T-23 LCD has faded to black....

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jondoze · #1 Post by **jondoze** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:59 pm

Hello All, great forum you have here.

I have a T-23 2647-GGU that I've had for a few years.
Everything is "stock" as it came from the factory. (except RAM = 512)
About a week & a half ago the fan started making some really bad noise (sounded like it was under water), so I order a new fan, and installed it with no problems.
Two nights ago the screen started flickering, and yesterday morning the screen stayed black on start up. If I look real hard I can actually see the windows desktop, and I can use an external monitor with no problems.
The first few times I toggled back and forth to the external monitor, my ThinkPad screen would come alive for a few seconds but then black out again.
I took everything back apart tonight to see if there was a loose connector or cable but everything seemed tight.
Re-assembled but still a black screen.
The fan was $130 and I'm considering a bigger HD. Before this machine becomes a money pit, does anyone have any ideas for me?

All help greatly appreciated!!

John

none · #2 Post by **none** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:05 pm

Well your video card is fine since you can see everything on an external monitor. The other three parts that play a role in displayin things on your ThinkPad are the LCD inverter, LCD backlight, and LCD screen itself. Since you said you can still vaguely see the screen if you look really hard, my first assumption would be the LCD backlight.

jondoze · #3 Post by **jondoze** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:07 pm

Thanks "none" for the quick reply.

Do you know off hand if the backlight is a replaceable part?

John

#4 Post by **carbon_unit** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:33 pm

The backlight bulb is replaceable but it is not an easy job. Replacing the whole display is much easier.
It could also be the inverter which is an easy swap.

beeblebrox · #5 Post by **beeblebrox** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 2:38 am

Replace the LCD cable, it is broken. Common problem on the T2x series.
The light bulb should be ok, because you could initially see the light when you moved the screen back and forth.

Cable is on eBay for about $10-20. Easy to replace by yourself.

mattfromomaha · #6 Post by **mattfromomaha** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 9:35 am

I'm still leaning toward a diagnosis of LCD backlight, not the LCD cable, but since the cable is cheap I'd start with that, but don't get your hopes up too much.

johnhwang · #7 Post by **johnhwang** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 1:18 pm

beeblebrox is right , my friend's T 23 have same problem .and he fix it by change LCD cable

jondoze · #8 Post by **jondoze** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 11:34 pm

Hi everyone, thanks for all the advice. I bought an LCD cable and I'll let you know how it goes.

John

jondoze · #9 Post by **jondoze** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 4:11 pm

Took me long enough to get around to trying the cable swap. Didn't work.
Inverters seem cheap enough I'll try that next.
After that I think I'll have a moderately used T-23 for sale, minus a hard drive with a bad LCD.....

jondoze · #10 Post by **jondoze** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 4:47 pm

Another thought on this rainy afternoon,

I see complete LCD panels on ebay for around $200. Are they worth it? Or is it time to upgrade.... All opinions welcome.

My T-23 is usually running 18 hours a day 7 days a week, I guess you could say I over work it.

beeblebrox · #11 Post by **beeblebrox** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 5:54 pm

ok, if it is not the cable and not the inverter, than... it is a dead light bulb. They cost around $10 on eBay, but somewhat ricky to replace.

Better get a new LCD, they are about 60-70$ on eBay or at $130 brand new (also eBay shops).

Plinkerton · #12 Post by **Plinkerton** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 9:19 pm

Good call beeblebrox...

jondoze · #13 Post by **jondoze** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:20 pm

Geez,

Just figured out that I'm still under warranty!!

mattfromomaha · #14 Post by **mattfromomaha** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:26 am

jondoze wrote:Geez,

Just figured out that I'm still under warranty!!

Funny! That's always question #1 in my book!

jondoze · #15 Post by **jondoze** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:42 am

Funny! That's always question #1 in my book!

I never even thought of it, I guess you get used to everything having 90 days or a year limited. A friend of a frieind I ran into over the weekend consults with Big Blue and that was the first thing out of her mouth: "You know, you get 3 years on most of the thinkpads....."

T-23 LCD has faded to black....

T-23 LCD has faded to black....

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