Well, about a month ago, my Ti83+ broke. It all started when I spilled some essential oil on the back. Then the screen went haywire, and now the screen doesn't work at all. I can still transfer and backup files with Ti connect, so the calculator itself still works. How can I fix the screen?

The cable could be the problem. I cant personally tell you how to fix it. However KermMartian our Admin can fix it.

Mushroom: Welcome to Cemetech! Let me recommend that Introduce Yourself when you get a chance. It sounds likely that the ribbon cable between the calculator's mainboard and LCD is at fault. Can I safely assume you don't have experience in very fine-grained soldering?

Well, I've used a solder for my sixth grade science fair project. Does that count?

Let me show you an example of the soldering that you would have to do to repair this:

More info: http://www.cemetech.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5161

Oh, that looks simple enough. I should be able to fix my calc now. Thanks!

I have a full tutorial written up somewhere. I should caution you that it is very, VERY fiddly work, and you should have sufficient soldering experience to do it. That's hugely magnified: it's 30-awg wire.

I read the tutorial, and my soldering skills should be enough to handle this project.

I thought that I had a more specific tutorial about the process, including disassembling the calculator, removing the old ribbon cable, cleaning the board, and installing the replacement wires, but I can't seem to find it. You have 30-guage wire on hand?

Hey Kerm, thanks for the help on this.
If you'd like to see what the calc looks like to verify that it's the cable, he posted a couple of pictures here: http://ourl.ca/14016

Mushmoom, again, good luck!

It's probably just a short circuit. I'll go on a crusade to Radio Shack as soon as I'm done with my science fair project. Thanks again!

Mushroom: nope, it's one or more of the traces in the ribbon cable failing, presenting high impedance (but not either an open or completely closed circuit). Thanks for that link, ztrumpet, those screenshots confirmed what I already pretty much suspected from the description. I think probably 12 or 16 of the 20 calcs with ribbon cable failure that I've fixed had those exact symptoms: the scrambled contents with vertical lines every 6 or 8 pixels. Mushroom, while you're here, I strongly invite you to introduce yourself in the topic I linked to in my first post in this topic, tell us about yourself as a coder, and let us know about what you're working on.

Ztrumpet: I appreciate you throwing him our way for hardware support.

Kerm: Thanks for diagnosing my problem. I will introduce myself and fix my calc when I have more time. (probably this weekend)

Oh, and it's "mushmoom", not "mushroom".

Sorry, force of finger auto-typing habits. My pleasure, I look forward to hearing more about your projects and your calculator-fixing progress this weekend. Please don't hesitate to ask any follow-up questions that might help ensure the success of the procedure and safety of your calculator.