Re: [Wlug] Acer Flat-screen monitor, needs repair, does anyone want?
You can give me a call sometime if you like, and I can tell you what you need to know. Its a bit much to type out. If you're interested reply directly to me and ill give you my number. On Jan 4, 2012 11:54 PM, "Jason Couture" <plaguethenet@gmail.com> wrote:
If you open the casing, you'll find 1 to 4, 2 wire electrical connectors. (Usually two). The wires are usually pink and white, but can be different. They are the power wires for the back light, which is ccfl? I think? They require a high voltage to operate (30,000v) the inverter changes the internal voltage (5-12v) to the required voltage. If its burnt out, the back light may not work at all, or may work at first and then turn off. If you look carefully the picture will still be on the screen but almost impossible to see. Attached are some pictures of the wires from a lamp I removed from an Acer LCD panel. Of all the ones I've taken apart this is more or less universal. The inverter is usually highly specific to the monitor. Easiest way to find one is to take the old one out and get the model number off of it. On Jan 4, 2012 11:40 PM, "E Johnson" <iris.gates@gmail.com> wrote:
I bought a new monitor. We cannot be down, this was being used for a project. This is now a (non-working) retired spare.
Can you tell us more about whatever inverter it might need, or how to diagnose?
I would like to hear how to fix these, in case Monitor 2 (identical twin) goes down. Identical twin was actually bought earlier & is 5 seconds out of warranty, but still rock-solid. But if it dies we will not be happy campers.
Thanks, Liz
On 4 January 2012 23:22, Jason Couture <plaguethenet@gmail.com> wrote:
Sounds like the inverter, did you see if they were available? There usually fairly easy to change.
On Jan 4, 2012 11:20 PM, "E Johnson" <iris.gates@gmail.com> wrote:
Offering this here first. I have a monitor which started blacking out 3 days ago. I always liked this monitor (had 2, the other one still doing just fine!).
This is an Acer Flat-screen monitor, 19-inch screen, 1680x1050, DVI or VGA input. The resoultion on this is especially nice. Good color, at least I always enjoyed it.
Specs: Acer X193WBD. 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - 5ms, 1680x1050, (WSXGA+), 2000:1, DVI, Black (A179-1944)
This ls not-quite 3 years old, still in warranty. It powers on, but flickers, then black-screens. Acer says they can and will fix it (free parts / labor) . It needs to be shipped back to Acer (in Texas), who will fix it & return within a few weeks. Shipping might be around $40.00, but is still considerably cheaper than buying a new monitor like this. Acer ships back at no cost, the only shiping cost is one-way, TO Acer.
Or if you are good at fixing stuff like this, it might be just the
thing.
E-mail me for details if interested. I'm in Worcester near Elm Park.
Liz J _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
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Okay, thanks very much Jason! The symptoms seem similar to what you are describing. Power works, can see the initial screen with "Acer" logo, can see for a few seconds the desktop & windows on it, which then fades & screen appears to go black. I will open it up & find the part. While I am there, I will dust off everything, & inspect. Then if I need further direction I will be back. I used to build & inspect small elex units, back in the day. It doesn't sound difficult, as long as it doesn't require diagnostic tools that we don't have. But as I said, I replaced the monitor, so if someone else needs a monitor & wants to attempt a repair, e-mail me & it can be yours. Thanks very much, Liz On 4 January 2012 23:56, Jason Couture <plaguethenet@gmail.com> wrote:
You can give me a call sometime if you like, and I can tell you what you need to know. Its a bit much to type out. If you're interested reply directly to me and ill give you my number.
On Jan 4, 2012 11:54 PM, "Jason Couture" <plaguethenet@gmail.com> wrote:
If you open the casing, you'll find 1 to 4, 2 wire electrical connectors. (Usually two). The wires are usually pink and white, but can be different. They are the power wires for the back light, which is ccfl? I think? They require a high voltage to operate (30,000v) the inverter changes the internal voltage (5-12v) to the required voltage. If its burnt out, the back light may not work at all, or may work at first and then turn off. If you look carefully the picture will still be on the screen but almost impossible to see. Attached are some pictures of the wires from a lamp I removed from an Acer LCD panel. Of all the ones I've taken apart this is more or less universal. The inverter is usually highly specific to the monitor. Easiest way to find one is to take the old one out and get the model number off of it.
