Virtual Boy Ribbon Cable Brace

thingiverse

This piece helps fix malfunctioning virtual boy displays caused by poor adhesion of the display ribbon cable. It came from a design on the Ben Heck Show virtual boy teardown project here: https://github.com/thebenheckshow/264-266-tbhs-Virtual-Boy-Teardown-and-Build, but I modified it to scale properly in metric units. I think it belongs here with all the other great virtual boy repair parts. The brace installs over where the cable connects to the PCB and is secured using the existing screw on the display assembly. After using heat and your thumbs to carefully manipulate the ribbon cable back into 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 file down the width of the piece opposite to the screw hole so it would fit snugly between the pcb and housing. It is held in by friction only, so filing too much could cause it not to fit properly. I have tested it overnight but it seems stable so far. Repair attempts using heat alone failed pretty quickly for me. The oven method did not give a reliable long term fix, so I'm hoping this will help solve the issue. 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 keep it in place. I don't believe this issue is purely ribbon cable to PCB adhesion; I think due to losing adhesion the pins also lose alignment from side to side or by rotation. A helpful tip: I used a small amount of hot glue to secure the IPD and focus sliders into place so they cannot be moved anymore. I feel that's an important step because using this cable design on a moving part is likely why these failed so frequently. I believe it's wise to make these parts immovable.