E-mu Emulator Sampler User Forum for the EIII EII EI and EIII XP

Can someone that has installed a VFD in an Emax please outline the wiring procedure for the rest of us?
I have the old display out and am looking at the new one. I see that holes have to be drilled in the PCB to accommodate the new display, but how should it be wired?
Thanks in advance, Jay.

I think I have figured this out. I am taking pictures at every step. Will post them when it's up an running.

I'm just curious to know why you went the VFD route rather than just changing the EL foil?.. The VFD is obviously requiring quite a bit more work and wondered what advantages is gives


 :)

Existing LCD/backlight was fine. It looks cool and is more up to date. Plus, it's a challenge!

So after quite a bit of work, everything is up and running and looking nice.

Be warned- this is A LOT of work. Also, this mod is forever if you use the Noritake VFD. You will have to remove certain factory sockets and drill holes into the display board which permanently destroys the original circuitry.

PARTS/TOOL LIST:

The new display, obviously.
22 Gauge electrical wire.
A good soldering station.
De-soldering wick or pump.
Light filter gel sheet of your color choice.
Small plastic wire ties X2.
Electrical tape.
A Dremel rotary grinder or something like it.
Razor knife.
A small plastic ruler.
Adhesive velcro strips/pads.
Electrical contact spray cleaner (1 can)
Rags.
Drill & bits.
Wire strippers/cutters.
Fine tipped felt marker (permanent)


I did this mod on a keyboard version. I also redid the PSU, installed a CF reader and slim floppy drive, replaced all of the LEDs with those nice bright ones and various other little improvements while I was at it.
I took a bunch of pics as I did each stage, but I won't post them all here for obvious reasons. If you need more, or help with it, feel free to ask questions.


Firstly, dismantle the Emax completely except for the floppy/mod wheel cage assembly and the PSU. You should be left with the plastic casing with the floppy, wheels and PSU still attached. I put all of the fasteners in a zip lock bag and all of the circuit boards etc out of harms/cat's way.

The first order of business is to remove the old LCD from the display board. I recommend removing the LEDs from it as you will be handling the output board quite a bit during the whole process. They just pull out of their sockets.

The factory LCD has a row of 14 pins on its left side in two vertical rows of 7. There are a couple of pins on the right side that will not be used again. The LCD is easily removed from its sockets by gently prying up on either end of it with a small flat blade electricians screw driver or something similar. Work either side evenly until you can pull the assemble free. The pins are quite long, so take your time as they will bend and possibly break if forced. Just to be clear, the LCD is not soldered into position on the display board.
 
Once the LCD has been removed, you will need to remove the two reddish colored pin sockets that it was attached to. These sockets ARE soldered onto the output board. Gently heat each pin with your soldering iron and de-solder the connection. I used de-soldering wick pressed onto the pin while I heated it. After you have removed the majority of the solder on the pins, you can actually push the pins through the circuit board with your soldering iron tip. Do this for each one and then remove and discard the pin sockets.

You will see four small holes drilled into the display board that looks as if there should have been screws there. You will not be able to use them with your new display. If you try, your display will not line up correctly in the display space on the keyboard front panel casing. Trust me on this one. I tried every which way and it just can't be done if you want it to look right.

On the front of your new display, there are 14 small holes running horizontally across the top. These are your new connection points. You will not use any other connection points on your new display. Ignore them. They number 1-14 from left to right. Cut 14 8" pieces of 22 gauge wire and set them aside. They will be your jumper wires after you cut the display board.

The display board must be drilled out to accommodate the two electrical components that are on the rear of your new display unit. If you do not provide a space for them to recess into, your output board will be bowed when you screw it back into the keyboard case. Not desirable.

In order for your display to line up nicely, do this:
Place it on the display board with the edges of the new display unit covering half of the screw hole openings. This may be a bit difficult to explain. You want to see only half of those four screw holes on the display board showing. The edge of your display unit will partially cover each of those holes like a half moon. If you have the display set like that, it will be nice and lined up.
Once you have a good idea of where your new display will sit, you need to mark the display board where those two protruding electrical components touch it on the rear of your new display. Those areas that you mark will need to have holes drilled through.
I forget the size of drill bit that I used, but just make sure that it is slightly larger than the circumference of the electrical components.