On Jan 4, 2012 11:40 PM, "E Johnson" <iris.gates@gmail.com> wrote:
I bought a new monitor. We cannot be down, this was being used for a project. This is now a (non-working) retired spare.
Can you tell us more about whatever inverter it might need, or how to diagnose?
I would like to hear how to fix these, in case Monitor 2 (identical twin) goes down. Identical twin was actually bought earlier & is 5 seconds out of warranty, but still rock-solid. But if it dies we will not be happy campers.
Thanks, Liz
On 4 January 2012 23:22, Jason Couture <plaguethenet@gmail.com> wrote:
Sounds like the inverter, did you see if they were available? There usually fairly easy to change.
On Jan 4, 2012 11:20 PM, "E Johnson" <iris.gates@gmail.com> wrote:
Offering this here first. I have a monitor which started blacking out 3 days ago. I always liked this monitor (had 2, the other one still doing just fine!).
This is an Acer Flat-screen monitor, 19-inch screen, 1680x1050, DVI or VGA input. The resoultion on this is especially nice. Good color, at least I always enjoyed it.
Specs: Acer X193WBD. 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - 5ms, 1680x1050, (WSXGA+), 2000:1, DVI, Black (A179-1944)
This ls not-quite 3 years old, still in warranty. It powers on, but flickers, then black-screens. Acer says they can and will fix it (free parts / labor) . It needs to be shipped back to Acer (in Texas), who will fix it & return within a few weeks. Shipping might be around $40.00, but is still considerably cheaper than buying a new monitor like this. Acer ships back at no cost, the only shiping cost is one-way, TO Acer.
Or if you are good at fixing stuff like this, it might be just the thing.
E-mail me for details if interested. I'm in Worcester near Elm Park.
Liz J _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
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when the screen is black, in a well lit room, see if you can make out an image on the screen. It will be very hard to see. If it is there, then its either the inverter or the back light. (90% of the time its the inverter, the back light is part of the panel) On Jan 5, 2012 12:18 AM, "E Johnson" <iris.gates@gmail.com> wrote:
Okay, thanks very much Jason!
The symptoms seem similar to what you are describing. Power works, can see the initial screen with "Acer" logo, can see for a few seconds the desktop & windows on it, which then fades & screen appears to go black.
I will open it up & find the part. While I am there, I will dust off everything, & inspect. Then if I need further direction I will be back. I used to build & inspect small elex units, back in the day. It doesn't sound difficult, as long as it doesn't require diagnostic tools that we don't have.
But as I said, I replaced the monitor, so if someone else needs a monitor & wants to attempt a repair, e-mail me & it can be yours.
Thanks very much, Liz
On 4 January 2012 23:56, Jason Couture <plaguethenet@gmail.com> wrote:
You can give me a call sometime if you like, and I can tell you what you need to know. Its a bit much to type out. If you're interested reply directly to me and ill give you my number.
On Jan 4, 2012 11:54 PM, "Jason Couture" <plaguethenet@gmail.com> wrote:
If you open the casing, you'll find 1 to 4, 2 wire electrical
connectors.
(Usually two). The wires are usually pink and white, but can be different. They are the power wires for the back light, which is ccfl? I think? They require a high voltage to operate (30,000v) the inverter changes the internal voltage (5-12v) to the required voltage. If its burnt out, the back light may not work at all, or may work at first and then turn off. If you look carefully the picture will still be on the screen but almost impossible to see. Attached are some pictures of the wires from a lamp I removed from an Acer LCD panel. Of all the ones I've taken apart this is more or less universal. The inverter is usually highly specific to the monitor. Easiest way to find one is to take the old one out and get the model number off of it.
