I just replaced the CCFL in a 15" IPS/Flexview LCD made by IDTECH.
This one is quite easy.

Lift up the silver/metal tape along the bottom (insert a small knife blade to get it started), but only from the 'flat' back.
Leave the tape on the small metal frame.
Cover the sticky part temporarily with some grease paper or similar, to prevent it from sticking to something.
Remove all the small metal screws on both short sides of the LCD.
Remove the screws on both sides of the CCFL metal cover and remove this.
Now lift the metal frame (with the tape) up, and make sure the layers of the LCD do NOT come apart!
Put something between the metal frame and the LCD (e.g. box of matches) to keep that frame lifted.
Temporarily secure the top/bottom of the LCD together with some scotch tape to prevent dust/dirt between the layers.
Do this on the short sides and on the bottom.
Now remove the silicone rubber moldings on each end of the CCFL.
Make a note (or picture) of how these fit onto the CCFL!
Just lift up the thin long wire out of its groove, but do not remove it from the LCD (so you know at which end the inverter connector sits).
The CCFL has enough 'play' to push it to stick out at one side, where you see the metal end of the CCFL, onto which the wire is soldered.
Use a 15W or similar low-wattage soldering iron to unsolder the wire from one side.
You will see that the wire loops around the metal end. Do not force this, it should come off easily.
With wire removed on one side, push the CCFL to the other side, and unsolder the other wire.
You can now pull the whole old CCFL out.
Insert the new CCFL, making sure to have a steady hand, so you don't break the tube.
Do NOT touch the tube itself with your bare hands!
If needed, clean up the old solder from the wires that go onto the CCFL, using desoldering braid.
You should see a nice clean loop in each wire end.
Pre-tin both ends of the CCFL with solder. Use as little solder as possible.
Now put the wireloop of one cable over the CCFL metal part, and push it all the way against the glass. Solder it quickly.
Let it cool of a few seconds, then use a small wire cutter to cut off the CCFL metal part that now sticks out.
Make sure not to 'torque' the cutters, otherwise you might break the CCFL!
Repeat this at the other CCFL end.
Put the silicone covers back on.
Remove the sticky tapes that hold the layers together.
Put back the metal strip over the CCFL.
Put back the outside metal frame, making sure the wires for the inverter come out freely.
With all the screws back in place, put the metal tape along the bottom back in place as good as you can, and flatten it as much as possible, without using any more force than necessary.
That's it.

The owner was very happy with the perfect result.

It probably took me longer to type these instructions, than to perform the above operation.
And just in case, don't ask me to perform this operation for you, the answer will be an emphatic NO!

What size screw driver did you use for this?

I'm trying to do one today, and the PH000, the PZ00 nor anything else I have will turn 'em.Now these I was able to remove with the PZ00, but that didn't seem to work on the side screws, even though they look about the same size. But, they do appear to have a flat head, where these on the metal cover have a bit of a crown. I guess the that crown allowed my driver to catch.

I was using a PH00 for all of them.
From a set of precision screwdrivers, Made in Japan.
No brand name anywhere.

Anyone cleaned IPS FlexView from dust specs that reside between the layers of LCD?

I'd like to tackle this but wouldn't want to ruin otherwise perfectly working UXGA IDTech LCD on my T42p.

Any of a number of screen cleaning products that include microfiber cloths or a chamois would do. Monster ScreenClean is one. You would also need a spray duster. The best way to do something like this is to make a glove box for the final assembly. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glovebox for a generic description.

Raceboy wrote:



Not that I'm aware of. And trust you me, I've been inquiring everywhere for years...

You can bet that if anyone had actually managed to get it done, someone on this board would hear about it and post the link...

I just did one following your instructions, thanks! I had found a steal deal T42p on ebay for um..$42 I think it was. But with a black display. I bought it for the system board, but then it came fully setup with drive, RAM and everything. I saw that the LCD worked, only that the backlight was out. First, I ordered an inverter, but it did not help. Then I ordered a CCFL from moniserve (LCDparts). I was nervous about installing it, but these instructions helped a lot.

It went in fine, a bit of trouble getting the rubber end caps on, but all good. Works!

The only thing, sadly is that it's still not as bright or good as I'd hoped. I have a very nice SXGA+ LCD on my 14" t42p (thanks to Thinkpad lover) and hoped to see equal brightness with a new lamp on a flexview.

Alas, it looks as dim and yellow as my other UXGA T42p with an aged CCFL. I've seen better flexviews used, that's for sure. Quite a yellow cast and not as bright as other flexviews or my 14" regular. I wonder why.

Oh well. I got another flexview in my arsenal anyway for about $25 and a few hours.

Managed to take the old CCFL out from Utwig's 14 inch Samsung T60 screen.



Having read extensively around the forum that Samsungs are not as easy as what RealBlackStuff is describing, I can confirm that I couldn't get access to either of the CCFL's ends without overbending the housing where it sits in. Also, the insulating caps were destroyed in my attempts to take them out. At the far end of the CCFL (mine being the white cable, the proximal end to the connector had a pink cable, if that helps anyone) there was an extra tiny black heat shrink wrap as Neil says on another topic. After stripping it away and desoldering that end, the loop was torn apart and thus now need to extend it in order to solder any new CCFL. So I gave it a break for now...

Anyone knows where to buy a brand new CCFL in the UK by the way?
asking questions before googling, is bad
http://backlightweb.co.uk/index.php?mai ... ucts_id=96

My experience with my old 14" T42 was much the same. Didn't work when I finished. Ended up sending it to MoniServ for repair.

If the plastic is yellowed, you *might* try wiping it *briefly* (once, at most twice) with acetone, which will dissolve a thin outer layer of plastic on one or more of the backlighting sheets But do it only *briefly* as you don't want to cause the plastic to possibly become non-uniform in its lighting capabilities. Also, wait a long while before reassembling as you don't want the slightly gooey plastic to stick to other layers of the panel. Wiping with acetone works great when restoring bicycle parts, but I did accidentally remove a maker's logo the first time I tried it and got overzealous with the acetone.

I have to say the above is bad advice based on what I have read. I definitely would not allow acetone anywhere near my display. Acetone dissolves plastics. Acetone is also used to cement certain plastics such as acrylics.

Here is a better reference for cleaning LCD displays:
http://isweb.fdu.edu/computing/lcd.html


The link below says the same thing:
http://support-us.samsung.com/cyber/pop ... 1981606887