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The original state: what was broken?

A project log for Toshiba T3200SXC fix/upgrade: new PSU, LCD, WiFi

Restoration of 31-year old first* portable with color TFT screen. Re-designed PSU, adaptor for new LCD, WiFi with untouched chassis

wojciech-adalbert-jWojciech "adalbert" J 07/21/2022 at 22:330 Comments

When I acquired the machine, the original power supply was still working, but the screen, the miracle of 1990 technology, active color matrix 640x480 Sharp LQ10D013 unfortunately was severly degraded. The image was almost entirely (FFFFFF-like) white, with some barely visible pale (FEFEFE-like) characters. After some time the screen got completely dead.

LQ10D013 LCD in case
LQ10D013 LCD in case


I decided to replace it with another TFT screen with 640x480 resolution, also made by Sharp: LQ104V1DW01. It was a newer model, much slimmer but same screen size, also backlit by CCFLs, also utilizing TTL RGB interface but with 18-bits instead of 9-bits (it was much easier to find an 18-bit replacement, as this is a more modern standard). Therefore it required to be adapted mechanically and electrically, and that process will be described in other updates.

Old and new LCD
Old and new LCD

After some time the power supply also died and the machine was no longer turning on. Getting to the PSU was much more difficult, as it required tearing down the entire machine. It turned out, that there was a massive capacitor leak and the board was covered in electrolyte, showing signs of corroson.

Damaged power supply, visible leak
Damaged power supply, visible leak
Old power supply, top side
Old power supply, top side

It might be possible to clean up the PCB, restore any damaged traces and replace defective components, however I would like to avoid working with high voltage AC. The power supply technology has also advanced quite a bit over the years, so I decided to rebuild the PSU from scratch, using DC-DC converters, thus enabling battery opperation and even powering from USB-C PD powerbanks.

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