Trimble tsc2 self repair

I have two, one with a radio and one without. The one with a radio was damaged a couple of years ago, and I thought I could just swap the radio out to the other one (which was like new, hardly ever used). Didn't work, I don't remember the exact reason, but we wound up getting the damaged unit repaired.

Hi Kieranjoel,
quite easy especially you have two units.Just buy a set of torx screw driver and and tweasers and just be careful with some flex cables inside.

But honestly, i suggest to send both units to Trimble Service Provider and ask them to swap the parts, end up paying only labors. Those are electronic parts, if you dont have proper anti-static it might damage your controller.

Cheers!

Where are you located? I know of Trimble dealer that does excellent work. If shipping isn't a problem I would suggest sending them your units I know they also have some TSC 2's for sale as well.

only thing that I can think of is even if you get the electronics switched over does the software allow you to use. Trimble can be really PIA about what is activated and not.

I replaced the screen in one myself. Found a compatible on EBAY, and found a tutorial someone made on-line. Wasn't too hard.

I may have been the one who made that tutorial, but for the life of me I cannot find it now,

EDIT: found tutorial.
I just replaced the touchscreen on our TSC2.

I enquired all of our local repair shops, as well as some not so local. Trimble dictates the repair price at $867 dollars, but you can find a select few that will do it for less. Best price I found was $750.

The real problem was the turnaround time. We were looking at 1 to 2 weeks of turnaround. So factor in 14 days of rental rates and the costs become pretty ridiculous. Last time we had to do this (keypad replacement), the rental unit did not work with our system. (bluetooth problem). They didn't charge us for the rental, but we were still out a GPS for a few weeks.

This time given all the factors, I decided to repair it myself.

I ordered an "Original Trimble LCD screen /digitized combo" off of Ebay for $75 dollars and replaced it myself in about an hour.

Here is how:

Tools needed
Torx #8 screwdriver
Torx #7 screwdriver
Flathead screwdriver
Sharp knife
Scotch tape

Steps
1. Back up all your data (i did not lose any, but the possibility does exist). ( I would not leave the battery out for a long period of time, either)

2. Remove face screws
remove the two screws from the top corners and set aside
using a sharp blade carefully pull back the "trimble sticker above the screen and remove the two screws hidden underneath. Set aside

3. Flip unit over. Remove battery and top cover with slotted screwdriver. I set a pad under the data collector while working on it face down to as not to trigger the power button.

4. Remove the 17 back screws (surface screws in black plastic can remain). You can leave them in their respective holes, rather than setting aside.

5. Carefully remove back cover. You may need to gently pry the two halves apart with the slotted screw driver, or (better) a plastic blade

6. Carefully remove the 12 screws from the circuit board. Set these aside.

7. Carefully remove the ribbon connections to the screen. These are the (2) orange connections at the top right side of the circuit board.
You will need to carefully remove the tape coverings.
The top (larger) one is disconnected by gently placing the flat of the blade against the ribbon side, and gently flipping up.
The lower (smaller) one is disconnected by inserting the blade into the groove into the top slop and pulling out about a millimeter. DO NOT attempt to fully seperate the two halves, just pull it out about a millimeter and the rippon will be able to slide out.

8. place a sheet of paper over the lower half of the data collector, and flip the circuit board over, so it is now upsidedown on the lower half of the data collector.
The screen area is now exposed

9. remove the black plastic grid and set aside. Carefully remove the foil, and set aside.

10. you can now remove the old screen assembly.

11. replace the screen with the new, and carefully set in place, checking the rubber screen seal.

12. Reassemble

13. power up the unit and hold down the power button for 2 seconds to trigger the "align screen" option. Align the screen and you should be good to go.

Obviously you do this at your own risk, but given the age of these units, I am guessing your warrantee is long expired too. At $5000 to replace the entire unit, you have to make a judgement call whether or not the $867 repair is worth it to you.

I am not an electronics guy, but I have decent skills at tearing things apart and putting them back together (houses/cars/ ect). Just be super cautious around the circuit board and things should be fine.

Best of luck, hope this helped.

Troy and Shane at Deaton's Geo-Tronics will be replacing mine in the next few weeks.

Deaton's Geo-tronics Service

I could probably do it, but the way my luck has been going lately, I'll let the pros do it. They have been super great with a few other issues I was having, and they have my loyalty.

