Casio CZ/ VZ/ FZ - Pro Series

Hi all,

I own a CZ1 with an almost dead EL backlight. 

What I would like to know is:

1) is there any chance to hack the inverter circuit/transformer so that it could feed a couple LEDs which I plan to place besides the LCD? (more details on that below). AFAIK the input to the inverter is VDC, so maybe disabling the transformer and doing some extra stuff would get the point.

2) if 1 above is a no-no, where can I get appropriate current from for driving a couple bright LEDs? I've seen some posts where a brand new display with built-in LED backlight was retrofitted into non-backlit models like CZ1000. The on switch was mentioned, but I also saw that also pins 1 and 2 of the LCD can be used for that. Also, could I disable the inverter circuit so as to save some power?

My idea is to keep the existing LCD and fit it with a custom backlight. I've been doing some tests with a tiny rectangular piece of acrylic sanded on one side so as to diffuse light. I placed it where the EL foil used to be and lit it with a small LED lantern. Light gets effectively across it and the LCD gets softly lit so I think if I placed two strong-enough LEDs at both sides of the acrylic I would get a nice backlight.

I have only very basic electronics knowledge but am not afraid of soldering stuff. :)

Thanks very much in advance for any help.

Dave