[taivlam]

It might be good to make a guide for Tangara on iFixit, once it's widely available.  According to iFixit resources, making a new guide seems pretty easy:

• Page from iFixit About
  
• Page from iFixit Education
  

[jacqueline]

Yeah, that's a good idea! Will be nice to have the time for this. We've got a good disassembly/reassembly process worked out already (and lightly documented in our user manual). I still need to get some good photos and do a proper write-up for our website, but once we've done that it looks like turning it into an iFixit guide looks pretty straightforward.

[taivlam]

BTW, has anyone made a photo & text guide or a video on what taking apart & putting the Tangaga back together looks like?

I would like to peek inside, as the only video that comes closest shows a partial home-creation build in April 2024 and hasn't shown any updates yet how to assemble the device:

[taivlam]

When the time comes, the "Assembly" page should also be updated accordingly, as there has been quite a few changes (e.g., the touchplate and the supportive cage that holds the battery in place) in Tangara.

From manually fixing wiggling touchplates myself, I found the general directions from here most helpful, though the Google Doc also was helpful on how to deal with the volume buttons and slider falling out in the wiggling touchwheel plate thread.

[taivlam]

Also, I was considering which parts would wear out the fastest (so far) that I might want to replace, and I came up with 3:

1)  The battery, which is listed in the BOM.
2)  The touchwheel cover, which would probably have to to be manufactured, but the required files are here on Codeberg.
3)  The display's screen protector, which isn't listed yet on the BOM.  (This is because the screen protector can get quite scratched up on pre-made Tangaras if you don't immediately put it on a soft surface, such as a microfiber cloth, while disassembling at least the faceplate PCB.  On the other hand, the display itself seemed fine and doesn't have scratches as far as I could tell.)

I know the document states "[f]ull sources for these will be available once they're finished", but I was wondering if it'd be possible in the future to either have info or have the ability to buy extra Tangara screen protectors - as I got the impression that it's more like a custom part, like the touchwheel cover, rather than an off-the-shelf part, like the battery.

Once it's possible to buy Tangara parts in this manner, then it would be appropriate to make the iFixit guide.

[emily]

Note that technically you can use approximately any flat thin nonconductive thing in the right shape as a touchwheel cover. IIRC there were originally plans to use glass that didn't pan out for some reason, and the FR4 ones we got were the backup plan.

It'll probably work fine without a cover too, but if you're using it hard enough to need to replace the stock touchwheel cover, you'll probably also damage the solder mask behind it at some point.

I am at least partially wrong, see below.

[ailurux]

Note that technically you can use approximately any flat thin nonconductive thing in the right shape as a touchwheel cover. IIRC there were originally plans to use glass that didn't pan out for some reason, and the FR4 ones we got were the backup plan.

It'll probably work fine without a cover too, but if you're using it hard enough to need to replace the stock touchwheel cover, you'll probably also damage the solder mask behind it at some point.

Actually the touchwheel cover plays an important role as the dielectric material for the capacitive sensors, and FR4 has good dielectric properties (as well as being quite easy to source with custom shapes and screenprinting). We did also consider glass but FR4 was always the main plan to go with. Without the dielectric material it does still work somewhat, but it's my understanding it would be a lot less sensitive and more likely to not work with moisture on the hands and I wouldn't recommend it.

[jacqueline]

The screen protector is a 35mmx40mm piece of 0.75mm thick plastic. We get PETG sheets cut locally for them, but if you can source clear polycarb of the right size then that'll work great too.

[taivlam]

The screen protector is a 35mmx40mm piece of 0.75mm thick plastic. We get PETG sheets cut locally for them, but if you can source clear polycarb of the right size then that'll work great too.

Thank you!  I'll look into possible local sources for the screen protector.