Davis, they're an American company, they've made these consoles for many years now and they're not cheap. IMHO this is the sort of failure that should never occur no matter how old it is. I have the same console and the display is fine on mine.

[hgg]

How many years did you have the console?
No answer from Davis this time and they always replied previously...

The LCD conquering continues non stop.  Previously there was a tiny dot on the bottom
and now there is a new colony.   



Each dot once established does not change at all, very strange.

Here is also a photo lit from the front with the backlight off.

[BillyO]

It's a fungus.  The same sort of fungus plaques lenses and optical surfaces of all kinds.  Not really unusual, but no greatly appreciated either.

With lenses and mirrors it can be usually be cleaned off before any real damage is done, but sometimes it's consuming the "glue" between layers.  These cases (an this is probably one) are usually untreatable.

[james_s]

I remember seeing people fixing similar looking symptoms by baking the display I think, and another by massaging the affected area with pressure. If the display is otherwise unusable it's worth trying.

[hgg]

I might try heating it locally and see what happens.
Lets hope it its not planning to draw a world map...

Still no reply from Davis.   
They are too busy with their new IoT console.

[Bud]

Microbes need food.  What are they eating in there?

What did they eat on the coated prism surface of my microscope ?

[hgg]

Are you using it (kept it) in a humid environment or looking at biological samples?
Your microbes are more civilized.. 

[BillyO]

This thread is falling apart.

Look up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_fungus

[hgg]

"The fungus thrives at temperatures of 10C to 35C[6] and relative humidity of 70% or more"

It never goes above 50%.

[BillyO]

It never goes above 50%.

Okay then. it must be aliens.

Oh, wait.  How did you determine the humidity in the LCD?

Meh.

[hgg]

Maybe the inside humidity monitor helped a bit...   

[Fungus]

It is forming an image of Greece!

It's a message from somebody trapped in a parallel universe.