Thinkpads Forum

Recently, the LCD backlight on my trusty old T60p went out. The monitor still works, but the image is extremely, unusably dim. I did a bit of searching, and after reading threads like this one, I figured it was probably unfixable and the best I could do would be to get an external monitor.

But then, out of nowhere, it came back to life! I was overjoyed... until it died again five minutes later. Now, it seems to follow a standard pattern of working okay for a few minutes when I start the computer up, and then going out.

Since it still works sometimes, I'm hopeful that it might just be a loose connection, or something else that might be easily repairable. If anyone has any suggestions of connections or cables that I should check, or anything else, I'd be really grateful. I'm no hardware expert, but I've replaced my fan assembly before, so I at least know how to take the thing apart and put it back together again.

I have a T43 that behaved like yours. First I replaced the inverter card without much hope that would fix it, but the card was cheap. The problem remained so I bought a replacement lid assembly. As I removed the defective LCD lid the lid switch fell off the LCD cable. Lead free solder strikes again! I put the new LCD lid assembly on the T43 and got it working. Later I resoldered the switch back on the old LCD but have not tested it. Check to see if you might have a similar problem. Otherwise just replace the lid assembly.

The T60 has a magnetic lid switch, nothing that can fall off.
It sounds as if one or both end(s) of the CCFL has burnt through.
While the CCFL is cold, it will still work a little, but as soon as it heats up, it conks out. Been there, done that.
Replace the CCFL, the LCD or the whole lid.

Thanks for the replies! It definitely sounds like the CCFL is the problem. I'm tempted to try replacing it, but I've never soldered anything before, and this probably isn't the best way to learn. Is just buying a new LCD assembly a decent option? (A new LCD includes a new CCFL, right?)

edit: Wow, yeah, I've looked into it, and replacing a CCFL is way beyond my skillset. I'll look into replacing my LCD.

thatcrazycommie wrote:Thanks for the replies! It definitely sounds like the CCFL is the problem. I'm tempted to try replacing it, but I've never soldered anything before, and this probably isn't the best way to learn. Is just buying a new LCD assembly a decent option? (A new LCD includes a new CCFL, right?)

edit: Wow, yeah, I've looked into it, and replacing a CCFL is way beyond my skillset. I'll look into replacing my LCD.

You're making the right choice. I tried few times to replace the CCFL but failed time after time. I scored many whole lid from ebay but market place here will be the best quality and the sellers are the Thinkpad GODS

Success! I got a new LCD off ebay and was able to swap it out without much trouble. By the way, what's the proper way to dispose of/recycle an old broken LCD screen? Do I just put it in the computer parts section at the dump and hope they know what they're doing?

Check your PM.