Is My Monitor Dead?

[Jethro]

I have a two-year-old SCEPTRE 19" LCD monitor.
Came home after leaving system off for several days, and it worked for
a 10 or so minutes, then stayed black. I cannot get it to work now.
When I try turning it on and off, it flashes what it should display
just for a second, then goes black.

It has been hot, here in Delaware. Like 100 degrees! My house A/C
was off while I was away - maybe the heat had something to do with
this?

Jethro

 

[Rod Speed]

I have a two-year-old SCEPTRE 19" LCD monitor.

Came home after leaving system off for several days, and it
worked for a 10 or so minutes, then stayed black. I cannot
get it to work now. When I try turning it on and off, it flashes
what it should display just for a second, then goes black.

Only way to prove if its the monitor or the
video card etc is to try it on another system.

It has been hot, here in Delaware. Like 100 degrees!

Pfft, we can see 10 days over that.

My house A/C was off while I was away -
maybe the heat had something to do with this?

Unlikely. Much more likely to be a coincidence.

 

[Jethro]

Only way to prove if its the monitor or the
video card etc is to try it on another system.

I have two machines, networked together via KVM. Can't raise a raster
from either. Before you ask, I tried skipping the KVM with the same
result. I have an old small CRT that I tried. It works on both
machines - just way too small.

Thanks for response

Jethro

 

[Paul]

I have a two-year-old SCEPTRE 19" LCD monitor.
Came home after leaving system off for several days, and it worked for
a 10 or so minutes, then stayed black. I cannot get it to work now.
When I try turning it on and off, it flashes what it should display
just for a second, then goes black.

It has been hot, here in Delaware. Like 100 degrees! My house A/C
was off while I was away - maybe the heat had something to do with
this?

Jethro

You have an inverter failure. In some cases, just replugging the
connector from the inverter to the CCFL lamp, might be enough to
get it to work again. Here is a previous thread or two:

"problem with display - toshiba satellite 1800-400 HELP please"
http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.comp.hardware/browse_frm/thread/a1c8abb3ae21b0ae/b067a3a7c844a043

"screen blanking on Dell laptop"
http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.comp.hardware/browse_frm/thread/584af8d05245632d/bb1df412362c5871

In the cases I've read about so far, the lamp seems to be
seldom implicated. The inverter makes high voltage, and
if there is leakage or if the connector gets smoked, that
can foul up the works. The inverter should have rudimentary
protection against overload, which means it will shut off
if you look at it sideways. There may be some foil or
grounding in the area, and if that comes in contact with
the wrong thing, it will stop working. The inverter can
also just outright fail.

The main problem with repairing stuff like this, is getting
CCFL lamps and inverters that were designed for each other.
An after-market replacement might be _close_ to being a
substitute, but not quite. Maybe that would result in
frustrating repeated failures of one sort or another.
But the alternative is to throw away the monitor, as
I'm sure you won't find anyone locally who is more qualified
to do the repair, and shipping the LCD anywhere would be
prohibitive (it would probably get cracked in transit).

As in the second link above, you could try turning down the
brightness, then turn off and turn on the monitor power again.
Reducing the brightness may keep the load on the inverter
from triggering the overload protection. If reducing the
brightness helps, you know the circuit is still messed up
and can only get worse with time.

Paul

 

[Yugo]

The inverter makes high voltage

Is the voltage high enough as to be dangerous, like in a CRT? I was surprized
when I learned that there was high voltage in LCD screens.

 

[Rod Speed]

Paul wrote

Is the voltage high enough as to be dangerous, like in a CRT?

Nope, the current is low.

I was surprized when I learned that there was high voltage in LCD screens.

Its there to power the backlighting.

 

[DaveW]

If you read the manufacturer's technical spcifications that came with your
LCD screen you will find that it is NOT intended to be used in an ambient
temperature of 100 degrees. Yes, it's fried.

 

[Rod Speed]

If you read the manufacturer's technical spcifications that came with your LCD screen
you will find that it is NOT intended to be used in an ambient temperature of 100
degrees.

It wasnt being USED at an ambient temp of 100, it was off.

Yes, it's fried.

The manual certainly doesnt say that you must keep the A/C
all the time to ensure that wont ever be in an environment of
100F when its turned off.

 

[Jethro]

If you read the manufacturer's technical spcifications that came with your
LCD screen you will find that it is NOT intended to be used in an ambient
temperature of 100 degrees. Yes, it's fried.

I didn't mean to mislead - the outside temperature was indeed 88-100
degrees, and still is. Gad it's hot!

Anyway, I had left the whole-house A/C off for several days, and when
we returned at that temp, the house inside temp was maybe 80-90, I
guess. My two machines booted up just fine, and the CRT acted normal.
Only after I started using the systems, did the screen go black, and
stay that way except for the 'flash' I described earlier.

Do you still think the heat killed it?

Thanks

Jethro

 

[meow2222]

I didn't mean to mislead - the outside temperature was indeed 88-100
degrees, and still is. Gad it's hot!

