TS100/TS80 soldering irons have a family problem - the displays burn out and become very dim. The theory is that it happens due to the display being OLED, some heat inside the case itself and an relatively static image typically being shown, resulting in accelerated OLED burn-out. I'm not 100% certain about the cause, but what's known is that the only solution is replacing the display with a new one.

The displays I'm selling are the displays that are used on TS100/TS80 irons, and also the Pinecil. They're not guaranteed to be the same manufacturer as the display you currently have inside your iron - that varies from one TS100 to another, and these kind of displays are manufactured by a few different companies. They do have the same controller, resolution, dimensions and pinout, and work in the TS100/other as well as the factory display does (before it's burned out =D ). They might, however, have different markings and the FFC shape - nothing that impacts how the display works and fits.

You will need to use another soldering iron for this repair, as well as have the screwdrivers suitable for disassembling your soldering iron. I don't sell any of these yet, but in case you're missing any of these, you should be able to find a nearby hackerspace or repair shop where you can arrange access to tools needed.

What makes it special?

This display comes with flux pre-applied so that it's easy to solder, and some Kapton tape added that protects the flux from drying out and is used for alignment. It's packaged in a way that prevents it from getting broken during shipping. You will also get some known-good (leaded) solder wire - soldering quality is directly impacted by solder wire used, and I'd like you to have the best chances when it comes to repairing your TS100 (especially because you might have to use a subpar soldering iron for that repair).

Why did you make it?

My friends had some TS100 soldering irons where the display started to die, so I bought a few displays, tested them, and decided to buy more so that there's a source of known-working displays. I'll also be testing them in the future before shipping them, once I receive the breakout boards I designed for that (I'll be selling those too!).

Help for your repair

I've filmed a video that you can see below, it shows you how you can replace the display on your TS100, with all the caveats you might encounter - if I can make this video more useful or there are any mistakes, please let me know. I'm also available to chat if you need any advice during your repair, you can talk to me about it on Tindie, or text chat/voicecall/videocall on some external platform.