R40 backlight intermittent failure

[ghcharters]

I am having a backlight problem on an R40. The unit is 3 1/2 years old and well out of warranty. I have searched many forums and haven't found anything quite like this but I'm hoping someone here can help.

I usually use the laptop on my lap, without the battery, with the power supply plugged in, placing it on a table beside me when I'm not using it. The problem first occurred about 3 months ago. Occasionally (3-4 weeks between occurrences) when I pick it up, the screen goes black. I can see under a bright light that the lcd is working, so the backlight has gone out. Consistently, I have been able to restore the screen to operation by installing the battery, unplugging from the power supply, hibernating, then resuming.

Here are a few other symptoms (or lack thereof). There is no sign of pinkness or redness that people generally report as a backlight is going bad. No amount of shaking or tapping in various places has been able to force the problem to occur, so I don't think it's a loose connection. It has only ever happened as I picked up the laptop to move it from my lap to the table or vice versa. I suspect the inverter but I don't want to go to the trouble of replacing that if it isn't the problem.

Anyone seen a similar situation? Any suggestions?

[NS]

It might be with the LCD cable which can be seen when you opened the LCD (that black strip on the left hand side). Either it is loose or the cable connector is loose. Try hooking onto another external monitor.

I have similar incident happening to my R60 last month and i decided to open up the thinkpad and have a look at what's going on and found out that the cable attached has fallen loose.

[ghcharters]

Thanks NS. I've looked at the Mtce. Manual for the R40 and it looks pretty messy getting at that connection. I really have my doubts that the problem is a loose connection though because of the way it comes on and what I do to get it working again. I'm leaning toward it being some kind of static-related issue where changing the voltage level by switching to the battery brings it back. Does this sound familiar to anyone?