Had kittens this afternoon dismantling my AE700 for dust blob surgery. Thanks to all who have posted info here as couldn't have done it without the advice. My tip - lots of air and a quick hoovering just after air spraying to remove any floating particles.
You did see my hoover thread didn't you!! Don't put that nozzle within 6 inches of your LCD panel ribbon cables!!
Yikes - I hoovered with a v.powerful Dyson about 2mm from the ribbons! I held them in place with mey finger though so they wouldn;t shoot up the tube. No ill effects as yet - worked perfectly last night when testing.
Thats what I used to do too Coop. ie Hold the ribbon cables between my fingers while I held the nozzle near the LCD panels/prism block. I've had the ribbons get away from my fingers in the past and rapidly flap/buzz about in the nozzle with no ill effects. Wasn't so lucky the last time though!!
One thing I did differently was not to disconnect the ribbons. I sprayed the air through the gaps as best I could, then hoovered closely next to the gap. Seems to have done the trick. I'll admit this was because I couldn't work out how to disconnect the ribbons, it all looked a bit fiddly to me. Glad it all worked out for you and your emergency repair
Never again though! I was pretty sure the ribbons are permanently soldered to each panel on the other end, so you can't replace the damaged ribbon but would have to replace the whole panel, was sure that you actually can't purchase an individual colour panel but must purchase the entire optical assembly basically. Which would cost the guts of a the cost of a new PJ anyway............In other words, I'd just cost myself 2000!!! Was I relieved when my bodge job fixit worked!!