On Jan 4, 2012 11:40 PM, "E Johnson" <iris.gates@gmail.com> wrote:
I bought a new monitor. We cannot be down, this was being used for a project. This is now a (non-working) retired spare.
Can you tell us more about whatever inverter it might need, or how to diagnose?
I would like to hear how to fix these, in case Monitor 2 (identical twin) goes down. Identical twin was actually bought earlier & is 5 seconds out of warranty, but still rock-solid. But if it dies we will not be happy campers.
Thanks, Liz
On 4 January 2012 23:22, Jason Couture <plaguethenet@gmail.com> wrote:
Sounds like the inverter, did you see if they were available? There usually fairly easy to change.
On Jan 4, 2012 11:20 PM, "E Johnson" <iris.gates@gmail.com> wrote:
Offering this here first. I have a monitor which started blacking
out
3 days ago. I always liked this monitor (had 2, the other one still doing just fine!).
This is an Acer Flat-screen monitor, 19-inch screen, 1680x1050, DVI or VGA input. The resoultion on this is especially nice. Good color, at least I always enjoyed it.
Specs: Acer X193WBD. 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - 5ms, 1680x1050, (WSXGA+), 2000:1, DVI, Black (A179-1944)
This ls not-quite 3 years old, still in warranty. It powers on, but flickers, then black-screens. Acer says they can and will fix it (free parts / labor) . It needs to be shipped back to Acer (in Texas), who will fix it & return within a few weeks. Shipping might be around $40.00, but is still considerably cheaper than buying a new monitor like this. Acer ships back at no cost, the only shiping cost is one-way, TO Acer.
Or if you are good at fixing stuff like this, it might be just the thing.
E-mail me for details if interested. I'm in Worcester near Elm Park.
Liz J _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
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I'll plug it back in tomorrow morning & check that. Will report back. Thanks again very much! Liz On 5 January 2012 00:23, Jason Couture <plaguethenet@gmail.com> wrote:
when the screen is black, in a well lit room, see if you can make out an image on the screen. It will be very hard to see. If it is there, then its either the inverter or the back light. (90% of the time its the inverter, the back light is part of the panel)
On Jan 5, 2012 12:18 AM, "E Johnson" <iris.gates@gmail.com> wrote:
Okay, thanks very much Jason!
The symptoms seem similar to what you are describing. Power works, can see the initial screen with "Acer" logo, can see for a few seconds the desktop & windows on it, which then fades & screen appears to go black.
I will open it up & find the part. While I am there, I will dust off everything, & inspect. Then if I need further direction I will be back. I used to build & inspect small elex units, back in the day. It doesn't sound difficult, as long as it doesn't require diagnostic tools that we don't have.
But as I said, I replaced the monitor, so if someone else needs a monitor & wants to attempt a repair, e-mail me & it can be yours.
Thanks very much, Liz
On 4 January 2012 23:56, Jason Couture <plaguethenet@gmail.com> wrote:
You can give me a call sometime if you like, and I can tell you what you need to know. Its a bit much to type out. If you're interested reply directly to me and ill give you my number.
On Jan 4, 2012 11:54 PM, "Jason Couture" <plaguethenet@gmail.com> wrote:
If you open the casing, you'll find 1 to 4, 2 wire electrical connectors. (Usually two). The wires are usually pink and white, but can be different. They are the power wires for the back light, which is ccfl? I think? They require a high voltage to operate (30,000v) the inverter changes the internal voltage (5-12v) to the required voltage. If its burnt out, the back light may not work at all, or may work at first and then turn off. If you look carefully the picture will still be on the screen but almost impossible to see. Attached are some pictures of the wires from a lamp I removed from an Acer LCD panel. Of all the ones I've taken apart this is more or less universal. The inverter is usually highly specific to the monitor. Easiest way to find one is to take the old one out and get the model number off of it.
