X60 display goes blank after half a second

[itm60]

I've inherited an old X60 and am trying to get it up and running. When I power it on I see the Thinkpad splash screen for half a second but then the screen goes blank.
I tried a hard reset by holding the power button down for 30 seconds. Now when I close and re-open the display lid I see the BIOS settings screen for half a second before the screen goes blank. I can't get the display to stay on for longer than half a second.
Any idea what the problem might be?

[axur-delmeria]

I've experienced this on an X61 (uses the same LCDs as the X60). In my case, it was a dying CCFL backlight-- I ended up transplanting a CCFL tube from a cracked LCD from an X61 Tablet. I swapped the inverter beforehand but the problem persisted.

[unixed]

Shine a torch at the screen when it goes blank. If you can see it startup then it is the backlight (or inverter).

[itm60]

Thanks - yes if I shine a torch on the display I can see activity. I guess replacing the backlight wouldn't make sense from a cost perspective, so I think I'll sell it for use with an external monitor (which seems to work fine).

[RealBlackStuff]

Nope, you have blown the backlight fuse F3 (3A/32V/fast).
Remove power + battery first.
Then solder a new one piggyback-style on top of the old one.

[itm60]

If the fuse was blown, wouldn't that prevent the backlight from coming on at all? It does come on for half a second whenever I power up the machine.