VFD driver

bomber

I took apart a microwave and I found a VFD display in it. It is a 16 pin quad digit display with the following sereial and part numbers on it: "NEC No.4 1 - 4 1 FIP4B8C JAPAN". Can you please give me some code and a driver circuit for this VFD? Oh, and can it be done with a BS2 please? thanks in advance to anyone who helps me out!

electrosys

Some of VFD display with NEC chip driver are compatible with HD44780, there is a chance that your display is compatible with HD44780 as well, in that case there are many driver code for BS2, which you can use. Can you see the name of driver chip/s at the backside of your display, or there is only serial & part numbers. .

bomber

The only other numbr on the backside (other than the part number) is "FIP4B8C" . Also, there is a 40 pin dip IC next to the VFD (possibly a driver chip) with the number"LC6023 646 5F2" on it. I hope this helps.

LoopyByteloose

In general, consumer products such as this are only intended to be serviced in house. So the manufacture requests special 'house code number' for components when they purchase from generic supply. Once upon a time, there were a lot of service manuals available that would decode these numbers, but those days are long gone.

If this particular module is compatible with the HD44780 standard interface, the best bet is to verify that the 16 pin connector is the same as that standard. Also, you must get the V+ and V- correct as a reversal with mean instant death to the unit. Sure, the 40pin DIP is likely a driver chip, but you may never know exactly what it is. Usually generic ICs start off with a couple of letters that indicate the manufacturer. So the FIP and the LC may help you locate some information, but maybe not the exact chip. FIP is sometimes associated with a company called Finisar. Not sure who LC might be.