LED Dot Matrix Scrolling Sign Repair

[@jlucasound]

Your style of repair is teaching as well as taking us on the "adventure". It is the most comprehensive method I have experienced in my life. I am 62. It is almost as if others willingly or unwillingly were keeping certain key details from the average self taught repair person. I have learned as much from you in the past two months as I have from watching videos for some years now. You have the right formula, Mick. I am "visual". And you don't leave anything out. You speed up when doing trivial stuff! Perfectly done. Thanks, Mick. Don't change anything...except what you are fixing. ❤😺🙂👍

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks so much 👍Really glad that you are enjoying my videos. I started the channel to try and help people repair their own items, so I'm glad it's helping and thank you for your support!

[@tomharris1457]

I've added you to my list: History Guy, Techmoan,Mr. Carlson's Lab, Technology Connection. Keep it up!

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Tom 👍

[@CocktaiLMolotovX]

you forgot PornHub.

[@sp523]

Mick, Another great repair. Your voice is very calm and soothing and your videos are very relaxing to watch. Keep up the great work! Steve

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Steve! When I first started doing videos I wasn't sure how my voice and accent would come across. Probably more of a self confidence thing, but thanks for your comments and letting me know 🙂👍

[@sp523]

Mick, I’m from the US and your accent is very easy for me to understand. Some of our “American” English accents are much harder to understand than the way that you speak. I’m sure that you might find it similar to the regional accents that some people have in the UK. I’m glad your channel is growing. You do put out a variety of different types of repairs and I enjoy that part of your work too!

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks SP, I only just noticed your reply. Yes I do try and do a wide variety of things as I think repairing the same thing like a Nintendo switch over and over again gets a little bit boring after a while. It does make it a little harder to think of and acquire new items to repair though...

[@OH8EFI]

Agreed. These are soothing to watch!

[@jlucasound]

@@BuyitFixit I've got Scot in me blood so I am right at home with your speech. Takes me "Home".

[@Mymatevince]

Really good Mick 👍

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Vince 👌👌👍👍

[@thetraindriver01]

Awesome fix, love the message at the end 😂👍😊

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍😂😂😂😂😂

[@rickoneill4343]

A great tip I've learned to identify things is the Google Lens app. Anything you take a picture of it will scan and try to find a match for online. Great for odd shaped components, stickers, etc. . Just used it the other day to find an exact latch clip for a overhead light.

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes I've used it a few times, it doesn't always get it right but it's still pretty good 👍

[@ralphj4012]

Well done. If the micro / TTL is actually running at 3V (you mentioned a 3V regulator) you could use a Lantronix xPico WiFi module (WiFi in, 3V TTL out), though you may need more oomph on the 3V power supply.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Ralph👍. I had been thinking of one of the esp8266 boards as they can be powered by 5v and are 3.3v logic on the output. I could then get it to connect to wifi, scrape data and display it. I might actually do this as another video as a couple of people mentioned about doing a follow up one.

[@darrenwardell3079]

Brilliant video 👍 i thought it might have been the cap you missed where the two matrix boards are connected but shows what do i know 😂😂

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍

[@larrybud]

So one tip if you're ever working on something with an annoying beeper like this: Put a piece of tape over the hole in the transducer. It mutes it up nicely. Also, I don't know what I find more impressive: Your repair skills, or your ebay finding skills!

[@BuyitFixit]

Cheers for that LarryBud 👍

[@BM-jy6cb]

I find a blob of blutak works wonders - even on fully working stuff!

[@chrisbartlett6022]

Great fun. Remember replacing one of those batteries but not noticing it had a plastic "safety" film on it. DOPE 🙂 Good place for the sign is Vehicle rear window 🙂

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Chris.Yes this one had one too, I removed it before fitting. I think it's supposed to be there to stop small children from eating them and has a disgusting bitter taste.

