Omg, I’m not insane. This actually exists. I hate this clock. I want to unplug the cord, swing it around over my head as fast as I can get it to go and then release it into the wall. It went bright again. I hate it. I want it to go dim. I’ve had it for at least 10 yrs. It just keeps on working. Won’t die. I like the green display. And the less-harsh alarm noise that it makes compared to the standard alarm clock sound. But when the display goes bright, it lights up my room. Causing me to not be able to sleep. Like right now. Fuck you, Sony.
Thanks! This happened to me once before, maybe twice, with this stupid machine, and just happened again this morning. Just goes to ultra-dim out of the blue every few years - always has something to do with my liberal use of the snooze button in the mornings, as that's when the dimmings always happen. (Of course, owner manual says NOTHING about this problem.) I must have seen this video before (after first reading the stupid worthless other posts on other sites about how to fix, none of those "cures" worked for me), because I tried this crazy process, and lo and behold AFTER LIKE TWO OR THREE MINUTES, my insanely pressing the damned snooze button REPEATEDLY finally had some effect and the damned time became visible again. (Best to do this in a totally dark room, laying on the bed, most comfortable way to do this insanity and easiest way to clearly see the eventual change back to visibility.) What a worthless machine; wish mine would go completely dead so that I could get a new/good alarm clock. But this thing won't die (I'm not at all saying that's a good thing).
The answers below, about this probably being a wiring / electronic / contacts problem, is likely the cause of this. Sony should have sent out recalls on these ridiculous machines years ago. Hitting a button like a maniac for several minutes, just to UNdo something the machine DID ON ITS OWN, is ridiculous and a sure sign of a crappy product.
Apparently the bright/dim firmware in this Sony clock was not set for button adjustment - Another slap together clock w/o end user consideration. Sony didn't put a bright/dim button on it, tapping the bar did fix it - Obvious design flaw. Got mine bright & appears only 1 dim & bright level.
I still have this very same clock. My guess is that there is some unused dimming circuit that is wired into the display that we're somehow triggering when we hit the snooze button at some precise moment. Perhaps this board was used in another clock that had a dimming mode and tbey simply reused the board without fully removing the dimming circuitry., or perhaps there were plans to offer a dimming mode, but the feature was cut sometime before release... If someone is reading this who knows a lot about circuitry, or alarm clock circuits, I would love to see a video that opens up this model of alarm clock and trace the source of the dimming, if possible.
Hey there, I had the exact same issue on a similar Sony Dream Machine model icf-c318. The issue is dirty contacts on the internal board. What happens is if dust or oily film residues get on the surface of the contacts it causes a short. Cleaning the contacts is not hard, mine had 5 screws on the bottom to remove the plastic cover (unplug the unit first of course). You will see the button contacts labelled on the board (i.e. snooze etc), they look like mini buttons on the board. Using a rubber eraser, very gently clean the top of the rubberized button contacts on the circuit board using the eraser. Solved my issue and good as new!
@@rcholews But how exactly does that cause the screen to change brightness? What is it shorting to? It's not like the screen flickers, it straight up remembers the brightness when it's unplugged...
@@Peekofwar Good question but no idea where it might be shorting to! My clock set buttons were really messed up (when I used to adjust the time it would turn the radio on and adjust brightness for example). Cleaning the contacts fixed all the issues. I think in your case if its still remembering the same brightness you'll need to unplug and take out the back up battery for a few minutes (and then put the battery back in) to allow the clock to go back to its factory settings and brightness.
I bet Fonzi would only hit the snooze button ONCE and it would be bright again.........With that said I literally just did this 10 minutes ago and it is brighter once again.....First UNPLUG the clock then unscrew the one screw on the back that holds the CR2032 battery,pull out the entire plastic case holding the battery and WAIT 5 minutes.......After 5 minutes re-insert the battery with either a new one or the same one that was in the plastic battery case (I used the same battery)......Screw it back down and plug the clock in.....Voila brightness has been restored......My guess is that once the battery has been removed and the clock unplugged SOME of the memory is reset to make it brighter,the memory which keeps the time of the clock the way it was before you unplugged and removed the battery still remains intact........
Apparently the bright/dim firmware in this Sony clock was not adjusted or tailored for a button adjustment - Another slap together clock w/o end user consideration. It does get adjusted by hitting buttons, but Sony didn't put a bright/dim button on it, so hitting the bar seems to fix it - An obvious design flaw.
@JOEYP19… THANK YOU VERY MUCH 😂 Finally I increase the brightness. thanks for sharing. I decided to look in the comments because I couldn't find explanations in the videos. The brightness of the numbers increased after the process. Thanks again!!!
@@jalisiense68You are very welcome! With that said I have had this clock for around 15 years and the eyes ain't what they used to be so I might need a clock with BIGGER numbers lol...🤣🤣
I wish I had the answer. As far as I can tell, you just spam the snooze button until it eventually randomly changes. Not ideal, but it kind of works, sometimes, if you have enough patience.
I have two ICF-C218, everyone said unplug and remove the coin battery then wait 5 minutes or so then put back coin battery and plug in. I just tried it b/c both my radios had dim displays. It worked. Mashing the snooze will make the display go dark. Don't know why.
