HP laptop, LCD is black...BUT...can still see desktop & such w/ light at an angle....

[redgtxdi]

Mom's laptop...

(hp dv2740se) The screen just went black a couple weeks ago. I now have it in my posession so I can inspect. No amount of wiggling, tugging, pushing, etc. causes the LCD to com eback to life.

However......if I hold the laptop at just the right angle, I can see the desktop. I tilted it enough to be able to see the start button. Move mouse cursor over to it & shut the laptop down.

Backlight?

Inverter?

If it were the graphics card in the laptop, (hp's are known for this too) then I wouldn't be able to see this stuff, right??

Suggestions??

TIA

 

[Fayd]

backlight is dead.

 

[redgtxdi]

How do we know backlight & not inverter??

Thx

 

[metroidfreak]

I'd say check the inverter first as thats a cheaper fix, and if that doesn't work then you'd need a new backlight.

 

[mfenn]

How do we know backlight & not inverter??

Thx

He was just letting you know that the backlight is not on, which is why you can still see the screen with a light shining on it.

Anyway, the inverter is what powers the backlight. In my experience, it is very unlikely for a backlight to actually go, so it is probably the inverter.

 

[redgtxdi]

Thanks guys!! Gonna pull this thing apart & make sure I get the right inverter. Looks like them things are pretty dang cheap on ebay!!

:thumbsup:

 

[corkyg]

Backlights on older laptops are CCFL - i.e, flourescent tubes. They, like any ightbulb, have a finite life. The inverter is the power source for the tube. In my experience with laptops, tubes burn out more often than inverters. This may help:

http://www.dnd.utwente.nl/~grit/backlight/ccft.html

 

[redgtxdi]

SUCK!!!

New inverter doesn't change anything. Is it worth it to try & change the backlight or just get a whole new LCD???


(did I mention the word SUCK!?!?!)

 

[jackofalltrades]

the backlight isn't a hard job but it is a tedious job and you have to be careful or you can break the tube.

 

[anticupidon]

Mom's laptop...

(hp dv2740se) The screen just went black a couple weeks ago. I now have it in my posession so I can inspect. No amount of wiggling, tugging, pushing, etc. causes the LCD to com eback to life.

However......if I hold the laptop at just the right angle, I can see the desktop. I tilted it enough to be able to see the start button. Move mouse cursor over to it & shut the laptop down.

Backlight?

Inverter?

If it were the graphics card in the laptop, (hp's are known for this too) then I wouldn't be able to see this stuff, right??

Suggestions??

TIA

What i would do
Power the laptop,see it gives video to an external monitor -so is not the graphic chip
Disassemble screen's plastic frame to gain acces to inverter
Connect the inverter's output to an inverter tester-so you know if it is the inverter or the ccfl
I made an DYI inverter tester cheap and very reliable
Here it is
http://forum.xcpus.com/mods/35321-diy-laptop-inverter-tester.html
hope it helps

 

[redgtxdi]

OK, well I went ahead & took her all apart. One side of the LCD hinges has a little metal tab which simply let go, so I literally only had to take off the double-screw hinge on the right side to get the whole LCD panel out. Only need to take a couple screws off each side holding the bare panel and then the two teeny-tiny screws holding the backlight cradle in place. Got the assembly finally separated & noticed right away that the pink wire (there's pink & white) was barely hangin' on by a thread of rubber. No copper connection whatsoever.

I think I'm gonna get a replacement off ebay but one of the ones w/ the wires already attached. They have a molded black rubber grommet at the base (where this one separated) and I think that's safer for me as I don't really want to sub a hack solder job for their proprietary factory connection.

Pics.........

 

[redgtxdi]

Wow!! Talk about impossible!! The replacement that I got off ebay (already soldered ends, ready to go) is not exactly the same so there's a little "jimmying" to be done, but there's still no way I can get the pink-wire side of this thing in the channel w/o pinching their little 90 degree rubber boot.

As a result of trying cuz I think it's just *got* to fit....."boink".....the pink wire pops right off. I stuck the pink wire back in the end & am gonna try & return this non-compatible POS to the jerks that think it will.

What a PITA. I recommend to NEVER replace a ccfl back light (at least not in an HP DV2500). NOT worth the headache!

Now I'm wondering if I should try & find someone who can possibly repair the thing or just buy a whole new LCD off ebay & be done with it.

(what a nightmare)