Replacing the LCD-Backlight(EL-Foil) on Neutrik A1, a short Repairstory..

[Martin72]

Hi,
I thought it might be helpful for others if I described how to change the backlight of an older LCD display, in this case of an audio analyzer system, Neutrik A1.
At first I didn't know that its display is illuminated...
I came across it by chance in the manual, because the switch-off after a few minutes was described there - with my A1 I had never seen anything light up...
But in fact, when it is completely dark in the room, you can see a very faint glow...
LCD-Display is a 5.3" one from Optrex and the backlight is realized with a EL-foil...
Afaik EL-foil get several advantages, e.g. ultra-thin, but at least two disadvantages:
-Must be driven with "high voltage" (appx 100V/400hz)
-Lifetime....1000...2000hrs
It gets darker and darker until at the end only a barely perceptible glow remains...Aha.
The display-module is obsolete and EL-foils are rare but I had luck and find one very similar here:

https://www.backlight4you.com/EL-Panels/EL-Replacements/EL-Panel-pink-white-77mm-x-140mm-laminated::839.html

This store specializes in backlighting, including hard to get ones, very nice.
Yesterday the foil arrived and I´ve started to disassemble the frontpanel of the analyzer.
Tomorrow it should be finished..

edit: link to shop fixed.

[inse]

Further disadvantage: very low efficiency.
And 100V 400Hz is surely beneficial in an audio analyzer, no?

[Martin72]

I think the engineers at Neutrik were aware of this.

[tooki]

Nice!

That reminds me that it's still on my to-do list to replace the EL backlight on my Keithley 197A...

P.S. FYI, in English, the word "foil" exclusively means very thin sheets of metal; for any non-metal material, it is a "film" or "sheet".  ("Film" also has the second meaning of "coating", e.g. a thin layer of one thing on a substrate. In this case, you'd typically use "film" even for metals, like in metal resistors, where a thin film of metal is used, or in antireflective lens coatings, where thin films of minerals and metals are applied.)

[Martin72]

Type "Leuchtfolie" in the deepl translator, it shows two possibilities, foil and film.

[tooki]

Type "Leuchtfolie" in the deepl translator, it shows two possibilities, foil and film.

So what? The output of a machine translation system, no matter how good, is not an authority on anything, and is more likely to be wrong than a human translator.

And in this case, it is wrong. Yes, "Folie" can be translated into "film" and "foil", but the ML doesn't know when to use each. Or it's been trained using non-native translations, which themselves are often wrong. (Can you find examples of the phrase "luminous foil" that deepl spit out? Yes. Are those on native English sites? Nope.)

English is my native language, and I also have looked this up before to be 100% sure. What I told you is correct.

[themadhippy]

English, the word "foil" exclusively means very thin sheets of metal

nope,it can also mean several other things that have nothing to do with metal

[Martin72]

So...
The new light (  ) is assembled - Well...the light is very descent, but the difference is remarkable.
Am I happy now? Not at all, look at the pic, I think I must clean the contacts...
Or must adjust the panel before assembling together, before there were no blanks visible.

[tooki]

English, the word "foil" exclusively means very thin sheets of metal

nope,it can also mean several other things that have nothing to do with metal

We're not talking about the entirely unrelated words (like to "foil an evil plot" or the related noun "a foil" i.e. something that thwarts something else). In terms of very thin sheets, the point here, "foil" can't be used for non-metal materials. Go look it up, I'll wait!

[tooki]

Am I happy now? Not at all, look at the pic, I think I must clean the contacts...
Or must adjust the panel before assembling together, before there were no blanks visible.

Try using a piece of sticky tape (Kapton is ideal) to lift all dust from the rubber zebra strips. I've had good luck with that method. (The PCB contacts of course just wipe with lint-free cloth and alcohol.)

[Martin72]

Fu....
Opened it again and indeed, there was some dust/crumbles on the zebra strips.
Took them away with tape, cleaning the pcb contacts with isopropanol, reassembled it....Worser than before...
Now it´s open again and I have to think what´s the matter, my suspicion is the tape used for the lighting.
It is quite thick, thicker than what was stuck before.
Before the exchanging everything was fine, never touch a running...