Here is a question - Anyone have Lynx repair experience?

[Tripntrancr]

I have 7 broken Lynx units (strangely enough, all Lynx II. I am supposing the Lynx I did not have many problems with breaking down). I have been tryin to figure out what the problems are, but have been getting nowhere switching parts around. Perhaps there could have been an known issue of the power ports on the Lynxes burning out? Or perhaps some transistor or capacitor was known to fail after a certain amount of uses or the mistake of placing the power cable into the comlynx port (which I have been known to do).

Could anyone enlighten me on this?

Thank you all in advance for your replies!

Peace
-Wesley :P

[FABombjoy]

I had a busted Lynx 2 that I fixed by repeatedly throwing on the ground, squishing the display on, and applying torsional force too. After a while, it turned into something of a pressure-sensative noise machine. I continued my onslaught of destruction of the poor little machine and after about 1/2 hour of torture it started working. I don't really know what posessed me to treat it in such a manner.

So, I suggest that you beat the crap out of them until they work.

*footnote: I eventually opened it up and noticed that one of the leads to the timing crystal had almost no solder. I put some more solder on, and it's been working fine ever since.

[Duncan]

On a somewhat related note, can anyone tell me how to get the screen cover off of the Lynx 2? Mine has some dust-crap underneath that I'd like to get out...

Duncan :D

[ozyr]

I have 7 broken Lynx units (strangely enough, all Lynx II. I am supposing the Lynx I did not have many problems with breaking down). I have been tryin to figure out what the problems are, but have been getting nowhere switching parts around. Perhaps there could have been an known issue of the power ports on the Lynxes burning out? Or perhaps some transistor or capacitor was known to fail after a certain amount of uses or the mistake of placing the power cable into the comlynx port (which I have been known to do).

Could anyone enlighten me on this?

Thank you all in advance for your replies!

Peace
-Wesley :P

In my experience, the Lynx II was not made very well. All units I have looked at (over 1/2 dozen) have incredibly messy solder jobs on them. This could lead to all maner of problems, as solder joints can come loose. The biggest problem of course is the power plus breaking free of the circuit board, so that the unit will only work with batteries.

Without knowing the exact problem with your units, it's hard to say exactly what is wrong. I have 3 bad ones - 1 w/no screen (but it works otherwise), one just plain dead, and 1 - screen blink on/off at random times. Have not been able to fix any of them, so I keep them for spare parts..

[ozyr]

On a somewhat related note, can anyone tell me how to get the screen cover off of the Lynx 2? Mine has some dust-crap underneath that I'd like to get out...

Duncan :D

The Lynx II is a pain in the ass to get dust off from behind the screen. You have to take the rubber pads off of the back of the unit, open it up and pretty much take the entire unit apart to get the dust out (I've done this on dozens of units - and it's not fun :angry: ). The ribbon cables and joypads are the hardest things to keep track of and put back together correctly.

If you try opening the unit, the biggest thing is to be very observant and make sure you know where things go when you put it back together (I've put Lynx II back together and forgot a part - not fun....).

Good luck...

:D

[ozyr]

I had a busted Lynx 2 that I fixed by repeatedly throwing on the ground, squishing the display on, and applying torsional force too. After a while, it turned into something of a pressure-sensative noise machine. I continued my onslaught of destruction of the poor little machine and after about 1/2 hour of torture it started working. I don't really know what posessed me to treat it in such a manner.

So, I suggest that you beat the crap out of them until they work.

*footnote: I eventually opened it up and noticed that one of the leads to the timing crystal had almost no solder. I put some more solder on, and it's been working fine ever since.

You found out what I did - Lynx II soldering is piss poor. Great that you got it going again!!!

[Tripntrancr]

Well, I have checked all of them and while the soldering does look shizzy, it does not appear as if anything is broken or disconnected. I did have one unit that functioned with only batteries or comlynx cable for power for awhile, but it finally died, too.. any light to shed on that oddity???

[Duncan]

The Lynx II is a pain in the ass to get dust off from behind the screen. You have to take the rubber pads off of the back of the unit, open it up and pretty much take the entire unit apart to get the dust out (I've done this on dozens of units - and it's not fun :angry: ). The ribbon cables and joypads are the hardest things to keep track of and put back together correctly.

If you try opening the unit, the biggest thing is to be very observant and make sure you know where things go when you put it back together (I've put Lynx II back together and forgot a part - not fun....).

Well, I didn't spend much on it, so I won't feel bad if it breaks. But I'll probably give it a shot. I appreciate the info!

[Duncan]

Update...

I opened her up and found that, yes, it certainly would be an absolute bitch to get everything back in order if I took it too far apart. (That ribbon cable is really flimsy, and seems to be rather brittle to boot!) The furthest I got was pulling the battery case out and lifting the main board a little bit -- then I got scared and put it back together again. Powered right up and still works great, thankfully.

Thus, I feel like just living with the dirt that's under there rather than screwing around with it any longer. I'll consider it a learning experience, at least. :)

Thanks for your help, anyway!