On Jan 4, 2012 11:40 PM, "E Johnson" <iris.gates@gmail.com> wrote:
I bought a new monitor. We cannot be down, this was being used for a project. This is now a (non-working) retired spare.
Can you tell us more about whatever inverter it might need, or how to diagnose?
I would like to hear how to fix these, in case Monitor 2 (identical twin) goes down. Identical twin was actually bought earlier & is 5 seconds out of warranty, but still rock-solid. But if it dies we will not be happy campers.
Thanks, Liz
On 4 January 2012 23:22, Jason Couture <plaguethenet@gmail.com> wrote:
Sounds like the inverter, did you see if they were available? There usually fairly easy to change.
On Jan 4, 2012 11:20 PM, "E Johnson" <iris.gates@gmail.com> wrote: > > Offering this here first. I have a monitor which started blacking > out > 3 days ago. I always liked this monitor (had 2, the other one still > doing just fine!). > > This is an Acer Flat-screen monitor, 19-inch screen, 1680x1050, DVI > or > VGA input. The resoultion on this is especially nice. Good color, > at > least I always enjoyed it. > > Specs: > Acer X193WBD. 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor - 5ms, 1680x1050, > (WSXGA+), > 2000:1, DVI, Black (A179-1944) > > This ls not-quite 3 years old, still in warranty. It powers on, but > flickers, then black-screens. Acer says they can and will fix it > (free parts / labor) . It needs to be shipped back to Acer (in > Texas), > who will fix it & return within a few weeks. > Shipping might be around $40.00, but is still considerably cheaper > than buying a new monitor like this. Acer ships back at no cost, > the > only shiping cost is one-way, TO Acer. > > Or if you are good at fixing stuff like this, it might be just the > thing. > > E-mail me for details if interested. I'm in Worcester near Elm > Park. > > Liz J > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug@mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
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Liz, Another thing to look for when you open the LCD is whether you have bad caps (capacitors) on there. I've fixed over a dozen Samsung 204B monitors by just replacing a bunch of caps. Look for bulged ends and then replace with the same or higher spec caps and you might be all set. Good luck! John --
Aye, and the back light working and then going out indeed points to a cap. A bad coil on the inverter would give no light at all. On Jan 5, 2012 11:02 AM, "John Stoffel" <john@stoffel.org> wrote:
Liz,
Another thing to look for when you open the LCD is whether you have bad caps (capacitors) on there. I've fixed over a dozen Samsung 204B monitors by just replacing a bunch of caps. Look for bulged ends and then replace with the same or higher spec caps and you might be all set.
Good luck! John
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Thanks John & Jason. OK. I think someone has this on their wish list, so I'll open it up, dust it off & inspect it, & will save all of your instructions for the potential new owner. Will keep these instructions anyway, since the sick one has a twin, which might be just out of warranty now (not buying another new one!). This is a very good group here, & I really appreciate the detailed support & the thought, time and effort put into the responses. Really stellar. Thanks, guys! Liz On 5 January 2012 11:04, Jason Couture <plaguethenet@gmail.com> wrote:
Aye, and the back light working and then going out indeed points to a cap. A bad coil on the inverter would give no light at all.
On Jan 5, 2012 11:02 AM, "John Stoffel" <john@stoffel.org> wrote:
Liz,
Another thing to look for when you open the LCD is whether you have bad caps (capacitors) on there. I've fixed over a dozen Samsung 204B monitors by just replacing a bunch of caps. Look for bulged ends and then replace with the same or higher spec caps and you might be all set.
Good luck! John
John, Funny you say that. We have dozens of those monitors where I work and we pick one day a month and for about 2 hours we set up a assembly line. One person desolders the bad caps, another person solders on new ones, then we have one monitor we use as a test rig. We can crank them out at this point. Though we long ago figured which 5 caps are the likely culprits and we just replace them all, even if the cap looks good. Tim. On Jan 5, 2012, at 11:00 AM, "John Stoffel" <john@stoffel.org> wrote:
Liz,
Another thing to look for when you open the LCD is whether you have bad caps (capacitors) on there. I've fixed over a dozen Samsung 204B monitors by just replacing a bunch of caps. Look for bulged ends and then replace with the same or higher spec caps and you might be all set.