[@qwerty-cg7hv]

@BuyitFixit This looks exceedingly like a unit that I picked up at an auction years ago. The software CD that came with it is "SignData Moving-Sign version 3.9 June 2008" Model No SIGNDATA-DS780RG2 The software includes loads of odd graphics images so mine sits in the front window of the house wishing people a "Happy Christmas" With Santa and his sleigh scrolling across!!! I no longer have a PC with a CD drive or suitable connection, so for now I'm stuck with using it just for Christmas. The beeps and dying squeel are very familiar :-) At least if it ever fails I have a good idea where to look to fix it, some preventative maintenance may well be in order before it does. PS there are 51 buttons on the remote!! :-)

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks for the info 👍🙂

[@can1973ier]

These LED dot matrixes really does the job. I liked &subscribed.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks not tired 👍

[@Exciteonium]

A very nice segment repair :-)

[@BuyitFixit]

👍Thanks

[@OH8EFI]

The beeper got well excited when you unplugged the display. Sounded hilarious

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes 😂😂😂

[@robin9342]

ORAC, for anyone who gets the reference :)

[@mrjsv4935]

Nice fix, interesting device :) I've got a mini version, about the size of name tag which could be put on a shirt. Only one colour though (red), but messages can be written into it using it's own buttons, speed can be adjusted etc.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Mr JSV. This sign too you can adjust the speeds etc. I've just been messing with it. It was around 2am last night when I managed to get a message on it, so I didn't really have a lot of time to experiment until now!

[@SlartiMarvinbartfast]

Another nice and informative repair. that's something else saved from going in the trash and ending up as landfill. You deserve far more subs! Out of interest, does anyone know what happens to electronics goods in the UK that somehow end up at the local council's recycling hub? Are they ever offered up for repair or do they too just end up as landfill? I wish it was possible to buy faulty old electronics and mechanical devices from the recycling centres!

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks M Jons👍From my experience council recycling centres aren't supposed to sell electrical items to the public for health and safety reasons in case someone gets electrocuted with a faulty appliance. In reality it depends if you can get in with the lads or manager and they'll sometimes let you buy stuff from them unofficially...

[@ralphj4012]

At our so called recycling centre (UK) electronics (TV's, radios, IT stuff) used to be placed in a separate area and I have seen various recycling vans collect it. Now everything gets thrown into a skip (from a great height). Asked about possibly picking up items before and was met with a very blank stare.

[@wisher21uk]

STB commonly means standby well on tvs that’s the case Well done great fix, I just love leds too 😊

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Cucumber Man👍

[@wisher21uk]

@@BuyitFixit 👌

[@dash8brj]

My speakers really loved the beeping sound it was making - was really loud like I was in the workshop next to you! Great fix. I like the ESP module idea.

[@BuyitFixit]

LOL, I do process the audio to try and normalise the sound levels, and even adjust some things manually, guess the beeps were too short to be picked up. Thanks for the nice comment and I might do a follow up video at some point with the ESP 👍

[@matt.604]

I had a Keurig coffee machine doing the same beeping thing and it was bulging capacitors causing it to constantly restart. So as soon as I heard your sign beeping I knew caps are the first things to check. The faulty connector was a surprise.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍yes I think it was not crimped properly and had heated up causing a bad connection and not enough current to flow.

[@ovalwingnut]

Evan @ a penny per LED it's a steal. There is literally 1,000,000, yes? :O) That is one of the nicer ones I've seen - Very COoL. It's a shame that 'CAPS' have ended up being the bane of our existence. Hindsight is 20/20 of course. Cheers from So.CA.USA 3rd House On the Left.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍

[@tonythornton1383]

Great fix, once again. I configure a couple of LED signs at work and find the software I use very clunky. I’ll give Kitchi a try and see if it’s any better. Thanks.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Tony👍. I've just been messing with it and sending some bytes via some C# code I wrote just to get my head around what bytes do what.

