BACKLIGHT, CCFL & INVERTER FAULTS

WARNING: HIGH VOLTAGES - The backlight on your laptop uses voltages up to 1000 Volts

Symptoms of a backlight fault:

Your screen appears dark with a very faint image where you can still see logos or text. Losing the backlight renders the laptop unusable. A related fault is where you can hear a hissing noise from the screen. This noise is caused by high voltage arcing which sometimes generates enough heat to cause the glass in the TFT panel to melt or deform. Eventually, the inverter and cabling will have to be changed. These faults may be caused by a faulty inverter, cables, video card, motherboard problems or a faulty fluorescent bulb.

Solutions:

MANUFACTURERS WAY:
Many manufacturers have stopped selling video cards, inverters and cables as a spare parts. They feel that it would be better to change the whole screen. BETTER FOR THEM - NOT YOU! Customers are being quoted 500+ pounds to replace the whole screen when the repair should be possible for under 200 pounds. Certain manufacturers have removed all identification from the parts to prevent them being ordered or recognised. Unfortunately, more and more manufacturers are following this trend to increase profits on repair parts.

OUR WAY:
We prefer to provide our customers with the best repair at the lowest cost possible. Diagnosis of the exact nature of the problem is sometimes difficult as one fault can generate another. Often multiple parts may need to be changed as short circuits in one part may cause other parts to fail. We have specialist tools to help us pinpoint the main fault and to identify which parts need replacing in order to rectify the problem. The motherboard controls brightness of the screen and therefore may fail to send the correct signals to the inverter and switch it on.

Inverters generate high voltages which can damage the motherboard or LCD panel if installed without taking the correct precautions. Some inverters are impossible to buy and the only solution is to repair your existing board. Our engineers can identify faults and repair most inverter boards.

We can also replace the fluorescent tubes within the TFT panel. This is a very delicate operation and best left to the experts. We often get customers who claim to be engineers and order the tubes as spare parts. In most case they later ring back to order the whole screen as their attempt to install the tube has destroyed the screen.

Typical inverter as used by Sony, IBM, Acer, Toshiba, Compaq and HP An inverter board
CAUTION: HIGH VOLTAGE
All inverters generate high voltages. Avoid contact with right hand side of this board when connected to a switched on laptop.

We can repair or replace inverters, fluorescent tubes and other backlight parts for:

IBM Thinkpads
130, 235, 240, 240X, 240Z, 310, 315, 340, 345, 355, 360, 365C/CS, 365CD/CSD, 365E/ED, 365X/XD, 370, 380, 380D, 380E, 380ED, 380XD, 380Z, 385D, 385ED, 385XD, 390, 390E, 390X, 500, 510, 530Cs, 535, 560, 560E, 560X, 560Z, 570, 570E, 600, 600E, 600X, 700, 701, 710, 720, 730, 750, 755C/CS, 755CD, 755CDV, 755CE/CSE, 755CV, 755CX, 760C, 760CD, 760E, 760ED, 760EL/ELD, 760L/LD, 760XD, 760XL, 765D, 765L, 770, 770E/ED, 770X, 770Z, A20m, A20p, A21e, A21m, A21p, A22e, A22m, A22p, A30, A30p, A31, A31p, 1200 1400 1410 1411 1412 1420 1421 1422 1436 1441 1442 1450 1451 1452 1460 1472 1480 1482 1483 1492 1500 1512 1540 1541 1542 1552 1560 1562 1592 1720 1721, T20-Series T21-Series T-Series, A20m, A20p, A21e, A21m, A21p, A22e, A22m, A22p, A30, A30p, A31, A31p, G40, R30, R31, R32, R40, R40e, S30, S31, T20, T21, T22, T23, T30, T40, T40p, X20, X21, X22, X23, X24, X30, X31, 1200, 1300, 0567, 1400, 1500, 1600, 172x, 0567, 1800, s30, TransNote, WorkPad, WorkPad, z50
 

