4Likes
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
I was trying to do a negitive display mod on my Mudman when at one point I found out I had two little springs on the table and I had absolutely no idea where they belonged. The just fell out of the mudule when I removed the module frame. After some research on the module and the internet I finally found out where they belong.
To make the search easier for the next person I decided to write a tutorial.
Please only disassemble the module if it's necessary and accept the fact the module might get (further) damaged during the process. Please read the whole tutorial before using it. Read the notes about the parts thoroughly before you start.
Because I started taking pitures when I had everything disassemled this is an assembly tutorial but if you do everything backwards for disassembly I think you'll be fine.
Here is an overview of the parts of the module:
When I refer to the parts front or back, I mean: Front is what you would see from the frontside of the watch (like if you were reading the time).
There are 6 springs in the module. Each spring of course has two sides, one side however is bigger than the other. I will refer to these sides as the narrow side and the wide side.
Some notes about the parts:
Avoid touching any part with your fingers or make as little fingercontact as possible.
1. LCD Front cover: This white plastic cover/LCD holder has cutouts for the LCD, the EL panel and the LCD backcover. The side with all cutouts is the back side.
2. LCD panel: After I took off the polarizing film there was some gummy residue on the display. I removed it with some alcohol but also removed the text and lines that were printed on it. The way it's shown on the picture is with the right side up and it's the front side. The mirror film is on the backside.
3. EL panel: this is your backlight panel. The overview pictures shows the front side. On the back side there are two gold colored contacts left and right to power the panel.
4. EL springs: These 2 very little gold colored springs make contact between the EL panel and the PCB for the power.
5. LCD conductive strips: Be extra carefull with these strips. These make the contact between the LCD panel and the PCB. Avoid touching these with your fingers and if it's necessary touch only the bigger grey planes. Between these planes are lots of contacts you really don't want to damage.
6. LCD Back cover: This white plastic cover is flat on one side and has two edges on the the other side. The flat plane is the front side.
7. Case springs: These two gold colored springs are the ones that fell out of the mudule and actually are the reason I started this tutorial. The make contact between the PCB and the front Module case (14) to know if the module is sitting it its case or not.
8. PCB: This is the circuitboard, the heart of the watck. What you see on the overview picture is the back side. Avoid touching any contact on this board with your fingers.
9. Accidentally skipped 9. but lets make this one 'a lot of patientce'. Don't rush things and all parts should fit without pressure. Even the frame can be pressed on with minimum pressure.
10. Backplate spring: This silver colored spring makes contact between the PCB and the backplate of the watch.
11. Battery holder: I left the battery in the whole time, mainly for the sticker on it as a referal of the right upper and bottom side. what you see is the back side.
12. Module frame spring: Gold colored spring that makes contact between the PCB and the Module frame (13).
13. Module frame: This metal frame has clips on the side that clamp on the LCD front cover. This part holds the module together. After removing this frame all springs in the module are loose and there is a big chance they will fall out when moving module. My advice: when removing the frame, read the tutorial backwards and remove the springs one by one manually with some tweezers and put them in a safe place. If they fall out without you noticing them, you will have a long searching experience . They are the size of a breadcrum so please be warned.
The side showing on the overiew is the back side.
14. Module/watch case: On bottomside of the crystal there are two contact point for the Case springs (7). Make sure they're clean.
15. Seal: On the overviewpicture you see the back side.
16. Backplate: Make sure it's clean on the inside, especially where the spring makes contact.
Okay let's start, cleaning all parts thoroughly before assembly goes without saying.
First you need to place the LCD front cover (1) with the frontside down, like on the picture below.
Take the LCD panel (2) and place it with the front side down into the cover (1).
Turn it with the front side towards you and make sure it looks like the picture below.
Turn it around again, frontside down and place the EL panel (3) on there with the front side down, like on the picture below.
Place the EL spring on the contacts with the wide side on the EL panel contact points.
It is possible to do this after the netxt step, but it was easier for me this way. I placed the tiny springs on the EL panel and placed them onto the contactpoints using a toothpick.
Place the LCD back cover (6) on top with the front side down. This should fit nicely over all parts and make the whole thing more or less flat. Take care for the two tiny springs. If one of them shoots out, you'll have to find it firstand place it through the hole where it should be. The hole of the back cover is big enough.
Place the two strips (5) inside the slots (carefully!) where the arrows point in the picture below. The strips are the same and the sides of the strips are the same.
Place the two Case springs (7) into the two holes through the assembled part. The springs go in with the narrow side down. The tops stick out a litle bit, that's okay.
Carefully place the PCB (8) on top like the picture below.
Take the battery holder (11) and put the silver colored backplate spring (10) in the hole shown on the picture below. What you see on the picture is the front side of the battery holder. The spring goes is with the narrow side down.
Twist it around carefully until it fits nicely. It should look like the picture below, the spring should be kept in place by the little piece of metal that's bent to the outside.
Now a tricky part is to turn the battery holder around without the spring falling out. What I did was putting a little side pressure on the spring so it stays in place. Anyway, turn the battery holder so the front side is facing down and place it on the rest of the module like the picture below. The purple arrow is the backplate spring (10)
The red arrow is the tiny hole in the battery holder where Module frame spring (12) should go in. Place the spring in with the narrow side down. If you look closely you can see the gold colored spring sitting in the picture below.
Close the module by lightly pressing the frame over the battery holder all the way down to the LCD front cover. All the side clamps should click over their counterpart on the LCD front cover. If done correctly the module is now firmly mounted and no springs or parts can fall out.
The backside should look like the picture below.
And the front side like this:
Put the module carefully back in it's case. If it doesn't go smoothly press the metal flaps where the pushbuttons are slightly in so they can move over the pushbuttons.
Don't forget the seal;
Place the backplate and protective gasket and close the watchcase. Voilà, that's it, I think it's not that hard if you just take your time and being carefull.
I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial and find it helpfull. Thank you for reading and good luck if you're working on a module.
Here are some pictures of the mod I did to the Mudman. I used the polarizing film from 3D glasses from the cinema I had laying around.
Good light condition:
poor light contdtion:
http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/...d/DSCN4536.jpg
EL on:
Reply With Quote