Good luck! John
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Tim> Funny you say that. We have dozens of those monitors where I Tim> work and we pick one day a month and for about 2 hours we set up Tim> a assembly line. One person desolders the bad caps, another Tim> person solders on new ones, then we have one monitor we use as a Tim> test rig. We can crank them out at this point. Though we long Tim> ago figured which 5 caps are the likely culprits and we just Tim> replace them all, even if the cap looks good. I love the Samsung 204Bs, I wish I could get more of them. Nice 1600x1200 display, pan/tilt/height adjustments, etc. Got any you want to sell? John
Just for general info: the aforementioned Acer monitor from Liz had several obviously bad caps in the power supply section. They were all from the same manufacturer and the worst were all the same value. As mentioned below, I just replaced all of them while I had it open - well, not the very largest, or the very smallest, nor the solid ones. The big and small ones looked pretty good, with no signs of bulging or leakage and I'm hoping they were made on a different assembly line, since the values were way different from the bad ones. It has been running for about 18 hours, played a full DVD movie, and returns from powers-saving mode. I'm not entirely convinced that one of the IC's is not running at the edge of its specs, since there was some evidence of heat there. Also, on the video output board, there was a poorly adhered heatsink that I reattached with a spec of super glue and a small gob of silicone fixant. It was kind of tipped over onto another chip and not doing its job - probably not an electrical problem. I am glad, and hope for the future, that there is nothing wrong with the part that would normally encompass the inverter, because it is integrated into the LCD itself and runs the full width of the screen. If I were to be very careful, I could restore the bad caps and try to take advantage of Acer's (so far) excellent customer service and warranty service, but the way the monitor was constructed insured a lot of evidence is left of any repair work (special tapes, tricky plugs, etc - no seals though). I have also had to do a capacitor replacement on my otherwise very nice Samsung SyncMaster 226BW. Thank goodness for forums! By the way, I am down to a single machine running MythBuntu/MythTV as far as Linux goes, although I am constantly using various Live CD's for the ease of use, testing, and tools they provide. I also have a couple of Android devices, but haven't dug inside them much except to 'root', etc. Thanks Liz also - the time was enjoyable, finding the parts helped me find some other stuff, and it worked! It goes very nicely with my Acer 23"LCD/LED. DaveC On 1/6/2012 11:51 AM, John Stoffel wrote:
Tim> Funny you say that. We have dozens of those monitors where I Tim> work and we pick one day a month and for about 2 hours we set up Tim> a assembly line. One person desolders the bad caps, another Tim> person solders on new ones, then we have one monitor we use as a Tim> test rig. We can crank them out at this point. Though we long Tim> ago figured which 5 caps are the likely culprits and we just Tim> replace them all, even if the cap looks good.
I love the Samsung 204Bs, I wish I could get more of them. Nice 1600x1200 display, pan/tilt/height adjustments, etc. Got any you want to sell?
John _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
-- David P. Connell "Watch where you're going; remember where you've been."
Dave, Very glad to know that you managed to resurrect this thing. Meanwhile I am very happy with the new one. Thanks for the feedback on how you repaired this unit. Its twin here (not in warranty) is still running fine, but I can imagine I someday might have to deal with a similar problem in this one. I used to build & instect & troubleshoot small electronic devices, mainly little telemetry units for rockets, & mysterious black boxes for aircraft carriers. Except now I have no soldering tools any more. Anyway, mybe the dysfunctional heat sink was what caused the heat problem & early demise of the monitor. I now recall a "funny" smell right after the first blackout. Hopefully the heat sink on the remaining one here is glued on well enough. If the DH ever turns loose of Monitor 2 long enough, maybe we can take a look. Dave - How much disassembly is required before the heat sink is visible? Thanks again to everyone here. Liz J On 6 January 2012 15:55, David P. Connell <davec99@charter.net> wrote:
Just for general info: the aforementioned Acer monitor from Liz had several obviously bad caps in the power supply section. They were all from the same manufacturer and the worst were all the same value. As mentioned below, I just replaced all of them while I had it open - well, not the very largest, or the very smallest, nor the solid ones. The big and small ones looked pretty good, with no signs of bulging or leakage and I'm hoping they were made on a different assembly line, since the values were way different from the bad ones.
