Dropped Sat Nav repair defective screen – DIY
Discussion
Hi all,
I had the experience of dropping my MIO sat nav and losing the touch screen capability. As you can imagine this basically turned my sat nav into a chocolate teapot, and best I was lost miles from home at the time - laugh… I was mad!
Anyway (having got home – smile), I checked all the usual sources and was told costs of 100s to replace the screen etc etc…. So I thought time to check out myself. The unit still worked fine and screen was still working ok, but the touch screen part was dead. The MIO push buttons can be used to get to almost all the key presses needed except the on-screen character selection for the post code – how annoying is that… ?!!
I was determined not to pay more than it cost me, or to get bleed dry for a new screen – rip-off.
The touch screen is actually a very simple piezo film sensor. So I stripped the unit down, and I found that the conductive track from the screen film forms a very tight loop pushed close to the end of the case. The shock it received in hitting the deck had actually caused fractures in the conductive track – I had to use a microscope to find it, and after many hours looking for cracked PCB etc I eventually traced the problem there… However, if you have experienced the same, the problem I’m sure will be the same, and the solution easy. Get some conductive paint, go to the touch screen flex conductor strip, and where it’s bond to the screen the tracks will be cracked there. They have quite big pads, and I blobbed the paint on with a cocktail stick. I have photos of the whole process, and if some body wants them I can send them. I also cut back the case close to where the flexi touch screen loops round to give it more space against shock. All works great and I have dropped it many times since and even cracked the case all with no trouble.
So if this helps somebody, then my time has been worthwhile.
Best regards,
Martin
I had the experience of dropping my MIO sat nav and losing the touch screen capability. As you can imagine this basically turned my sat nav into a chocolate teapot, and best I was lost miles from home at the time - laugh… I was mad!
Anyway (having got home – smile), I checked all the usual sources and was told costs of 100s to replace the screen etc etc…. So I thought time to check out myself. The unit still worked fine and screen was still working ok, but the touch screen part was dead. The MIO push buttons can be used to get to almost all the key presses needed except the on-screen character selection for the post code – how annoying is that… ?!!
I was determined not to pay more than it cost me, or to get bleed dry for a new screen – rip-off.
The touch screen is actually a very simple piezo film sensor. So I stripped the unit down, and I found that the conductive track from the screen film forms a very tight loop pushed close to the end of the case. The shock it received in hitting the deck had actually caused fractures in the conductive track – I had to use a microscope to find it, and after many hours looking for cracked PCB etc I eventually traced the problem there… However, if you have experienced the same, the problem I’m sure will be the same, and the solution easy. Get some conductive paint, go to the touch screen flex conductor strip, and where it’s bond to the screen the tracks will be cracked there. They have quite big pads, and I blobbed the paint on with a cocktail stick. I have photos of the whole process, and if some body wants them I can send them. I also cut back the case close to where the flexi touch screen loops round to give it more space against shock. All works great and I have dropped it many times since and even cracked the case all with no trouble.
So if this helps somebody, then my time has been worthwhile.
Best regards,
Martin
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