Wow. Lot of work. Nice job on the work & the explanation. Yes, I suppose the subject pertains more to a DIY forum than to LUGs, but the discussion ended up here because I wanted to offer it to one of the LUG people if possible, before I offered it to the rest of the world. Glad it worked out, & again I appreciate the extra details. Liz On 7 January 2012 15:23, David P. Connell <davec99@charter.net> wrote:
That was the only real issue with the whole thing - getting it apart blind. It ended up coming apart more like a cell phone than a monitor, by my experience. Once the stand is off, there is only one screw to remove, then its the trusty old guitar pick (secret tool of the cell phone/ipod industry) to remove the rear cover. Not required, but I also removed the whole screen and electronics modules from the rest of the plastics by removing 4 more screws - 2 on each side. The real difficulty, in order to make it look untouched, was that the power supply electronics and video inputs were under a steel cover that was fastened down with metalic tape, which I did not have in stock. I replaced by being careful and using some double-sided clear tape (Later). I slipped the button array circuit board loose from the frame and let it dangle carefully. I disconnected the output lines to the 'inverter/backlight/rest of the display electronics' which are dangerously exposed across the entire bottom of the screen, but fairly sturdy (double-sided tape?). This allowed me to move the unneeded parts well away from dropped tools, etc. Those connections were hard to disconnect, only because they are well-made and require some wiggling. I believe I left my mark most evidently there, especially since I numbered them and didn't bother to clean off the numbers. After doing one, I believe I could probably complete the process without anyone knowing I had been in there. Except....I used a totally different brand of capacitor with higher temperature ratings and the physical sizes were different as well. I matched the ratings otherwise. I guess I had to unplug those cable to remove the two boards to properly inspect and work on them. I guess there were 5 more screws there. And the video cable connector screws/nuts had to come off as they were holding that side of the small board into the cage. The heat sink was on the small board and itself was very small. The caps were all on the power supply board. It is made to be set up in several configurations. I didn't study whether that was for different models or just different caps. but I used the same positions as before, since the holes were left open from my de-soldering braid. The caps are all tacked down with a solid silicone-like substance. I used a matching almond silicone that is a little more rubbery, but still electronically neutral (enough). I finished cleaning up the dust with my trusty dollar brush, blew out everything with the canned air, and put it back together. It has been on ever since I finished and let the silicone dry for a while (hair dryer helped). It only just now exhibited a little bit of what I would call a 'hot chip', but I am definitely not a pro (I was an English Major), since there were a couple of black sections that remained until I passed the mouse over them. The Samsung I fixed a few months ago did that occasionally as well, but not very often, and then seem to stop, so I don't really know. If that is the only thing wrong, I will call it "useable" or "donateable" but maybe not "saleable". I know, I know, an English Major who makes up his own words....I enjoyed the time spent doing the repair, but if I charged what I make at my real job, it might come out pretty close to what I paid for this Acer 23" that I am using right now (which is why I bought it even after I repaired the Samsung - and like Liz and company - you have to have working tools to get your job done). Sorry for such a long message about hardware and nothing about Linux - hardware is more my strength these days.
DaveC