I had been following the messages regarding damage to the eMate=B9s display
cable with only theoretical interest until my Nephew presented me with
exactly this fault.
When I examined the hinges of the eMate (and you have to remove the
motherboard to do this) I found that one leg of the inner spring (which act=
s
as a clutch) had popped out from under the countersunk screw that retains i=
t
and had gone through both layers of the flexible PCB that is the display
cable. It took out 4 conductors which disabled the touch screen leaving the
display intact.
When I saw this I immediately checked out my two eMates and it=B9s clear that
there is a manufacturing error in the one that failed. Fortunately, my two
machines have springs that have long tails on all four of them and there is
no possibility that they can come off. The faulty machine has the inner
springs cut too short and are not properly secured by the screw. There is n=
o
need to abandon the machine for this reason as just placing a small washer
under the screw will retain the spring well enough to restore complete
articulation to the screen and never allow it to come out again. This is th=
e
easy part...
I then proceeded to amaze myself by actually fixing the flexible PCB by
scraping away the lamination with a scalpel under a magnifier to reveal the
copper traces beneath and soldering some very fine copper wire across the
gaps. eMate now fully restored.
Frankly, I think it was very lucky because the trace separation is only
0.5mm and bridging the traces was almost inevitable, but hey, sometimes it
works. I also don=B9t know how long this fix will last in such a difficult
position where the cable is bending but, whatever, one less eMate is lost t=
o
the world.
Fixing the spring clutches is a no-brainer if your eMate is unfortunate
enough to have this manufacturing error and will save the display cable
getting punctured. Fixing the cable is basically crazy as it=B9s so fine, but
might be worth a try - there=B9s nothing to lose.
The cable may be a fancy shape but it might be possible to source a more
prosaic replacement that would do the job - I=B9ll have a look and see what I
can find - but give me a while :-)
Joel.
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