Its very interesting to watch the LCD readout slowly die and see the infamous panel "

[al koffman]

First a little background info. In my last life I was a logic design engineer. Designed many systems similar to the inst panel, worked with everything that would be inside that panel now. That was 20 years ago. I would think that most components would be refined from my time frame, but I sure doubt that about the LCD module that is being supplied to Actia.

As most know, when you turn on the ignition, the panel goes thru a self test or what I would call a power up reset (just like your computer). If you watch the lcd readout when you turn the key, it goes dark momentarily. If you look close and see white lines, either horizontal and/or vertical, those are the row/column drivers going south.

My panel was replaced in Jan 05 because the lcd became and stayed very hard to read. Since then, I have been accustomed to watching the lcd each time I turn the key. Just came back from a 20 day trip and about the middle to the trip I saw a bunch of white lines. Actually I had to laugh to myself. Every time I started up in the morning or after a rest or gas stop, the failure pattern would be different and as I would be driving the display would get better at times and worse at times. This is very common for electronic components, but you can be assured that the LCD is slowly dieing. The last couple of days coming home, you had to look very close to see any bad segments.

After reading so many posts on the panel acting like it was turned off and then back on it finally happened to me. I just happened to be looking at the LCD readout when it happened. It went from blank to on very quick. I noticed that the gas gauge needle went to the bottom and back up without a pause. That leads me to believe that it did not lose power, but that the "glitch"� affected the reset circuitry and it went thru the reset cycle, again similar to your computer. That happened on my last leg home today, from Williams Az to Kingman Az which I have done many times. I use the T2 odometer each day, and the trip is 116 miles. Today it was 109 miles, so obviously the "glitch"� affected the T2 readout. The mileage on the odometer was not affected.

The "glitch"� and the LCD are separate problems and are not related to each other.

Thinking back many years ago to similar problems that I encountered, the possible causes are many. Its either in the design or the production process, and in this case I would suspect the production. In my working days I would have loved to tackle a problem like this.

[al koffman]

First a little background info. In my last life I was a logic design engineer. Designed many systems similar to the inst panel, worked with everything that would be inside that panel now. That was 20 years ago. I would think that most components would be refined from my time frame, but I sure doubt that about the LCD module that is being supplied to Actia.

As most know, when you turn on the ignition, the panel goes thru a self test or what I would call a power up reset (just like your computer). If you watch the lcd readout when you turn the key, it goes dark momentarily. If you look close and see white lines, either horizontal and/or vertical, those are the row/column drivers going south.

My panel was replaced in Jan 05 because the lcd became and stayed very hard to read. Since then, I have been accustomed to watching the lcd each time I turn the key. Just came back from a 20 day trip and about the middle to the trip I saw a bunch of white lines. Actually I had to laugh to myself. Every time I started up in the morning or after a rest or gas stop, the failure pattern would be different and as I would be driving the display would get better at times and worse at times. This is very common for electronic components, but you can be assured that the LCD is slowly dieing. The last couple of days coming home, you had to look very close to see any bad segments.

After reading so many posts on the panel acting like it was turned off and then back on it finally happened to me. I just happened to be looking at the LCD readout when it happened. It went from blank to on very quick. I noticed that the gas gauge needle went to the bottom and back up without a pause. That leads me to believe that it did not lose power, but that the "glitch"� affected the reset circuitry and it went thru the reset cycle, again similar to your computer. That happened on my last leg home today, from Williams Az to Kingman Az which I have done many times. I use the T2 odometer each day, and the trip is 116 miles. Today it was 109 miles, so obviously the "glitch"� affected the T2 readout. The mileage on the odometer was not affected.

The "glitch"� and the LCD are separate problems and are not related to each other.

Thinking back many years ago to similar problems that I encountered, the possible causes are many. Its either in the design or the production process, and in this case I would suspect the production. In my working days I would have loved to tackle a problem like this.

[Clay L]

Al, I too used to be in the business. I designed instumentation for heavy equipment including electronic speedos and tachs. One family of instruments I designed is still being produced today -30 years later.

I agree with you 100%. I would love to head up a design review with their engineers and kick some butts.
Someone did a lousy job of supervising a bunch of young engineers is my guess.
I got the following info from a Workhorse guy when I asked about the gas gauge going to zero problem.

1)Oil pressure can indicate zero and warning buzzer sounds when eng rpm exceeds 4550/4600 rpm. (50 rpm buffer)
2)Gas gauge can indicate zero and warning buzzer can indicate zero when gas sloshes because of lack of buffering of data.
3)Ave mpg can go to 100 mpg when ave mpg drops below about 4mpg. Data table not large enough.
(I have seen 2 and 3 occur with my IP.)

As you can see, some bounds checking would have caught these problems.

[BEBOP]

I am now on my 4th unit.
It was recalled to replace the original. The second one worked fine for a year but one day I got a recall notice for it. I took it in and it was replaced. that one only worked right for a few days so now it has been replaced. The fourth one is working ok so far.
Quality Control Problem?
Probably!
Bebop

["007"]

I have a coach made in 02, chassis, and knock on wood everything is aok so far. Was checked for recall and that was ok. What happens when your out of warranty, has anyone had theirs changed when out of warranty Notice all your coachs are 04's back to troubles as in 03 again. "007"

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by "007":
What happens when your out of warranty, has anyone had theirs changed when out of warranty </div></BLOCKQUOTE> I plan to get rid of mine long before I am faced with that problem...