[@firestorm.v1]

I have a Pro-Lite LED marquee that's very similar to yours. The serial port is going to be a 3.3v or a 5v level and there is a defined protocol, where control codes are used along with text to format messaging. On your model, once you get the serial UART figured out, look at the bottom of page 6 and the top of page 7 for the communication examples. In your mind, substitute "file" for "page", the message coding is paginated by what looks like 8192 bytes. To program this thing without the remote, the only recourse is serial, but with such a poor protocol document, you're going to end up having to bitbang it (or just get really drunk and try and program it, that might work too). The control codes are going to be outside of normal ASCII values (32-126) with maybe some others in the extended table being supported or pointing to specialized characters that was preprogrammed in the firmware. The programming examples already provide a simple (badly written) framework, it's just a matter of messing with what's provided to figure out the protocol better.

[@BuyitFixit]

I did find some code that someone wrote for a similar display (can't remember if I put the link in the video description) as you could easily use something like an esp32 and send commands over wifi or code it to be a KZbin / Twitter / weather or such display.

[@599miata]

That was agreat video. Well done mate.👍👍

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍Glad you enjoyed it 😊

[@jlucasound]

You may have said but I wanted to ask in case you didn't and I forget. What year was this made? Is there a brand? If it is common Chinese "fair" I am fine with that. I have a weakness for inexpensive Chinese modules and components. Some may fail but I think most will do what they are supposed to. If they fail, perfect opportunity to practice what Mick is teaching us. OK. 2007. Interesting. RS232. That's pretty old. Still cool stuff though. I still have Cakewalk that I can run on my Windows XP. It plays my Optimus Keyboard through a Creative Labs Live Drive. What an awesome old program. It has staff view and I can write music on the fly. I play the keyboard and it comes up on the staff. I am sure that is common with newer programs but it works for me! 😃

[@ibrahimkocaalioglu]

well done as usual 👍

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 🙂👍

[@fredwooding599]

I still say You are amazing.!!! 4 or 5 caps and a pwr shunt and all is well. 🙂

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Fred 👍

[@wherami]

Love the hacking at the end

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks JS 👍

[@Dutch_off_grid_homesteading]

Heya, 1more beautiful ( I love led's) and nice repair

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 👍

[@alfredocuomo1546]

They use rs232 serial interface because you can use it up to 300 feet so many of those signs would be attached to a computer to update them but the units have ram memory that stored the messages & that's what the keep alive 2023 battery was for. Many newer ones had Ethernet interfaces & would use Power over ethernet to run & update the signs. Nice fix, good video and it proves the old adage if anything has an electrolytic capacitor it's bad along with that wonderful smell they have when they get old. LMFIAO

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks 🙂👍

[@MrEwool]

Interesting video hope you do a follow up on it, yeah LED signs have so many uses I remember being a kid I always wanted a neon sign but LED is the next best thing. A thing I have been wondering, back in the 90' when working on electrictronics we had to be grounded because of static electricity but you do see that anymore, did they just get better at building things?

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Morten, I'm not sure on the static. I think you're supposed to still. I've just never bothered and I don't think I've killed anything yet with static, although I must confess I have managed to kill a few devices over the years 😂😂😂

[@MrEwool]

@@BuyitFixit yeah I would imagine the a few devices had to give up along the way, but that's the cost of learning and sometimes the just die with no cause

[@mc_cpu]

I subscribed!

[@BuyitFixit]

Thank You! I hope you enjoy the rest of my content!

[@craigmiles6145]

Did you notice the capacitor at the very end of the board?. You may have missed replacing that one. Great videos by the way.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks Craig. I'm pretty sure I changed all of the bulged capacitors on it. Perhaps that one was ok.

[@miftosaurus]

two times lucky! :D first, it was just a power supply issue, second you was able to find something at least usable to program the message to eprom... bad thing was to get that 8052 clone and/or cpld broken... no chance to recover the software. i think you can connect directly the usb/rs232 at his original socket, not really need to jump directly to 8052 pins. also, you can use it directly with an ESP8266, something like that... wifi and stuff. more interesting is to identify the matrix modules... if these are some known chips, like max7219, you can use these modules with any microcontroller with a decent library for them: any Arduinos, STM32, MCP, Raspberry something, etc... cpld's are expensive, their programming software, too, and their programmers, same, but they are powerful and versatile... too bad their cost make it not a choice for hobbysts! :(

[@BuyitFixit]