Sony Vaio PCG & VGN
505 PCG 505G,  505 PCG 505GX,  505 PCG 505TS,  505 PCG 505TX,  N505 PCG N505VE,  N505 PCG N505VX,  R505 PCG R505DL,  R505 PCG R505DS,  R505 PCG R505DSK,  R505 PCG R505DSP,  R505 PCG R505EL,  R505 PCG R505ELK,  R505 PCG R505ES,  R505 PCG R505ESK,  R505 PCG R505ESP,  R505JE PCG R505JE,  R505JEK PCG R505JEK,  R505JEP PCG R505JEP,  R505JL PCG R505JL,  R505JLK PCG R505JLK,  R505JLP PCG R505JLP,  R505JS PCG R505JS,  R505JSK PCG R505JSK,  R505JSP PCG R505JSP,  R505 PCG R505TE,  R505 PCG R505TS,  R505 PCG R505TEK,  R505 PCG R505TSK,  R505 PCG R505TL,  R505 PCG R505TLK,  Z505 PCG Z505HE,  Z505 PCG Z505HS,  Z505 PCG Z505JE,  Z505 PCG Z505JS,  Z505 PCG Z505JEK,  Z505 PCG Z505JSK,  Z505 PCG Z505EL,  Z505 PCG Z505ES,  Z505 PCG Z505ELK,  Z505 PCG Z505ESK,  Z505 PCG Z505R,  Z505 PCG Z505RX,  Z505 PCG Z505S,  Z505 PCG Z505SX, 700 PCG 723,  700 PCG 729,  700 PCG 731,  700 PCG 735,  700 PCG 737, 800 PCG 808,  800 PCG 812,  800 PCG 818,  800 PCG 838, C1F PCG C1F,  C1 PCG C1MV,  C1 PCG C1MVP,  C1MW PCG C1MW,  C1MWP PCG C1MWP,  C1VN PCG C1VN,  C1VP PCG C1VP,  C1VPK PCG C1VPK,  C1XS PCG C1XS,  C1X PCG C1X, F PCG F150,  F PCG F160,  F PCG F180,  F PCG F190,  F250 PCG F250,  F270 PCG F270,  F280 PCG F280,  F290 PCG F290,  F340 PCG F340,  F350 PCG F350  F360 PCG F360 HITACHI LCD,  F360 PCG F360 SAMSUNG LCD,  F370 PCG F370 HITACHI LCD,  F370 PCG F370,  F390 PCG F390 HITACHI LCD,  F390 PCG F390,  F420 PCG F420,  F430 PCG F430,  F430 PCG F430 HITACHI LCD,  F450 PCG F450,  F480 PCG F480,  F480K PCG F480K,  F490 PCG F490,  F490K PCG F490K,  F520 PCG F520,  F540 PCG F540 HITACHI LCD,  F540 PCG F540 SAMSUNG LCD,  F540K PCG F540K HITACHI LCD,  F540K PCG F540K SAMSUNG LCD,  F560 PCG F560 HITACHI LCD,  F560 PCG F560 SAMSUNG LCD,  F60K PCG F560K HITACHI LCD,  F560K PCG F560K SAMSUNG LCD,  F570 PCG F570 HITACHI LCD,  F570 PCG F570 SAMSUNG LCD,  F580 PCG F580 HITACHI LCD,  F580 PCG F580 SAMSUNG LCD,  F580K PCG F580K HITACHI LCD,  F580K PCG F580K SAMSUNG LCD,  F590 PCG F590 SAMSUNG LCD,  F590K PCG F590K SAMSUNG LCD,  F610 PCG F610,  F630 PCG F630,  F640 PCG F640,  F650 PCG F650,  F650K PCG F650K,  F680 PCG F680,  F680K PCG F680K,  F690 PCG F690,  F690K PCG F690K, FX120 PCG FX120,  FX140 PCG FX140,  FX150 PCG FX150,  FX170 PCG FX170,  FX190 PCG FX190,  FX210 PCG FX210,  FX220 PCG FX220,  FX220K PCG FX220K,  FX240 PCG FX240,  FX240K PCG FX240K,  FX250 PCG FX250,  FX250K PCG FX250K,  FX270 PCG FX270,  FX270K PCG FX270K,  FX290 PCG FX290,  FX290K PCG FX290K,  FX310 PCG FX310,  FX310K PCG FX310K,  FX310P PCG FX310P,  FX340 PCG FX340,  FX 0567, FX340K PCG FX340K,  FX340P PCG FX340P,  FX370 PCG FX370,  FX370K PCG FX370K,  FX370P PCG FX370P,  FX390 PCG FX390,  FX390K PCG FX390K,  FX390P PCG FX390P, FXA32 PCG FXA32,  FXA33 PCG FXA33,  FXA35 PCG FXA35,  FXA35D PCG FXA35D,  FXA36 PCG FXA36,  FXA PCG FXA47,  FXA PCG FXA49,  FXA53 PCG FXA53,  FX2225, FXA59 PCGFXA59, GR150 PCG GR150,  GR150K PCG GR150K,  GR170 PCG GR170,  GR170K PCG GR170K,  GR250 PCG GR250,  GR250K PCG GR250K,  GR250P PCG GR250P,  GR270 PCG GR270,  GR270K PCG GR270K,  GR270P PCG GR270P,  GR290 PCG GR290,  GR290K PCG GR290K,  GR290P PCG GR290P,  GR370 PCG GR370,  GR370K PCG GR370K,  GR370P PCG GR370P,  GR390 PCG GR390,  GR390K PCG GR390K,  GR390P PCG GR390P, GRS150 PCG GRS150,  GRS170 PCG GRS170,  GRS175 PCG GRS175, GRX510 PCG GRX510,  GRX510K PCG GRX510K,  GRX510P PCG GRX510P,  GRX520 PCG GRX520,  GRX520K PCG GRX520K,  GRX520P PCG GRX520P,  GRX550 PCG GRX550,  GRX550K PCG GRX550K,  GRX550P PCG GRX550P,  GRX560 PCG GRX560,  GRX560K PCG GRX560K,  GRX560P PCG GRX560P,  GRX570 PCG GRX570,  GRX570K PCG GRX570K,  GRX570P PCG GRX570P,  GRX580 PCG GRX580,  GRX580K PCG GRX580K,  GRX580P PCG GRX580P,  GRX590 PCG GRX590,  GRX590K PCG GRX590K,  GRX590P PCG GRX590P,  GRX670 PCG GRX670,  GRX690 PCG GRX690, NV170 PCG NV170,  NV170P PCG NV170P,  NV190 PCG NV190,  NV190P PCG NV190P, SR PCG SR5K,  SR PCG SR7K,  SR17 PCG SR17,  SR17K PCG SR17K,  SR27 PCG SR27,  SR27K PCG SR27K,  SR33 PCG SR33,  SR33K PCG SR33K,  SRX PCG SRX77,  SRX PCG SRX77P,  SRX87 PCG SRX87,  SRX87P PCG SRX87P, VX88 PCG VX88,  VX88P PCG VX88P,  VX89 PCG VX89,  VX89K PCG VX89K,  VX89P PCG VX89P, XG9 PCG XG9,  XG18 PCG XG18,  XG19 PCG XG19,  XG PCG XG28,  XG PCG XG28K,  XG29 PCG XG29,  XG29K PCG XG29K,  XG38 PCG XG38,  XG38K PCG XG38K,  XG39 PCG XG39,  XG39K PCG XG39K,  XG500 PCG XG500,  XG700 PCG XG700,  XG700K PCG XG700K