Next, you need to make sure that you have drilled your holes in the right spots. Don't panic if you have to re-drill or make a hole bigger. The area behind the display is now abandoned for all intents and purposes.
I had to bore out my first attempts a little bit in order to get the new display to sit flat on the display board.
Once the display sits flat on the display board, its time to move on.

Set up for soldering. Have all your stuff within reach as there will be some repetition here.

Strip 1/8" of each end of the 14 wires you cut earlier.
"Tin" the stripped wire ends with solder.
Clip the stripped wire ends so that there is only a very small amount of exposed wire showing.
You need to solder the wires onto the new display connection holes from THE TOP SIDE.
Insert and solder one wire at a time into the new display connector holes. Start at the left side (pin 1) and move across all the way to number 14. Take your time and make sure that you have done a good solid soldering job.
The pin numbers where the old display was, (those two rows of 7 on the left that I mentioned earlier) go like this if you are looking at the front of the display board:

14-13     ----------------------------------------------
12-11     |                                                       |
10-09     |                                                       |
08-07     |            APPROX LCD AREA              |
06-05     |                                                       |
04-03     |                                                       |
02-01     ----------------------------------------------

You will need to follow each of these old pin traces across the board down to the right side where the pins are for the ribbon connector that connects the front panel to the Digital Board. What we are doing here is bypassing all of the old paths to the old display as they are now abandoned and damaged.
This is where you will need to connect your new display wires to.

Before you do this, you will need to secure the new display to the display board. Use adhesive velcro. Don't glue it on, don't wire it on, don't secure it with anything but velcro. If you ever need to remove or adjust it, you will be thankful for this very important detail. I tried all kinds of different ways to secure it without using glues and the velcro thing is the way to go. I used two small pieces stuck onto the flat parts underneath the new display unit. It works great as it is non-permanent and also provides a cushioned base for it to sit on. Don't worry about getting it lined up exactly just yet.

Follow each trace from the 14 pins and solder the appropriate wire to it's matching pin. You will start to see a pattern as to how they are numbered. They run top to bottom, right to left. The only exception is pin 1 if I recall. Just make sure to follow each trace every time just to be sure.

With this done, the worst is over. Use two small plastic wire ties to keep the new wires together close to the display unit. Don't tie them past half of their total length towards the pins that you just soldered.

Don't forget to re-install your front panel LEDs if you removed them.

With the plastic Emax case upside down on a work surface, you will need to grind a little area of plastic down in order to have the new display fit evenly against the case. Line up the display as I described earlier on the display board using the velcro adhesive pads and place the now modified display circuit board back in the Emax case. Use two of it's mounting screws to tighten it down temporarily. Be sure to check that the new display wiring is not trapped under the board or against any of the mounting pillars.
Flip the case over and check the display alignment and adjust as you see fit. This is where you will see where you will need to grind the plastic casing on one side of the display opening in order for it to fit flush. I think it was only a half inch or so. If you are not concerned with it fitting perfectly, then you may end up skipping this step. I would recommend removing the plastic to get a nice fit. That was where I used a Dremel grinding tool. It worked perfectly and only took a matter of seconds.

For a light filter on the display, I ordered a sheet of Roscolux blue gel. It was like $6 plus shipping.
I cut out the approximate size with a razor knife and secured it to the display glass with a couple of slivers of electrical tape on either end.

That is pretty much it. I put the thing back together, held my breath and turned it on. It was worth the hassle as it looks great now (in my opinion).
I hope I explained it well enough to be of some assistance, but it was a learning curve for me too. Just go slow and be methodical.

BTW, I tried to upload pix, but it says 'uploader is full'


Jay

Jay,

Nice work.  Yeah man, the Noritake is so worth it.    I am fitting my Doepfer Regelwerk and Schaltwerk sequencers with them next.   Not easy but they just look so much better with VFD's.

My Emax 1 and EIII are gonna get the treatment too eventually.   


Great post!

nice one Jay!! thanks for droppin da knowledge

Thanks guys!