• Canon Vixia HF R400 camcorder - black screen LCD

    From Fred@21:1/5 to All on Thu Feb 2 23:42:36 2023
    This camera has one of those rotating displays so you can see it from the
    front of the camera. The display was working fine, then just died. No
    light at all. I tried the flashlight test to see if it was just the
    backlight, but there's nothing visible. However, the camera seems to boot
    up, and if I connect an HDMI cable, I get video. So apparently the camera
    is still working ok except for the LCD display.

    I found a couple disassembly videos on Youtube, and thought I would take it apart to see if perhaps a ribbon cable has come loose, or if the switch
    that tells the camera that the display door is open isn't working. But
    before undertaking that, I wanted to see if anyone here has a suggestion
    for a simpler solution. I guess the problem could also be in the pivot connections, but if that's the case there's nothing I could fix there.

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  • From abrsvc@21:1/5 to Fred on Fri Feb 3 10:00:34 2023
    On Friday, February 3, 2023 at 12:42:42 AM UTC-5, Fred wrote:
    This camera has one of those rotating displays so you can see it from the front of the camera. The display was working fine, then just died. No
    light at all. I tried the flashlight test to see if it was just the backlight, but there's nothing visible. However, the camera seems to boot
    up, and if I connect an HDMI cable, I get video. So apparently the camera
    is still working ok except for the LCD display.

    I found a couple disassembly videos on Youtube, and thought I would take it apart to see if perhaps a ribbon cable has come loose, or if the switch
    that tells the camera that the display door is open isn't working. But
    before undertaking that, I wanted to see if anyone here has a suggestion
    for a simpler solution. I guess the problem could also be in the pivot connections, but if that's the case there's nothing I could fix there.
    You have identified the two most common failures for these units. The ribbon cable is the more likely.
    Being a Canon, you are not likely to find a replacement cable.

    Dan

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  • From Fred@21:1/5 to All on Fri Feb 3 16:34:15 2023
    abrsvc says...

    You have identified the two most common failures for
    these units. The ribbon cable is the more likely. Being
    a Canon, you are not likely to find a replacement cable.

    Thanks. Yesh, I'm hoping it's just that the ribbon cable
    has come loose. Well, it's an old camera, so I may need to
    get a new one. But I think it's worth the effort to try to
    fix it. I don't think it would make sense to send it to
    Canon for repair, but I'll check with them if I have no
    luck.

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  • From Fred@21:1/5 to All on Sun Feb 5 15:31:08 2023
    Fred says...
    abrsvc says...

    You have identified the two most common failures for
    these units. The ribbon cable is the more likely. Being
    a Canon, you are not likely to find a replacement cable.

    Thanks. Yesh, I'm hoping it's just that the ribbon cable
    has come loose. Well, it's an old camera, so I may need to
    get a new one. But I think it's worth the effort to try to
    fix it. I don't think it would make sense to send it to
    Canon for repair, but I'll check with them if I have no
    luck.

    I was able to disassemble the camera, reseat the ribbon cable,
    confirm that the switch is working, and reassemble everything.
    But nothing has changed, The LCD is still dead. So it may be
    some problem on the main board. I would have no way to fix that,
    even assuming I could identify the exact problem. So I'll
    probably look for a used replacement for the camcorder.

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  • From abrsvc@21:1/5 to Fred on Mon Feb 6 07:57:46 2023
    On Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 4:31:13 PM UTC-5, Fred wrote:
    Fred says...
    abrsvc says...

    You have identified the two most common failures for
    these units. The ribbon cable is the more likely. Being
    a Canon, you are not likely to find a replacement cable.

    Thanks. Yesh, I'm hoping it's just that the ribbon cable
    has come loose. Well, it's an old camera, so I may need to
    get a new one. But I think it's worth the effort to try to
    fix it. I don't think it would make sense to send it to
    Canon for repair, but I'll check with them if I have no
    luck.
    I was able to disassemble the camera, reseat the ribbon cable,
    confirm that the switch is working, and reassemble everything.
    But nothing has changed, The LCD is still dead. So it may be
    some problem on the main board. I would have no way to fix that,
    even assuming I could identify the exact problem. So I'll
    probably look for a used replacement for the camcorder.

    Look at the ribbon cable carefully with magnification. The problems with these is not that the cable gets loose but that there are small cracks in the cable itself.
    It is possible that there is a problem with the board as well. Look for small SMD caps that may have leaked in the area. These too can cause problems of various types in cameras of that age.

    Dan

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