 

Dell Inspiron and Latitude
1000, 1100, 1150, 2000, 0567, 2100, 2500, 0567, 2600 ,2650 ,2650C ,3000 ,300m, 3200, 3500, 3700, 3800, 4000,4100, 4150, 5000, 500m, 5100, 5150, 5160, 600m, 7000, 700m, 7500, 8000, 8100, 8200, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 100L, 425, 433, 433-M/MC, 450-M/MC, 475-M/MC, 4xx C/CX, C400, C500, C510, C540, C600, C610, C640, C800, C810, C840, CP, CPi, CPi A, CPi D, CPi R, CPt, CPt S-, CPt V, CPt-C, CPx, CS, CSx, D400, D500, D505, D600, D800, L400, LS, LT, LX 4100D, LX 4100T, LX 475D, LXP, LXPi-CD P150ST, V700, V710, V740, X200, x300, XP 4100, XP 450, XP 475, XPi 120, XPi 75, XPi 90, XPi P100SD, XPi P133ST, XPi+ P133SD, XPi+ P133ST, XPi+ P150SD, XPi+ P150ST, XPi+ P166SD, XPi+ P166ST 200

 

Inverter board Acer, Compaq, Toshiba, IBM, Advent, Dell
 

Most backlight problems take 1-2 days to repair - subject to parts availability. We would prefer to install new replacement parts, but this may not be possible or economically in some cases. All repairs come with our standard sixty days warranty.

Useful backlight info:

Try these pages for useful information on inverters and backlights. Some of these site provide a good technical background on how inverters work and what precautions you made need when working with high voltages. The main function of the inverter is to convert a low DC voltage to a high AC voltage necessary to operate a fluorescent tube. Please note that content of the following pages are beyond our control and may change since they were selected by us. 

 

London Laptop Repair

REF: RN221061.01

Laptop, backlight, CCFL, Bulb, Fluorescent, Tube

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