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How to Replace the LCD Display on a Roland Juno-G

So on this very snowy weekend in northern Virginia, I had enough time to try out replacing the defecitve LCD display on my Roland Juno-G.  This has been a common problem with this keyboard, especially with the the first units produced.  I purchased my Juno-G used from Guitar Center for $650 in December of 2008.  About 6 monthhs later, the display started to act strangley.  At first, the display was distorting.  Eventually, half to 3/4 of the screen went blank.

After reading several blog posts about other folks having this issue, I called Roland Support.  They informed me I could buy the part for $135 or go to an authorized repair center.  Maybe it was my recent experience with embedded device software engineering, but I had the urge to try the repair myself for the first time.  So I ordered the part, and it was delivered a week later.

So here are my instructions on replacing the LCD.  It took me about 2 hours, but I was really going slow :

1. Get about a dozen small bowls or container to keep the screws organized.  Get little strips of paper.  When you remove the screws from a section, write a label of what the section is, put the label in the container, and put the screws in the container.  There are close to 50 screws, and you don’t want to confuse them.
2. Grab a philips screw driver, small wire cutters, and small needle nose plyers.
3. Remove the data wheel to the right of screen.  Keep pulling firmly and it will eventually slide off.
4. Flip the keyboard over and begin removing the screws to separate the case.  You need to remove every single screw you see on the bottom of the keyboard.
5. Separate the case.
   

   Inside the Roland Juno-G

6. Unscrew the mounting screws from the circuit board containing the jacks and disconnect any ribbon connectors that are in your way.  You should be able to flip the board back and over and out of the way.
   

   Getting Juno-G jack circuit board out of the way

7. Next, unscrew the mounting screws from the motherboard on your far right.  You may need to snip a couple wire ties to make room to move the motherboard up enough to get at the center board.  Disconnect any ribbon connectors that get in your way.
   

   Juno-G Mother Board disconnected to free up the center board

8. The LCD display is on the other side of the center circuit board, so you are almost there.  Unscrew mounting screws and disconnect any ribbon connectors.  There are a few screws hidden under black pieces of tape.  You also may need to cut some the the clear plastic sheets that back the circuit board.
9. Flip the center board over and unscrew the LCD display.
   

   Juno-G Center board flipped over to reveal LCD display

10. Screw in the new display, and work backwards mounting the circuit boards back into place and reconnecting the ribbon connectors.
11. Put the case back together and put the data knob back on.
12. Plug in, switch on, and get back to enjoying your Roland Juno-G.

I’ve got a little confidence now, so I suspect I’ll be trying more of my own repairs in the future.

June 29 2010 Update….  I started having problems, AGAIN WITH THE DISPLAY.  The screen was not redrawing from page to page.  I called Roland Support and they had me ship the keyboard back to them.  They fixed the issue for free and shipped it back.  Cost me $70 to pack and ship from Virginia.  According to the shipping notes, they removed an unneeded board that is related to the LCD.  This seems odd.  I think they meant to say replaced.  Either way, things are working well again.  I started working on a punk rock cover of I Wanna Be Adored by The Stone Roses.  I missed my keyboard.

December 21, 2009 Posted by Keith Forsythe | Recreation | 55 Comments