It has been running for about 18 hours, played a full DVD movie, and returns from powers-saving mode. I'm not entirely convinced that one of the IC's is not running at the edge of its specs, since there was some evidence of heat there. Also, on the video output board, there was a poorly adhered heatsink that I reattached with a spec of super glue and a small gob of silicone fixant. It was kind of tipped over onto another chip and not doing its job - probably not an electrical problem.
I am glad, and hope for the future, that there is nothing wrong with the part that would normally encompass the inverter, because it is integrated into the LCD itself and runs the full width of the screen. If I were to be very careful, I could restore the bad caps and try to take advantage of Acer's (so far) excellent customer service and warranty service, but the way the monitor was constructed insured a lot of evidence is left of any repair work (special tapes, tricky plugs, etc - no seals though).
I have also had to do a capacitor replacement on my otherwise very nice Samsung SyncMaster 226BW. Thank goodness for forums!
By the way, I am down to a single machine running MythBuntu/MythTV as far as Linux goes, although I am constantly using various Live CD's for the ease of use, testing, and tools they provide. I also have a couple of Android devices, but haven't dug inside them much except to 'root', etc.
Thanks Liz also - the time was enjoyable, finding the parts helped me find some other stuff, and it worked! It goes very nicely with my Acer 23"LCD/LED.
DaveC
On 1/6/2012 11:51 AM, John Stoffel wrote:
Tim> Funny you say that. We have dozens of those monitors where I Tim> work and we pick one day a month and for about 2 hours we set up Tim> a assembly line. One person desolders the bad caps, another Tim> person solders on new ones, then we have one monitor we use as a Tim> test rig. We can crank them out at this point. Though we long Tim> ago figured which 5 caps are the likely culprits and we just Tim> replace them all, even if the cap looks good.
I love the Samsung 204Bs, I wish I could get more of them. Nice 1600x1200 display, pan/tilt/height adjustments, etc. Got any you want to sell?
John _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
-- David P. Connell "Watch where you're going; remember where you've been."
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The funny smell is usually from electrolyte leaking from bad capacitors. They were Abit ones affected by the so-called Capacitor Plague: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague There was an interesting industrial espionage story behind that where a Taiwanese was using an electrolyte formulation that was only partially recreated from a Japanese manufacturer. Continuing capacitor problems might be from that same formula still bouncing around, or they might be plain old heat problems, or simple under-engineering. On Fri, 2012-01-06 at 17:33 -0500, E Johnson wrote:
Dave,
Very glad to know that you managed to resurrect this thing. Meanwhile I am very happy with the new one.
Thanks for the feedback on how you repaired this unit. Its twin here (not in warranty) is still running fine, but I can imagine I someday might have to deal with a similar problem in this one. I used to build & instect & troubleshoot small electronic devices, mainly little telemetry units for rockets, & mysterious black boxes for aircraft carriers. Except now I have no soldering tools any more.
Anyway, mybe the dysfunctional heat sink was what caused the heat problem & early demise of the monitor. I now recall a "funny" smell right after the first blackout.
Hopefully the heat sink on the remaining one here is glued on well enough. If the DH ever turns loose of Monitor 2 long enough, maybe we can take a look.
Dave - How much disassembly is required before the heat sink is visible?
Thanks again to everyone here.
