Hacking Broken ds lite ribbon clamp

[Giangsta]

Hi i just got a DSlite here that was working fine until i messed it up =S

I accidentally tore off the little black clamp that holds the touch screen ribbon in place..now its missing. I thought maybe it doesnt need it and i screwed everything back...obviously the touch screen doesn't work. Oh and there was another problem..the upper lcd screen was working fine..until i disconnect it to disassemble the halves and now it lights up but stays white...its connected and clamped in place.

I assume that all i need is to buy a new upper lcd screen but the real problem is being able to fix the touch screen.

Is it possible to buy a new clamp piece or maybe use something in place of it?

 

[paul3100]

hi

I also broke the black plastic clamp that holds the touch screen ribbon cable in place on my old dslite and was told by people here and official places that my ds was done for, well as far as the touch screen was concerned as there is no place to buy those particular spare parts!

What i did was to place a large bit of bluetac on the ribbon and close the ds very gently whilst holding the bluetac in place, a little trial and error but once the case has been pushed together you can test to see if it works without screwing it all back together.

This works perfectly fine short term but the bluetac over a month or so loosens off and then no touch screen again, i also tried in the end super glue and that finished the dslites touch screen life over.

The other idea would be to buy a broken ds of ebay or somewhere so you can get that black clip off it and also a new top screen though i think you probably just need to remove the ribbon cable and re seat it for the screen to work as its probably just not pushed in properly!

Anyway best of luck with what ever you end up doing.

paul

 

[Giangsta]

lucky enough for me, i tore my whole room up to look for it. I found it on the ground somewhere... (my room is carpet as well)

I placed the clamp back in and the screen is working now, too bad i cant say the same for the top screen...thats done for! oh wells, ill just buy a new one.

-hmms it just occured to me that if i ever dropped my ds then its most likely going to pop out again....so bluetac is decent enough to hold it down?

 

[Brian117]

Wow, others seem to have this problem also...My clamp also broke off my old DS Phat. When turning the DS on, it just flashes and turns off. Mainly because the touch screen doesn't work since it's not clamped down by that black thing. I just need a whole new circuit board, or find a way to do it. But from the above poster (2 above me)...What the hell is bluetac?

 

[Heatguyred]

Wow, others seem to have this problem also...My clamp also broke off my old DS Phat. When turning the DS on, it just flashes and turns off. Mainly because the touch screen doesn't work since it's not clamped down by that black thing. I just need a whole new circuit board, or find a way to do it. But from the above poster (2 above me)...What the hell is bluetac?

I did the exact same thing, but your ds should turn on, independently of the touch screen. you probably have one of the screens ribbons not placed correctly.

BTW, I would also like to know what bluetac is.

 

[Brian117]

Yes, my touch screens ribbon isn't in it's circuit since there's no clamp. So that's why it won't turn on since it won't even stay in the screen ribbon circuit..thing.

EDIT: And I think the bluetac stuff, (via Google), is some sort of sticky tac, (as I like to call it)...But just it's blue colored. But I have no clue how sticky tac would help the problem...But I should try it sometime.

 

[Giangsta]

so they dont sell bluetac in the US? must be a UK/AUS thing.

 

[paul3100]

Bluetac is the stuff you stick posters to walls with, also good for sitting unsteady objects on.

But in this case its used for compressing the ribbon cable tightly to the motherboard and as bluetac is like chewing gum it sinks into all the gaps and gives perfect contact (for a while!).

You simply press the ribbon cable with your finger against the touchscreen contacts and place the bluetac over the ribbon and remove finger , put more than you need in as the extra will ooze out the top 2 holes in the outer case giving perfect seal top to bottom .

paul

 

[Brian117]

Wow Paul, Thanks!. I shall try that right now. And I think BlueTac is the same stuff as us Americans use, AKA StickyTac, or some other dollar store brand. I will try it right now and tell you if it works.

 

[Brian117]

Tried it..didn't work. It must not be my touch screen then..I just need a whole new DS Phat, and I'm set. Do they still sell DS Phats? o.o

 

[paul3100]

Tried it..didn't work. It must not be my touch screen then..I just need a whole new DS Phat, and I'm set. Do they still sell DS Phats? o.o

Just buy a dslite , i have never owned or seen a ds phat so i couldn't tell you as far as the touch screen goes but it sure does work on the lite.

A good idea when trying the bluetac/sticky tac is to place the tac on the ribbon cable and press it a little firmly whilst placing the battery and switching on and testing the touch screen first before screwing the back back on, then if its not quite in place you save the time having to unscrew the back again.

paul

 

[Giangsta]

oh man, i just found out that in order to change the top screen properly i'd have to solder the speaker on to the new screen as well?

any tips on soldering, ive only had minimal experience with soldering