T30 bad invertor - but did they kill the motherboard?

[LL]

Hi guys,
Need a little help. Have a T30. Had LCD problem, screen black except for ghost image. Brought it to repair shop, they told me they fixed it by pushing the wire back into the invertor (charge $80). Got it home, same thing happened, but came back on when I tapped on spot where invertor is installed. Called them and they said bring it back, we'll order invertor. Got there and owner says he has an invertor from his T40 that he will try first. Called me, said he tried it, didn't work, too small, will be $90 to order new one for my model and after he fixes it he's never working on it again because it's old. Next day, associate calls asking for power cord. Says laptop, "popped off, while working on it"? Battery (both batteries?) must have drained, need to troubleshoot further before ordering invertor. Next call I get, motherboard blown. Error beep codes (3beeps, 3beeps,1beep). Says it's unrepairable, motherboard blew from age of computer, says it was really dusty inside. Now he won't refund my $80 that I paid for the first time he didn't fix it, and I have no computer. At least I could hook it to a monitor when it was just a backlight issue.

So here are my questions:
1. Can you blow a motherboard from trying to replace an invertor?
2. How much should it really cost to replace an invertor?
3. Should I take this muppet to court or am I SOL

The whole thing smells bad to me and I'm desperate need of opinions and advice, all replies greatly appreciated. It's as if I've lost an appendage
Thanks in advance,
Lisa

[rkawakami]

First off, welcome to the board! Secondly, sorry to hear about your problems .

So here are my questions:
1. Can you blow a motherboard from trying to replace an invertor?
2. How much should it really cost to replace an invertor?
3. Should I take this muppet to court or am I SOL

1) Highly doubtful you can damage anything on the motherboard by simply trying to replace the inverter unless they are "ham-fisted" and tried to use too much force and/or they don't know what they are doing. I believe you should be able to get to the inverter by removing the LCD front bezel. I don't have a T30; I'm only going by a brief glance at the Hardware Maintenance Manual.

2) Inverter boards for the T30 generally run around $20-$40 on eBay. These are mostly used parts pulled from old laptops, although if you look around enough you can get some that the seller says are "new" but they tend to cost much more (~$60).

3) Between you and your pocketbook to decide if the cost of small claims court warrants prosecution. Maybe you should look into checking with the local BBB to see if there have been previous complaints about them.

The 3-3-1 beep code you mentioned (if preceeded by a single beep) is usually a code that says your memory modules are a problem. It could also be the motherboard, but almost all of the systems I've seen with this error code are memory problems. Could be as something as simple as re-seating the modules or more involved than that. However, if the problem appeared after the repair shop tried a power supply not designed for the T30 (just a guess on my part) then tried to cover their a$$ by asking you for your supply, then, yes, the motherboard could be blown.

[AbsoluteRaleigh]

The inverter isn't the problem.

You should get a refund for the $80 since they misdiagnosed the machine. There are several little things that make the display go dark on the T30.

As for the beeps, the front memory slot is probably bad. Try just using the rear slot. This is extremely common on T30s.

[AbsoluteRaleigh]

BTW- for the dark display, check out the hibernate switch above the keyboard- could be down too low, can be modified..

[Rex]

This sounds like a similar problem that I am having with my T20.

Have replaced the LCD cable and inverter, but the screen is still (usually) blank, apart from a 'ghost' image. So pixels are working but backlight is not. Put the screen into my T22 and it worked; put the T22 screen into the T20 and it didn't.

Conclusion is a problem with the motherboard which an IT expert has told me is the most likely cause. Computer displays on an external monitor so I would guess in your case (as mine), maybe the problem is/was with the motherboard.

Just my two pennies worth!

Rex