Trimble TSC2 screen replacement

We have used Gulf Instrument Service, Inc - in Harahan, La a few times for TSC2 screen replacement. Cost was $325 + shipping. Very pleased with the quick turnaround time. Someone here posted this place a few years back, I have one I just got back and one more to send out as we replace ones that no longer function 100%. Jacob Higgins is the repair tech I talked to - his # is: 504-733-4853.
5 stars.

Trimble TSC2 screen replacement

I'm located in Australia. We only have one authorised Trimble reseller/repairer so prices are considerably higher. We were quoted $1600 for a screen replacement recently and $3800 for the repair of the radio module. It's funny how they can get away with charging much greater rates due to lack of competition. Those prices don't include rental of a replacement unit either.

This is why i'm interested in doing the repairs myself. The electronics component doesn't worry me but i'm concerned that Trimble might have "traps" coded in their software that bricks the unit?

Trimble TSC2 screen replacement

While that sounds exactly like something trimble would do, I have not had that happen with keyboard or screen replacements.

Trimble TSC2 screen replacement

How about this, I don't know how to survey but it looks easy. I know there are professionals out there but heck, why pay them for something as simple as renting a total station and doing it myself?

Seriously, I know servicing equipment can be expensive, time consuming and inconvenient at times. But please consider that most Trimble service departments are well trained and know the pit falls when it comes to something as simple looking as a TSC2 screen replacement. I have seen several horror stories of "do it your self" repairs causing loss of data because the unit was not sealed properly or destroying a main board rendering the unit worthless.

JSW

Trimble TSC2 screen replacement

I've had multiple issues with TSC2 touch screen failures, at $800 a crack for a Trimble approved repair person to replace the screen, it seems a bit of a stretch when the part cost $50 and it take about 1 hour to do the repairs. I've come to the conclusion that the TSC2 screens are a defective design and are now just a source of repair fees for hundreds of repair folks. The way Trimble does business is often at the expense of us unsuspecting surveyors, they know most of us have few other options than to pay the piper.

Trimble TSC2 screen replacement

I ordered a new screen online from china for $59, I replaced the screen in about 60 minutes, the most difficult part of the repair was reattaching the two ribbon wires back to the mother board, extreme caution should be used with these wires, the plugin ports on the mother board and the wires them selves are very delicate.

So far the unit works fine. Also the rubber gasket that seals the two halves of the data collector body together needs to be sealed very well, it is possible to put it in upside down if not careful. A thin film of dielectric silicon grease on the gasket may insure a better seal, I would use the silicon very lightly, any excess grease on the motherboard or other internal components could be a disaster.

I would only attempt this repair as an untrained technician, on an older unit that is off warranty and seen most of its useful life. This was a risky task and could easily have ended in failure.

Trimble TSC2 screen replacement

By the way, property surveying without as license is illegal, last time I checked making repairs to personally owned equipment is perfectly OK. 🙂

I had a screen go out recently. This one only lasted about a year and a half. I was fed up with paying over $1000 for this repair, since I had read about the part being 50 bucks. I actually bought 2 screens, one was from a company in Florida. I needed a fix fast, so I paid double the cost of the one I bought on ebay, but I would get it in the mail in 2 days. Well, the first one was faulty, with a big old deep scratch on the screen. I installed the screen I bought on ebay yesterday, and it worked! I videoed the process with my go pro. If anyone is interested in the repair, I could create a you tube video of process.

Trimble TSC2 screen replacement

> A thin film of dielectric silicon grease on the gasket may insure a better seal, I would use the silicon very lightly, any excess grease on the motherboard or other internal components could be a disaster.

While I agree that grease should be used sparingly as a matter of principle, I don't see a problem unless you cover a thermally-sensitive component so thoroughly in grease that you cause it to overheat. "Dielectric" means non-conductive, so you're not going to short anything out if you get some grease on the board traces or component wires.

I'd be interested!

Can Purchase the parts here:
www.Kargo-Tech.com

Jim, the biggest reason I have found for the thin film of dielectric grease is that everything, and I mean everything, likes to be attached to it. While the grease may not be conductive all of the dust and stuff that ends up in it could be. This is the main reason to keep it off of the boards, my 2c