Routines for FUTABA VFD displays for ARDUINO. solder the display pins and adjust the display so it lies against the plastic holders please note the new display is narrower than the old one, so it won't catch into the brackets.Futaba Vfd Serial Average ratng: 6,0/10 1139reviews insert the new display: the leftmost (or rightmost) pin must be left alone (floating) the pins should protrude about 1-2 mm from the PCB underside clean the PCB using isopropil alcohol or other flux thinner clear the holes using a good vacuum desoldering tool (this might be a little difficult adding a little bit of fresh solder before sucking will help) desolder the pins using a good soldering iron and pliers cut the disply wires about 1 cm from the PCB to ease subsequent desoldering remove the tare bar (be extremely careful, it's very easy to broke it while unscrewing use proper pliers to keep the square plastic bases from rotating while screwing/unscrewing)

No PCB modifications are required, and plenty of space is available underneath the VFD body.īasicly, the procedure for display replacement is the following one: P.S.: the 47R has to be placed in series with the first (leftmost) or last (rightmost) pin of the VFD. Now the balance shows off a beatiful, bright and uniform turquoise reading, like it has to be. I replaced the VFD on the balance's display board and - after a little fiddling, I found that a 47 ohms 1W resistor in series with the filament does the trick (this is about the minimum series resistance under which the digits' brightness does not increase noticeably). It looks like the only significant difference is in the filament: the 9-BT-26 measures a cold resistence around 55 ohms, while the 9-BT-28 is only 12 ohms (this is between the extreme pins). There are quite a number available for sale at low prices.Ĭompared with the original Futaba 9-BT-26 VFD, the 9-BT-28 shares the same pinout and length its case is a little bit narrower, but the digits are identical - so a one-to-one replacemente is easily feasible. I own an old but perfectly working Mettler AE240 balance like all the AE series balances (which share the same display board), its main problem is the VFDisplay getting dim with age.Ĭurrently, it's virtually impossible to find a new replacement VFD unit, so I bought a couple of 9-BT-28 displays on eBay to give a try. I know this is an old thread, but maybe my findings can still be useful.

Futaba vfd serial