R52 indicator lights acting wierd

[vi340]

Hi,

I have a R52 type 1859 laptop. Its been working great until today. I noticed that while the laptop was turned off completely, the numlock, capslock, and hard drive indicators remain on. Also, while its off, if I unplug the AC power cable from the machine, they turn off. When I start up and log on, they continue to stay on constantly. Normally, the hard drive light would flicker accordingly with the drive activity but once the laptop loads up, its shuts off.

While using the machine, these 3 lights never shut off and they are constantly lit (no flickering)
Also if I press the capslock or shift-numlock keys, the lights never turn off or on BUT the function works - meaning that the letter go all caps and the num lock numbers keys engage.

Finally, I also noticed that the display flickered today between dim and bright while plugged in. It stayed dim for a while but now its back to bright mode.

Any ideas what might be causing this?
Thanks

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the forum.
Sounds like an inverter problem (on which those LEDs are mounted).
Remove the LCD bezel and reseat the inverter on the LCD cable, maybe it's just a loose connection.
If no improvement, get another inverter, either P/N 39T0019 or 39T0368.
REMOVE BATTERY and AC before you do this!

[vi340]

Thanks. I opened it up and the ribbon connector seemed loose and dirty.
It seems to be working fine now! Thanks for the tip.

[RealBlackStuff]

Good job.
Noticed you live in St. Thomas, VI.
Back in the 1980s I had a girlfriend who lived just outside Charlotte Amalie, and I spent many holidays there!
A funny book about your island is "Don't stop the carnival" by Herman Wouk.