Liz J
On 6 January 2012 15:55, David P. Connell <davec99@charter.net> wrote:
Just for general info: the aforementioned Acer monitor from Liz had several obviously bad caps in the power supply section. They were all from the same manufacturer and the worst were all the same value. As mentioned below, I just replaced all of them while I had it open - well, not the very largest, or the very smallest, nor the solid ones. The big and small ones looked pretty good, with no signs of bulging or leakage and I'm hoping they were made on a different assembly line, since the values were way different from the bad ones.
It has been running for about 18 hours, played a full DVD movie, and returns from powers-saving mode. I'm not entirely convinced that one of the IC's is not running at the edge of its specs, since there was some evidence of heat there. Also, on the video output board, there was a poorly adhered heatsink that I reattached with a spec of super glue and a small gob of silicone fixant. It was kind of tipped over onto another chip and not doing its job - probably not an electrical problem.
I am glad, and hope for the future, that there is nothing wrong with the part that would normally encompass the inverter, because it is integrated into the LCD itself and runs the full width of the screen. If I were to be very careful, I could restore the bad caps and try to take advantage of Acer's (so far) excellent customer service and warranty service, but the way the monitor was constructed insured a lot of evidence is left of any repair work (special tapes, tricky plugs, etc - no seals though).
I have also had to do a capacitor replacement on my otherwise very nice Samsung SyncMaster 226BW. Thank goodness for forums!
By the way, I am down to a single machine running MythBuntu/MythTV as far as Linux goes, although I am constantly using various Live CD's for the ease of use, testing, and tools they provide. I also have a couple of Android devices, but haven't dug inside them much except to 'root', etc.
Thanks Liz also - the time was enjoyable, finding the parts helped me find some other stuff, and it worked! It goes very nicely with my Acer 23"LCD/LED.
DaveC
On 1/6/2012 11:51 AM, John Stoffel wrote:
Tim> Funny you say that. We have dozens of those monitors where I Tim> work and we pick one day a month and for about 2 hours we set up Tim> a assembly line. One person desolders the bad caps, another Tim> person solders on new ones, then we have one monitor we use as a Tim> test rig. We can crank them out at this point. Though we long Tim> ago figured which 5 caps are the likely culprits and we just Tim> replace them all, even if the cap looks good.
I love the Samsung 204Bs, I wish I could get more of them. Nice 1600x1200 display, pan/tilt/height adjustments, etc. Got any you want to sell?
John _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
-- David P. Connell "Watch where you're going; remember where you've been."
_______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
_______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
-- Kieran O'Callaghan kieran@tiac.net Cell: (978) 760-1428
And just for reference - not to dump on the company (if they even exist anymore!), all the electrolytics I removed from Liz's Acer monitor were from CapXon. And don't ask why I save them, but more than half the ones I have replaced have the same color scheme as these (green/gold writing). Maybe it is a rating (temperature, ramps up and down, etc.) I should know these things....and there are certainly what are considered 'premium' grade capacitors. DaveC On 1/7/2012 10:28 AM, Kieran O'Callaghan wrote:
The funny smell is usually from electrolyte leaking from bad capacitors. They were Abit ones affected by the so-called Capacitor Plague: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague There was an interesting industrial espionage story behind that where a Taiwanese was using an electrolyte formulation that was only partially recreated from a Japanese manufacturer. Continuing capacitor problems might be from that same formula still bouncing around, or they might be plain old heat problems, or simple under-engineering.
On Fri, 2012-01-06 at 17:33 -0500, E Johnson wrote:
Dave,
Very glad to know that you managed to resurrect this thing. Meanwhile I am very happy with the new one.
Thanks for the feedback on how you repaired this unit. Its twin here (not in warranty) is still running fine, but I can imagine I someday might have to deal with a similar problem in this one. I used to build& instect& troubleshoot small electronic devices, mainly little telemetry units for rockets,& mysterious black boxes for aircraft carriers. Except now I have no soldering tools any more.
Anyway, mybe the dysfunctional heat sink was what caused the heat problem& early demise of the monitor. I now recall a "funny" smell right after the first blackout.
