HDX inverter/backlight failure [ Edited ]

[HaggisCat]

It's way easier to replace the whole screen. Replacing the bulbs requires great patience and dexterity.

 It is possible though, but after doing it myself I would not recommend it.

 Here is just one youtube video.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRQSk4bhcCU

 http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-16-WXGA-LCD-CCFL-Backlight-Lamp-Wire-Harness-HP-Pavilion-DV6-DV6T-DV6Z-/...

 You will probably need two. I ordered a pair from this seller and the wires were too thick so I had to reuse my old ones, so you will need to solder as well.

 Here is another one with some instructions, but he only ships to the US, but if you have 100% feed back, very often a seller will ship over seas.

 http://www.ebay.com/itm/16-0-LCD-Screen-CCFL-Backlight-Bulb-Lamp-Laptop-Samsung-LTN160AT02-LTN160AT1...

 As for the quality of the screens, it doesn't matter where you get them from, they are all made in China. The one from HP will be the same thing from e-bay, but the HP one may cost more.

 One advantage with buying new lamps is you can test them before mounting them in your old screen. This way you can make sure the lamps and the inverter are healthy before taking the screen apart.

 You do realize that replacing the screen won't get rid of the keyboard imprint on the bezel. The imprint is on the plastic cove which is actually in front of the screen. I think I may have mentioned this some where, but I thought it best to remind you again.

[gobarman]

Thanks for the supplier links and video; I may order a couple of lights and test them before proceed with anything. The $285 replacement is the whole display assembly as per the HP Maintenance and service guide, part number 577001-001 which is the whole cover of the laptop, the site even has a picture of it and includes the bezel, that’s why I'm tempted to go for the easy way.

And again many thanks.

[HaggisCat]

If it's a new unit, then that's not a bad price, but it looks like the video cable has been chopped off !!

 Or is your screen shot cutting it off !!  ????????????

 If it's been cut then I would advise to stay away from that. But yah, that's the way to go, it's pretty easy comparatively so just to replace the whole unit.

 Some times you may find one on e-bay from China for around 185.00 US. These are called new-pull. These are screens that have been taken form old stock, returned refurbished machines, or from demonstrators.

 That can't be called new, but there are not really from old used laptop's either. Those are not a bad deal.

[gierso]

my inverter finally got there. 

i opened carefully my PC but i magaged to break 70 of the snaps on the lcd COVER. it was the most dificult part and the video didnt help that much. but well it istill has enough to close

when opened i conected the new inverter and nothing :/  whats the voltage the lamps should receive? when the screen is ON ??

well anyway i closed the sucker up and left the screen disconected on purpose , with this i confirmed my suspicions that twhen the lcd is not conected, the HDMI or VGA take the signal from boot, as oposed with lcd connected, that takes the signal after OS boots...

one little concern.  my battery DIED or at least is not detected  

i mean its detected, at 39% and charging, but its not really charging nor discharging anymore. without AC power it shut off right away so. is it possible that i disconected something or failed to connect something in the close up process????  or maybe my battery just died on me   (its my second battery so i suposse)

i will test with my sister in law's hdx18 battery 

so i rule out or confirm this. 

for the moment i will have the laptop as a media center on a TV via HDMI so i will not rush to change the full screen for now

[HaggisCat]

That sucks that you had such a hard time getting the LCD cover off, but I do know that they are bear !!

 Try a hard reset for the battery : Remove the battery and adapter. Hold the power button down for 1 minute and only use the adapter when booting up. The next time you shut right down leave the adapter plugged in and install the battery.

 No, anything you did could not have effected the battery as it plugs right into the mother board when it's installed.

 There is nothing that could have been accidentally disconnected.

[JMhdx18]

HDX18 laptop.

I seem to have the same symptoms as the original poster, pointing to a likely bad inverter:

1) Backlight went when using the machine.

2) External monitor still works

3) Sometimes when coming out of display off, the backlight is on for a fraction of a second. 

4) Shining a desk lamp closely at the screen shows that the LCD video is 100% fine.  I can tediously limp through a few functions on the desktop, particularly moving windows over to the external monitor. 

Question:

I tried viewing the video about opening up the machine, referenced in earlier posts (thanks so much). 

http://h20574.www2.hp.com/results.htm?SID=3769212&MEID=3EFDAD77-28EC-4232-A7BA-839C2823F059

When I hit play, it goes from "Ready" to "Opening Media ...", then back to "Ready", no error messages. 

I have Windows Media Player 11.0/Vista/Firefox with the Windows Media Player Plugin installed.  The test listed in the mozilla.org site:

http://hg.mozilla.org/qa/litmus-data/raw-file/tip/firefox/plugins/mediaplayer.html

... works fine.

Does this video still work for anyone else, or is it just my machine? 

thanks.

[HaggisCat]

Try running the Media Library in IE9.

 It works for me in IE9.

 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 I couldn't get it to work in FireFox either _ same symptoms _ I even gave it a full minute to load _ use IE9.

 It also helps to be signed in first before clicking on your link.

[petermichaelmzk]

hey gang, this week, screen started flickering. 
specifically, at full brightness, quick flashes of black bars on lower 1/3 to 1/2 of screen.
now screen dim.  barely useable.  constant dim flicker from dim to dimmer.
tap the screen, occasionally comes back to a sustained full brightness, but goes back to dim.
works fine on external monitor
model is 1020us
i have taken off top bezel to "jiggle" video cable on left side, no change. 

from what i have read here, the inverter is a immediate loss of view, not this dim symptom (i am making this post on the machine in question)

agree?

thanks in advance,

Peter
xp on hdx18t 

[HaggisCat]

It's either the inverter, the back-lights or both.

 Start with the inverter as it's the least expensive.

 If it turns out to be the screen you can replace the entire screen of course or just replace the lamps.

 Replacing the lamps is not easy, they are very fragile and you will probably have to use the original wires from the old lamps as the new wires that come with the new ones will be too thick to fit into the screens routing channels.

 The advantage of keeping your old screen is that most of the HDX 18's that I have come across have Samsung screens in them and they are pretty good quality wise. There seems to be allot of failures lately with the newer screens in about 9 months to a year.

 I rebuilt a Samsung screen with new lamps and it's still going strong _ I bought the screen "as is" from ebay with burnt out lamps.

[petermichaelmzk]

OK new symptom.

I am watching the tv through the hdmi, into my samsung tv and it is very slightly dimming from med to med low brightness.  pretty much a constant variation.  you wouldn't notice it in a movie, but on this white background as i type this it is easy to see.