I've not had anything to do with CLPDs or FGPAs,.although I've used microcontrollers a bit, even before the Arduino came out. I remember using pic16f84s and writing stuff in asm 😂😂😂

[@vk3hau]

Looks very similar to the BetaBrite units I installed into two local hospitals, they use rs485 from the nurse call system, they are called annunciators, and they display the room numbers when the call button is press, different colour text for the importance of the call, RED for emergency, Orange for assistant, green for clear down call ( cancel call ). They are on a Daisy chain , with the end unit having a termination resistor ( i think it was 120 Ohms ) , about 20 unit installed at each hospital, installed about 15 years ago and still in use.

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes I came across those when I was trying different protocols to get the sign to display anything.

[@jaimecosta2966]

Excelente

[@BuyitFixit]

Thank you👍

[@wherami]

Very clever solder instead of desolder of those caps which can be awful.

[@BuyitFixit]

Also the leads were too short..🙂

[@specialservicesequipment393]

I've got a couple of the USB to RS232 converters, USB to RS422, and one RS-485 from when I worked on JRC radios and equipment.

[@BuyitFixit]

I've got a coue of the rs232 to usb converters too, and a rs485 adapter (used it on the solar inverter video where I had to reverse engineer their software as the company were most unhelpful) 😂😂😂 I don't have the RS422 though, don't think I've came across a device that uses one.

[@specialservicesequipment393]

@BuyitFixit rs422 and rs485 were fairly interchangeable. They used rs422 on ships to send data from the GPS to the radar and the ecdis (electronic charting) or data from the AIS (ship indentifier/interrogator) to the radar and ecdis. Of course all that data was routed to the VDR (voyage data recorder). Allot of industrial PLC units use RS422 or RS485

[@watsonpunk]

Looks like a BetaBrite LED Sign "clone". Great repair, looking forward to a follow up if you mod it for internet of things.

[@BuyitFixit]

Thanks watsonpunk 👍👍

[@ISquishWorms]

Could have it as a subscriber counter,fix counter and a lamb counter. 🙂

[@BuyitFixit]

😂😂😂@ Lamb counter. I've already got a subscriber counter but I had thought if it. It would be fairly easy to do with something like an esp8266 or esp32 and just pass serial data to the sign 👍

[@snipersquad100]

I tried making one of these a few years back, but It didn't work. I think I'll give it another go.

[@BuyitFixit]

I recently won 3 electronic touch screen tills for a total of 99p for the 3 + postage. Each has a 2 line dot matrix VFD so I might do something with those on a future video.

[@coondogtheman]

I have a mini nametag version of these that you can program in your message. It is a nametag so it originally ran on a CR2032 cell but over the years it started eating batteries so I hotwired it to run on 3 AAA cells and it will run continuously for maybe 4 days non stop on a set of batteries.

[@BuyitFixit]

Nice 👍. I saw some of those on Aliexpress when I was trying to find out who manufactured this one so I could find the software for it.

[@forevercomputing]

Are you sure that was an RS232 port? Looks more like an RJ socket

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes it's an RJ11 socket, but goes to an RS232 to TTL converter chip. Seems you can buy RJ11 to DB9 RS232 leads.

[@Sebastian953]

Looks like there was a usb version of this. U2 could be the ft232rl (28-pin ssop as on your ttl board) and instead of the rs232 connector there is a footprint for a usb-b connector.

[@BuyitFixit]

Good spot! Thanks for letting me know 👍

[@NiddNetworks]

I have a larger one of these I bought for another project - it's 160x28.... it has an external power supply - 5VDC at 40A - FORTY AMPS. The LEDs are tri-colour, but not RGB - they're RGY, which seems to be common on these signs. RGB would obviously be more useful....!

[@BuyitFixit]

Nice👍40A those leds can be a bit power hungry😂😂. I built an RGB xmas light show a good few years ago which was all ws2811 pixels, and syncronised to music that took a few power supplies at 5v! There's a few videos of it on my channel if you scroll back far enough...

[@Tuoto-i8c]

Hiiiiiii broooooooo😅😅😅

[@BuyitFixit]

Hiiiii!!!