Anyway, I had left the whole-house A/C off for several days, and when
we returned at that temp, the house inside temp was maybe 80-90, I
guess. My two machines booted up just fine, and the CRT acted normal.
Only after I started using the systems, did the screen go black, and
stay that way except for the 'flash' I described earlier.

Do you still think the heat killed it?

Thanks

Jethro

You seem to be asking non-questions. Either it works or doesnt, either
its alive or its dead.


NT

 

[Rod Speed]

I didn't mean to mislead - the outside temperature was indeed 88-100
degrees, and still is. Gad it's hot!

Anyway, I had left the whole-house A/C off for several days, and when
we returned at that temp, the house inside temp was maybe 80-90, I
guess. My two machines booted up just fine, and the CRT acted normal.
Only after I started using the systems, did the screen go black, and
stay that way except for the 'flash' I described earlier.

Do you still think the heat killed it?

I doubt it. Bet it was marginal and was going to fail anyway.

 

[Jethro]

You seem to be asking non-questions. Either it works or doesnt, either
its alive or its dead.


NT

I guess I am. I give up. End of subject.

J

 

[Rod Speed]

I guess I am. I give up. End of subject.

He's an object.

 

[Darklight]

I have a two-year-old SCEPTRE 19" LCD monitor.
Came home after leaving system off for several days, and it worked for
a 10 or so minutes, then stayed black. I cannot get it to work now.
When I try turning it on and off, it flashes what it should display
just for a second, then goes black.

It has been hot, here in Delaware. Like 100 degrees! My house A/C
was off while I was away - maybe the heat had something to do with
this?

Jethro

There is a trick you can do shine a good light on the screen if an image
is seen it's just the back light that is giving you the problem. How do
i know i dropped my laptop. When i turned it on there was no image but if
i shined a light on it or put it in the sunlight were the sun was shining on
it i could see an image.

 

[Jethro]

There is a trick you can do shine a good light on the screen if an image
is seen it's just the back light that is giving you the problem. How do
i know i dropped my laptop. When i turned it on there was no image but if
i shined a light on it or put it in the sunlight were the sun was shining on
it i could see an image.

Thanks

I just tried your trick, using a camping fluorescent light right up
against the screen. I see nothing but the light's reflection.

Nice idea, though,

Jethro

 

[Darklight]

Thanks

I just tried your trick, using a camping fluorescent light right up
against the screen. I see nothing but the light's reflection.

Nice idea, though,

Jethro

I would try it in sun light to make sure!

 

[Jethro]

I would try it in sun light to make sure!

Will do

Thanks

 

[saturnlee]

May be bad capacitor especially the surface mount cap on the inverter
and the secondary side.

I saw it couple of time that the caps bulged or/and the cap's ESR got
too high.

IF you have a ESR meter, you can check it easily.
IF the caps are bulged, you can spot it easily.

Just curious, what brand of capacitor is used in your SCEPTRE monitor?

 

[Jethro]

May be bad capacitor especially the surface mount cap on the inverter
and the secondary side.

I saw it couple of time that the caps bulged or/and the cap's ESR got
too high.

IF you have a ESR meter, you can check it easily.
IF the caps are bulged, you can spot it easily.

Just curious, what brand of capacitor is used in your SCEPTRE monitor?

I wish I could tell you. As of yet, I have been unable to take the
LCD apart, despite having removed all the screws I could find in the
rear. I guess I probably should stay out of it?

Jethro

 

[GrimJack808]

Go get a cheapo flashlight from any store. The kind that you hold in
your hand. Place it directly against the monitor so that all the light
is being directed into the panel and none is leaking out of the sides.
(You will have side leakage with a floresent campling lamp).

This simulates what the CCFL is doing inside the monitor. It should
then pass through the LCD panel, into the rear and back out again,
When it comes back out again, you should be able to see the image on
the LCD screen. Think of an LCD screen like a stained glass window.
Unless there is light behind it, it doesn't look like much. From
outside a church the stain glass looks non descript. Go inside and
look out and it is a wealth of colors.

If you see the images, then you have a problem with the light and the
circuitry is delivering the right power to the Liquid Crystals to amke
them change to the proper colors in the proper locations to form the
image. Changing out the inverter and/or the CCFL will solve your
problem.

If you don't see an image, then the problem is somewhere else. It
oculd be with your graphics adapter, it could be with your LCDs
internal circuitry. If it still doesn't work on a second computer,
then it is probably fried.

Here are some links about changing your CCFL that may be helpful.

http://home.comcast.net/~stonent/screenfix.htm
http://www.hackaday.com/entry/1234000523065961/
http://www.inventgeek.com/Projects/shorts/lcdfix.aspx
http://iantha.vectorstar.net/ccfl.html
http://www.lcdpart.com/doc/ccfllampreplacement.html (4 different
walkthroughs)

I don't know who makes Sceptre, but take a look here to try and find
your inverter. Once you get the cover off, you can just try and find
it here as most of the inverters have photos.

http://www.lcdpart.com/doc/inverter.html

Good Luck!
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