Posted by Paul on December 13, 2004 at 14:02:40:
qs8lcd
ALESIS QS8 LCD REPLACEMENT (REPLACING LCD)
It took me a LONG time to figure out how to solve the problem of how
to replace a failing QS8 LCD with a standard LCD, so I'm goint to
save you the trouble. First of all, let me say, Alesis charges
a 300% markup on what is basically a tweaked standard part.
After the actual e-mail from Alesis supoort (12/13/04), below, I
explain how you can do it yourself much cheaper, with a more gorgeous
LCD display (but you have to be willing to make or solder your own
ribbon cable, and do one extra step to activate the backlit, and
create your own contrast control (pretty very straightforward stuff)
hours of research or just giving up)
------------------ Alesis E-Mail from arobichaud@alesis.com ------
Hi,
Alesis customers may use any local service center to get their
non-warranty merchandise repaired. If a local search fails
to find a
qualified service center, we can recommend this preferred
non-warranty
service center;
Techniserve
762 Rt. 17 North
Paramus, NJ 07652
info@tsirepair.com
201-670-1767 Tel
201-670-8176 Fax
P/N: 9-44-1602 LCD Display
$59.00 + Shipping
To place a parts order I need the following information:
Name
(as it appears on the CC) & Address
Telephone Number
Part
Number & Description
Payment - Visa/MasterCard or Money Order
Ground or Air shipping
(Please attach all prior email correspondence.)
Thanks,
Allen J. Robichaud
Alesis, LLC
Parts Department
200 Scenic View Drive, Suite 201
Cumberland, RI 02864
Phone - (401) 658-5760 ext. 249
Fax - (401) 658-3654
Email - arobichaud@alesis.com
www.Alesis.com
---------------------------------------------------------------
ALESIS QS8 LCD REPLACEMENT:
Alesis is ripping the public off in my opinion. They are charging
$59 for a $15 (or less) 2x16 LCD display, available from any
number
of sources, including my favorite LCD supplier, crystalfontz.com.
Check out the pictures of their products! Great colors and
backlights.
Beautiful construction (no I don't work for them or know anyone who
does).
You can get good LCD displays from many other places.
Suffice it to say you can get cheaper and prettier higher quality
displays than the hard (almost impossible) to find Data Vision LCD
in the QS8.
There is a catch if you want to use a standard LCD (and god knows
why Alesis didn't just use a standard part. Some sort of repair
scam I think).
For some stupid reason the LCD in the QS8 has most but not all of the
pins
crossed.
Removing LCD:
Take off the top panel (black annodized sheetmetal) cover. Remove the
few
(uppermost screws) on the back panel. Then remove the 6 screws (3
on
each side) holding the wooden endblocks on. The wooden endblocks
are
attached to the top cover and they all lift off together to reveal the
guts.
Pry the LCD out gently with a flathead screwdriver. It pops out.
Snap in the replacement after you're sure you've got it working.
Making your cable:
If you want to use a standard (ie. Hitachi 44780 controller based) LCD
in
the QS8 instead of the overpriced lower-quality stock part, you need
to make your own cable or adapter so you can swap pins, and also
adjust contrast and get power to the LED backlight. (All pretty
trivial
with soldering iron and some <1K resistors or better a 10K trim pot).
Here's how the cabling goes:
Standard LCD Pins -- QS8 Pins
1 Vcc
(+)
1
2 Vdd
(-)
2
3
Vo
DON'T CONNECT TO QS8, USE TRIMPOT
4
RS
3
5
R/
6
6
E
5
7
D0
8
8
D1
7
9
D2
10
10
D3
9
11
D4
12
12
D5
11
13
D6
14
14
D7
13
A lot of LCDs have Pin 15 as LED backlight (+), Pin 16 as LED backlight
(-),
some of them only have connectors on the top of the LCD called A and K
in the datasheets. Either way, you need to get pin 1 from the QS8
LCD
header on the motherboard to the backlight LED (-) pin, and Pin 2 from
the QS8 LCD header to LED (+).
Finally, you probably need to use a trim pot to get the contrast
set right. Solder this to the cable or something (you can't clutter
the top of the LCD as it has to press fit into the case).
I used a 10K trimpot, which was overkill. 1K would be great as
I think the value like 330 ohms or so is good. The way I did it
(there's
lots of stuff about setting LCD contrast on the web is)
The easiest way to make the cable would be to buy two 2x14 female
flatcable connectors, and get a ribbon cable from anywhere
(including an old IDE drive or floppy cable). Tear off a section
of the ribbon cable about 12", 14 wires wide. Attach the female
socket to one side of the ribbon (open back of connector put it
over cable, clamp it onto cable until it clicks using pliers
or vicegrips).
Spread apart the wires and swap them according to the table above
and carefully clamp on the other female socket with the wires
lined up and in place. Be creative because you'll be twisting
wires and trying to make them line up close together like the
other side of the ribbon cable. After the cable is made, solder
jumpers to the LCD power pins to the LED backlight as explained
above and add the trimpot between + - and VO as follows
LCD Pin 1
Vcc (-) ---------
\
LCD Pin 3 /
Vo------------>\ 10K trimpot
/
LCD Pin 2 \
Vdd (+) -------
Experiment with the the resistor value (or adjust the trim pot) until
the LCD brightness is just right. I think a 330Ohm resistor
between pin 2 and pin 3 might work, but you might have to experiment
with the value.