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Dirty MFD

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by firepa63, Dec 15, 2008.

  1. firepa63

    firepa63 Former Prius Owner

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    I saw the post below on POL. I have never heard of anything like this. Has anyone experienced this problem? Here's the post:

    A few weeks ago the touch screen on my '06 Prius started acting strange, buttons wouldn't respond, etc. This went on for a few days, one day it would work just fine, the next not so fine. Then one day it started out working ok, but all of a sudden the reset button on the consumption screen started resetting itself---over and over and over again, and the nothing on any of the screens would respond (the mechanical buttons on the panel and steering wheel were always functional). I took it to my trusty dealer (and my dealership, Mark Toyota in Plover, Wisconsin is very good), ready for bad news. They had it in the shop for about 15 minutes, and the service manager came out with a big smile on his face. "No charge," he said, "all you had was a dirty screen." A DIRTY SCREEN? They indicated that they really didn't understand it either, but that's what it was.

    Now, I ask the experts, is that possible? My car is not exactly showroom fresh (active dog in wintertime Wisconsin), but I do show some pride and I try to keep the dashboard and its surroundings reasonably clean. Has anyone experienced this before?
     
    #1 firepa63, Dec 15, 2008
  2. debos

    debos New Member

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    maybe they sprayed a cleaning agent directly on to the screen instead of on to some sort cleaning towel?
     
    #2 debos, Dec 15, 2008
  3. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Well, I don't claim to know everything (or anything) but if there's something making a connection between sensors then yes, it could happen. I have to wonder what else is in the lower-right corner in other screens that might be used often. I can tell where I tap the screen the most from the fingerprints left behind. I keep a Swiffer in my glove box and after turning the car off I wipe off the screen.
     
    #3 TonyPSchaefer, Dec 15, 2008
  4. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    The effects of dirt on a touch screen depends on the type of touch technology. Touch screens can work with resistance, capacitance, infrared, surface acoustic wave, force, bending wave, and probably some other technologies that I can't think of at the moment.

    Does anyone know what technology is used by the Prius MFD. It works with gloves, so it can't be capacitance. It certainly isn't infrared, as the sensors would be obvious. It can't be force, because that wouldn't work well in a moving car and the cost would be high. I'd be curious to know.

    The short answer is that surface crud can cause problems with some touch screen technologies.

    Tom
     
    #4 qbee42, Dec 15, 2008
  5. Prius-noob

    Prius-noob New Member

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    I believe Toyota uses resistive touch screens. Occasionally use a can of compressed air (computer store) to blow out the crevices all around the touch panel. Or vacuum, whichever you prefer, the moral is just clean it 2-3 time a year.

    Use a (much) diluted solution of rubbing alcohol and water (say 10 parts water to 1 part alcohol) to clean the screen. I do this about once a month just to keep the fingerprints and smudges from getting out of hand, and because it looks like it just came off the showroom floor...

    PN
     
    #5 Prius-noob, Dec 17, 2008
  6. EZW1

    EZW1 Active Member

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    Do you use rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol? I believe rubbing alcohol has a small amount of oil to keep your skin from drying out whereas isopropyl does not.
     
    #6 EZW1, Dec 17, 2008
  7. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Most rubbing alcohol is just alcohol. You have to read the ingredients to make sure. Also, be aware that rubbing alcohol can be isopropyl or ethyl. It will state which on the bottle.

    I prefer to use a bottle of LCD screen cleaner and a microfiber cloth. The LCD cleaner is pretty much the same stuff that you use, but is formulated for screens.

    Tom
     
    #7 qbee42, Dec 17, 2008
  8. Prius-noob

    Prius-noob New Member

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    Isopropyl alcohol is the stuff. I like the 2 for $1 at the dollar store. It’s only 50% alcohol at this point anyway, so a 10 to 1 ratio leaves you @ less than 5% cleaning solution.


    I used to use that “specialty†screen cleaner until I spoke with a rep from a screen cleaning manufacturer. (I sell touch screen computer systems, so I talk with people like this all day long) He said the solution was “basically an alcohol + water cleanser and I could make my own easily for less than 1 cent per cleaningâ€. He was right :)
     
    #8 Prius-noob, Dec 18, 2008
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