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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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Flakey LCD display on PowerBook
The display on my four-year-old Powerbook G3/FireWire (Pismo) is
starting to flake out. It's had the usual regional dimness for a while, mostly the lower-left corner, and I assume that's the CCL bulb. However, now there's something digital going on. It manifests itself in shimmering red areas extending to the right of strongly-colored areas, as well as a general zebra-effect with every other column of pixels getting dim. (Oddly, I never have trouble reading my usual thin black text on white background.) To temporarily fix it, all I have to do is to squeeze the screen at a point about 1" below the top and 4" from the left edge. Sometimes it works for a while, other times it immediately returns, but the squeeze always fixes it again. I've opened up the computer, and the panel is a Samsung LT141X7-124. My pressure point is right where the cable from the motherboard plugs into the display. However, I played with the connection and couldn't get it to fail, so I'm guessing that's not it. There are also wide areas of traces going to the edge of the display, presumably to the lines controlling the actual LCD cells, and my guess is that some of those aren't making complete contact. So, questions: - Assuming it is NOT the main display connector, is this something I'm likely to be able to fix? - If I can't fix it, any suggestions as to model number and source of LCD panel to replace it? (The cable to the display is designed for that connector placement, so the form factor must be the same.) Thanks, Dan -- Daniel T. Griscom Work: (781) 665-0053 Suitable Systems Fax: (781) 665-7106 152 Cochrane Street Melrose, MA 02176-1433 http://www.suitable.com/ |
#2
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This is serviced by replacing the panel assembly and the cable. You will
have to find out who the Pismo support is, and send your computer to them for service. I don't think they will sell you the parts to service this yourself, but you can try. Look in your instruction manual, or visit their web page to have their service details. The display panels commonly fail on most laptops from the handling action, and folding the panel up and down all the time. If for example, the panel was left in the up position all the time, and rarely handled, it would most likely take much longer, or never fail like this. I have some clients were we have to send out their laptop about once a year, because of the excessive handling. Each time the display panel is folded up and down, there are stresses on the panel, the ribbon cable, the connectors, and the hinges on the case. -- Jerry G. ====== "Daniel Griscom" wrote in message ... The display on my four-year-old Powerbook G3/FireWire (Pismo) is starting to flake out. It's had the usual regional dimness for a while, mostly the lower-left corner, and I assume that's the CCL bulb. However, now there's something digital going on. It manifests itself in shimmering red areas extending to the right of strongly-colored areas, as well as a general zebra-effect with every other column of pixels getting dim. (Oddly, I never have trouble reading my usual thin black text on white background.) To temporarily fix it, all I have to do is to squeeze the screen at a point about 1" below the top and 4" from the left edge. Sometimes it works for a while, other times it immediately returns, but the squeeze always fixes it again. I've opened up the computer, and the panel is a Samsung LT141X7-124. My pressure point is right where the cable from the motherboard plugs into the display. However, I played with the connection and couldn't get it to fail, so I'm guessing that's not it. There are also wide areas of traces going to the edge of the display, presumably to the lines controlling the actual LCD cells, and my guess is that some of those aren't making complete contact. So, questions: - Assuming it is NOT the main display connector, is this something I'm likely to be able to fix? - If I can't fix it, any suggestions as to model number and source of LCD panel to replace it? (The cable to the display is designed for that connector placement, so the form factor must be the same.) Thanks, Dan -- Daniel T. Griscom Work: (781) 665-0053 Suitable Systems Fax: (781) 665-7106 152 Cochrane Street Melrose, MA 02176-1433 http://www.suitable.com/ |
#3
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In article ,
"Jerry G." wrote: To: "Jerry G." From: Daniel Griscom Subject: Flakey LCD display on PowerBook Cc: Bcc: X-Attachments: At 11:14 AM -0500 1/4/05, Jerry G. wrote: This is serviced by replacing the panel assembly and the cable. You will have to find out who the Pismo support is, and send your computer to them for service. I don't think they will sell you the parts to service this yourself, but you can try. Look in your instruction manual, or visit their web page to have their service details. Thanks. It's an Apple product, and I'm pretty sure they no longer service it. There's a number of third-party companies that do the service, but prices range from $300-$500, and I'm hoping to avoid that. The display panels commonly fail on most laptops from the handling action, and folding the panel up and down all the time. If for example, the panel was left in the up position all the time, and rarely handled, it would most likely take much longer, or never fail like this. I have some clients were we have to send out their laptop about once a year, because of the excessive handling. Each time the display panel is folded up and down, there are stresses on the panel, the ribbon cable, the connectors, and the hinges on the case. It isn't the cable below the display connector, because moving the hinge has no effect, and squeezing without moving the hinge always has an effect. It might be the cable where it terminates in the connector, but I'm dubious because I couldn't make it fail and because that isn't a stress point (cable taped down, no forces to break it). I'm still guessing it's a contact failure within the display electronics, where contacts were pressed together but (deliberately) never soldered. If it gets really bad I'll open it up again and try again, replacing if unsuccessful; until then I'll live with it. Thanks, Dan -- Daniel T. Griscom Work: (781) 665-0053 Suitable Systems Fax: (781) 665-7106 152 Cochrane Street Melrose, MA 02176-1433 http://www.suitable.com/ |
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