Virtual Boy Ribbon Cable Brace

thingiverse

This piece aids in repairing malfunctioning virtual boy displays caused by poor adhesion of the display ribbon cable. This is not my design it came from the Ben Heck Show virtual boy tear down project here: https://github.com/thebenheckshow/264-266-tbhs-Virtual-Boy-Teardown-and-Build I modified it so that it scales properly in metric units. I feel like it belongs here along side all the other great virtual boy repair parts. The brace installs over where the cable connects to the PCB and is fastened in place using the existing screw on the display assembly. After using heat and your thumbs to finesse the ribbon cable back into making contact with the PCB, use this piece along with some thin foam between it and the cable to help keep the cable in place. I had to use a file to slightly reduce the width of the piece opposite to the screw hole, so it would fit between the pcb and housing. It is only held in by friction so filing too much could cause it not to fit snuggly. I have only tested it over night but it seems stable so far. Repair attempts using heat alone failed pretty quickly in my case. The oven method did not give me a reliable long term fix so I'm hoping this will aid it. It took me several attempts at getting a stable display after using this part. I think the key is a bit of luck and experimentation to get the cable aligned properly, then using this piece to help it stay aligned. I do not believe this issue is purely ribbon cable to PCB adhesion, I think due to it losing adhesion the pins also lose alignment. From side to side or by rotation. A side tip, I decided to use a very small amount of hot glue to tack the IPD and focus sliders into place so they cannot be moved any longer. I feel that this is an important step because using this cable design on a moving part is likely a reason why these failed so frequently. I believe it's wise to make these parts no longer move. I don't think the IPD or focus adjustments actually mattered that much anyway.