Fluke 45 looking for a front panel with bad display

[Tango1668]

By accident the VCC was shorted to the +30V. All ICs in the digital kernel were fired, including those on the front panel. Analog kernel is intact because it is isolated by the inverter.

Use hot air gun to remove all ICs. Put a socket for the main digital processor and the switching IC. Also replaced a few diodes in the power supply section. Could source all ICs from China and Element14.



All voltages are within specifications. Can hear the relay clicking when powering on. E clock gives a 1.085 uS square wave. SWR1 to SWR5 status are normal. The problem is the FIP IC. The display looks like that. The beeper beeps continuously.



Would like to ask if any member have a front panel with broken or non usable VFD, but a working FIP IC? The VFD is in a good condition, not dim and no uneven digit. If I can get a front panel with working FIP I can swap the VFD and bring the meter back to life for another 10 years of service, of course a calibration is required.

Otherwise need to look at the option of using a OLED display with a processor to decode the messages from the main processor. Had tried capture a few packets. They are SPI but the data stream decoding is not straight forward.

Thanks in advance.