Hi All.

I had had someone send me a replacement VDF and was under the impression that they came with the display board as well, for a drop in replacement.

That turned out not to be the case, and now I am contemplating if my soldering skills (above average) are up to par to even attempt this as I know how fragile these VFD's can be.

Can anyone lend me any information or assistance that might make this whole experience go smoother? I am open to options at this time.

We've replaced many VFDs and although tedious, it's not overly difficult.

Separate the VFD from the display board with a chisel blade X-ACTO knife, cutting away the foam. Bend it out of the way and desolder the leads. Use lots of flux at each lead and just wick away the solder with desolder braid. When the holes are completely open, carefully align the new display leads in the holes. Remove any remaining foam and use two thicknesses of doublestick foam at each of the original foam locations to secure the screen. Once secure, solder the leads in place.

Hope this helps,
Stu

If the old display is dead, (why would you replace it otherwise..) then it might be prudent to cut the leads in order to remove it. Cut the leads close to the VFD. and then you can heat and remove each lead individually before cleaning up the pads with solder wick.

yes, very good advice with the cutting. thats what i did with mine
wish i had had some of the foam on hand when i did mine, it leans forward a little bit. the hardest part, by far, was getting all of the pins to go in the holes at the same time. i tried everything i could think of to make them perfectly straight with each other. finally i just meshed it together so as many fit as would, and kept pressure on it. i then poked at the others until i convinced them to slide in.