How Long Have Replacement DS Lite Top Screens Had Ribbon Adaptors Fitted?

[UK_Ray]

Hi Everyone,

I used to fix DS Lite consoles until around 2016, so I've seen a few.
Last week I purchased 3 replacement top screens from China from 3 different sellers.
2 arrived this week and both have a dead pixel on them.
The third one arrived today and I have never seen one like it, my first thought was god I've waited a week and they've sent the wrong one


As you can see, the ribbon that gets rolled up connects to a short ribbon on the screen, so if your hinge breaks and your ribbon splits - you can just replace the ribbon and you would only need to solder the speakers on.

If you look closely, it looks like a bottom screen that has been fitted into the casing from the top screen.

I actually love the idea, over the years thousands of top screens that were in fully working order with the exception of a split ribbon cable must have been thrown away, if these had been fitted originally it would have been so much better for the environment.

The beauty of this is, if it has a dead pixel like the other 2 I bought, I have several spare bottom screens so I should be able to just plug one of them into it instead.


So I was wondering if anyone knew how long they have been making them like this? and I'm assuming later models of the DS Lite never had this type fitted as standard?

Any idea if it is possible to buy just the ribbon adaptor/converter on its own? the whole thing was £8 but I would be willing to pay that just for the ribbon converter.

 

[fli_guy84]

I'd say these have come out within the past year or so. I was also surprised by it when I got it the first time. It made soldering the speaker wires much easier since you can just solder them onto the detachable FPC.

However, the installation became a bit harder since the FPC area where you solder the speaker wires doesn't allign with the same area of the original screen FPC. So while I have not seen any issues, bad soldering might cause some speaker wires to be pinched.

I haven't never seen anyone selling just the detachable cable. While you can connect it to any DS Lite bottom screen, the metal case of the screen doesn't match. So it's not really a 1:1 replacement. But with some double-sided tape to hold the screen firmly, I guess it's possible.

 

[Apache Thunder]

All this talk of adapters makes me wonder if you could 3D print a DS XL case and with adapters of some kind retro fit DSi XL screens onto it. You'd have to solder on an extension board for the D-PAD so they'd align properly with the larger shell...but I wonder if that's feasible? Depends on if the DSi screens would be electrically compatible or not I suppose.

EDIT:

Looks like someone had the idea to try this:





They aren't one to one so adapters are needed but looks doable. Someone just needs to 3D print a custom bottom shell (maybe try and reuse DSi XL top screen shell). I think you'd have to also build a passive extension to the GBA slot to reach the bottom edge of the shell properly to account for the extra size but this seems like a feasible project with someone with the parts required to pull it off.

 

[UK_Ray]

I think you'd have to also build a passive extension to the GBA slot to reach the bottom edge of the shell properly to account for the extra size but this seems like a feasible project with someone with the parts required to pull it off.

This seems a lot of work, would it not be easier to do the DS Lite TV mod - and then instead of connecting it to a TV, make an adaptor so it fits into one of the old PS One LCD screens?

Have to admit I like Reddit, I'm not a member but I like reading the crazy ideas and mods they try on there, I would love to have a 3D printer, the custom things you can make with them would be a good earner.

Post automatically merged: Mar 30, 2024

Well, I have just fitted it and I have to agree with @fli_guy84, the installation is harder.

After soldering the speakers, I realised that the ribbon cable faces the wrong way! see picture below, the new screen is the one with the speakers soldered.



This means you have to fold the ribbon cable - knowing how delicate ribbon cables are, I'm not sure I trust it long term, also after fitting it, if you run your finger across the area of the left speaker, you can feel a slight bulge where the cable is folded.

If you haven't replaced your DS Lite top screen before, I wouldn't recommend trying it with these screens, rolling the flex cable is probably the hardest part the job normally so having to fold it and then roll it makes it even more tricky.

You never know, in the future these may be the only type of DS Lite top screen replacements available, so with that in mind if I ended up having to fit another, I would probably buy some speaker wire and replace the wire on the right speaker so it is half a centimetre longer.

If I had realised the flex cable was the opposite way round and would need folding in the first place, I would have soldered the speakers differently to accommodate that.

Post automatically merged: Mar 30, 2024

While you can connect it to any DS Lite bottom screen, the metal case of the screen doesn't match. So it's not really a 1:1 replacement. But with some double-sided tape to hold the screen firmly, I guess it's possible.

The frame is different but you can swap that over and use it, no need for double sided tape,

You just have to very carefully use a craft knife blade to unclip the frame, getting it off the bottom screen is easy, the top screen frame is a bit more tricky as it has double sided tape on the back and if you force it you could break the screen but if you are changing it it's obviously broken so it wouldn't matter.

Finally you peel the foam padding off the back of the bottom screen and then you can fit it into the top screen frame.




I have probably posted a bunch of info and pics that are useless to many but if someone else is doing a top screen replacement and comes across similar issues it may be helpful.

Post automatically merged: Mar 31, 2024

A quick update to this thread...

The screen doesn't have any bad pixels, so I was happy with it... but the bulge in the shell next to the speaker was bugging me so I opened it back up and decided to do some fettling.

I used a very sharp scalpel and scraped / cut away the plastic in the red area below to make sure it was flat, this solved the problem and now it all fits nicely.



Something to note, if you go on to Chinese sites or Amazon or eBay and search for a 'DS Lite Top Frame' the brand new ones all seem to now have that area flat - which wasn't the case for my original housing or the new shell I fitted but it I did buy the shell 8 years ago so it's basically and old version.

So if you are fitting a new shell at the same time you may not need to modify this part.

 

[R-a-c-h]

Perhaps the people at the BingDow store read this forum... https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006756417259.html £2.34 GBP.