[@NicksStuff]

I have no idea how you came to the conclusion it was the connector 🤯

[@BuyitFixit]

It looked like it had been overheating at the rear where the centre pin was rivited against the part that solders into the board. I guess it was not making a proper connection and not allowing enough current to flow when more LEDs were lit.

[@whitenorthstar]

great video thanks...could you please do a followup on this item...mods etc. anyone got the original remote control/software for this item? I bought the remote control from a seller on ebay brand new and it didnt work with my sign although the sign seems to be working perfectly...demo mode etc.

[@BuyitFixit]

I did find a RAR file of what was supposed to be the original software, unfortunately password protected. The software I used should allow you to program the sign. I did also find a github page were someone had wrote some code along with the communication protocol.

[@djkamilo66]

just change the caps on the powe supply

[@zehra150]

Sir i have a led display board he is not working properly 16 x 192 pixel size single board he is working in double diaplay

[@BuyitFixit]

It sounds like one of the driver chips has a fault and one of the pins is latched on continuously.

[@jstro-hobbytech]

This might be a stupid question. Repair is a hobby second to learning the textbook side of circuits. Can I replace smd electrolytic caps with same value brand name caps? It's for a vintage audio device I've had to do alot of trace work to. I paid 40 for it and it's worth 1k. Roland famously dis a whole production run of that years model with a bad batch of Sanyo caps. They haven't leaked except the power stage but the stink of the smd caps. Smells like cod fish oil haha

[@BuyitFixit]

I can't see any reason why not as long as the values are the same.

[@VSteam81]

Ahh man that bebber losing power just sounds weird at 18:43

[@KJ6EAD]

Finish the job. Replace the bad power connector and find an IR remote control for it.

[@BuyitFixit]

I did have a look for a remote, but I'm not sure what the correct one is. I did think of adding an esp32 and making it into a KZbin counter or something...

[@alexxustube]

ESP8266 is quite old. Just take an ESP32 instead 😊

[@BuyitFixit]

I think I've got both kicking around. I bought quite a few 8266's a while back when I built an addressable LED Christmas light show all sequenced to music. (Took me about 6 months to build it all and program / sequence it). There are some old videos of it on here, before I started doing repair videos.

[@eugenecussen3735]

Make it scroll your utube comments ?

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes, that's a great idea. I bought 3 faulty POS systems which have touch screens and VFDs so I might do a project or something with those in a future video 😊

[@2Sorts]

It could flick between the time and date and the subscriber count. I think techmoan has something similar.

[@BuyitFixit]

Yes, it should be fairly easy to do something like that. I've got one of those "LaMetric" clocks which does similar. I'm not sure if that's what TechMoan has. I've seen a few KZbinrs with them.

[@neiltheplayer]

Of course I enjoyed it lolol

[@BuyitFixit]

😂😂😂👍

[@gkruntz]

I'm jelous. :)

[@BuyitFixit]

😂😂😂👍

[@hipihei]

These types of scrolling led signs often create a s#!tload of emi..I think rather high dv/dt signals of led multiplexing and minimal effort with pcb layout design considering led return currents is in the core of the issue.. I've had loads of problems of them interfering bus radios while the windshield signs are on..usually bunch of differential- and common-mode filters required..😅 ..so personally..one of my nightmare products..

[@stevefox3763]

Have it in the back screen of your car like the old bill but to abuse other motorists when they do something that pisses you off ha ha

[@BuyitFixit]

Lol 👍I came across some code, written in VB.net I think, and they guy was using it for the very same thing. It had messages like 'Sorry' and 'your left headlight is busted' etc in the code.

[@stevefox3763]

@@BuyitFixit Sorry would not be in the list of words if i had it in my window pmsl...

[@BuyitFixit]

😂😂😂😂

[@54tony379]

you cut off the leads and solder the new

[@mal6232]

Better not to handle the mercury cells directly, the oils in your skin will form a high resistance path between the poles of the battery allowing it to self discharge. With them being used in extremely low current applications the self discharge forms a significant drain, shortening the battery's life.