Sometimes my Empeg's display goes dim shortly after powering it up in the car. Still readable in low light, but not in sunlight etc. From the FAQ I tried:

- Settings for headlights on/off: Both set to 100% bright
- Motherboard fuses: Continuity fine on the two mentioned in the FAQ
- Display cable: Not frayed
- Power capacitor on display board: Healthy 62V

The strange bit: If I change the state of my headlights, the display usually sorts itself out and reverts to full brightness, or at least as close as to not make any difference. Doesn't matter if my lights were on and I turned them off, or if they were off and I turned them on, the display fixes itself.

So I have a workaround, but it involves flashing my headlights in traffic - not ideal. So, anything else I can check/look at for a fix?

You need the SMD capacitor added to the display board. There is a problem in the dimmer where it sometimes doesn't get set properly and the addition of the SMD cap fixes it. FAQ entry. It's not hard to do if you're comfortable with SMD components. Otherwise, you'll have to get somebody else to do it.

Ah, so maybe it is the normal problems. I'd read that FAQ entry, but not the lengthy thread linked from it. There are others in there with similar symptons - ie, it fixing itself on toggling the lights.

I'll give the cap a shot. Cheers for pointing me in the right direction

Not wholly sure you are right about this - I have the exact same problem on my Mk2 - is this one a Mk2? It wasn't stated - and I have got a 2A display board with the dimmer fix.

If you have a 2 display, then you can't actually fit the SMD cap as the dimmer controller chip is not on the back of the board.

I haven't got a solution to this: mine comes up with the display dim one time in about 20 starts in the car, and it either goes to full intensity at the end of boot (player startup) or when I press the down button to go to visuals.

Well, I've just finished the capacitor fix and all seems well. I can adjust the brightness up and down smoothly on AC power forced into DC mode, though the full test will be in the car over the next couple of weeks.

Hardest part of this fix was sourcing the cap. I don't have a nice stock of such things lying around, and I felt fairly silly wandering into Maplins and asking for a single 7p component

Still, if it's fixed now, I'm happy. Perhaps it was the normal problems for me then! More FAQ readage before asking next time! Thanks as always for all the help/advice from one of the best enthusiast communities ever.

So what did you do to fix this? Which cap did you replace?

Basically, I soldered a 10nF capacitor onto the display board as shown in the video in this FAQ entry.

It's a few days on now, and so far so good for the fix.