Hopefully the heat sink on the remaining one here is glued on well enough. If the DH ever turns loose of Monitor 2 long enough, maybe we can take a look.
Dave - How much disassembly is required before the heat sink is visible?
Thanks again to everyone here.
Liz J
On 6 January 2012 15:55, David P. Connell<davec99@charter.net> wrote:
Just for general info: the aforementioned Acer monitor from Liz had several obviously bad caps in the power supply section. They were all from the same manufacturer and the worst were all the same value. As mentioned below, I just replaced all of them while I had it open - well, not the very largest, or the very smallest, nor the solid ones. The big and small ones looked pretty good, with no signs of bulging or leakage and I'm hoping they were made on a different assembly line, since the values were way different from the bad ones.
It has been running for about 18 hours, played a full DVD movie, and returns from powers-saving mode. I'm not entirely convinced that one of the IC's is not running at the edge of its specs, since there was some evidence of heat there. Also, on the video output board, there was a poorly adhered heatsink that I reattached with a spec of super glue and a small gob of silicone fixant. It was kind of tipped over onto another chip and not doing its job - probably not an electrical problem.
I am glad, and hope for the future, that there is nothing wrong with the part that would normally encompass the inverter, because it is integrated into the LCD itself and runs the full width of the screen. If I were to be very careful, I could restore the bad caps and try to take advantage of Acer's (so far) excellent customer service and warranty service, but the way the monitor was constructed insured a lot of evidence is left of any repair work (special tapes, tricky plugs, etc - no seals though).
I have also had to do a capacitor replacement on my otherwise very nice Samsung SyncMaster 226BW. Thank goodness for forums!
By the way, I am down to a single machine running MythBuntu/MythTV as far as Linux goes, although I am constantly using various Live CD's for the ease of use, testing, and tools they provide. I also have a couple of Android devices, but haven't dug inside them much except to 'root', etc.
Thanks Liz also - the time was enjoyable, finding the parts helped me find some other stuff, and it worked! It goes very nicely with my Acer 23"LCD/LED.
DaveC
On 1/6/2012 11:51 AM, John Stoffel wrote:
Tim> Funny you say that. We have dozens of those monitors where I Tim> work and we pick one day a month and for about 2 hours we set up Tim> a assembly line. One person desolders the bad caps, another Tim> person solders on new ones, then we have one monitor we use as a Tim> test rig. We can crank them out at this point. Though we long Tim> ago figured which 5 caps are the likely culprits and we just Tim> replace them all, even if the cap looks good.
I love the Samsung 204Bs, I wish I could get more of them. Nice 1600x1200 display, pan/tilt/height adjustments, etc. Got any you want to sell?
John _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
-- David P. Connell "Watch where you're going; remember where you've been."
_______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
-- David P. Connell "Watch where you're going; remember where you've been."
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 On 1/6/2012 5:33 PM, E Johnson wrote:
Dave,
Very glad to know that you managed to resurrect this thing. Meanwhile I am very happy with the new one.
Thanks for the feedback on how you repaired this unit. Its twin here (not in warranty) is still running fine, but I can imagine I someday might have to deal with a similar problem in this one. I used to build& instect& troubleshoot small electronic devices, mainly little telemetry units for rockets,& mysterious black boxes for aircraft carriers. Except now I have no soldering tools any more.
Anyway, mybe the dysfunctional heat sink was what caused the heat problem& early demise of the monitor. I now recall a "funny" smell right after the first blackout.
Hopefully the heat sink on the remaining one here is glued on well enough. If the DH ever turns loose of Monitor 2 long enough, maybe we can take a look.
Dave - How much disassembly is required before the heat sink is visible?
Thanks again to everyone here.
Liz J
On 6 January 2012 15:55, David P. Connell<davec99@charter.net> wrote:
Just for general info: the aforementioned Acer monitor from Liz had several obviously bad caps in the power supply section. They were all from the same manufacturer and the worst were all the same value. As mentioned below, I just replaced all of them while I had it open - well, not the very largest, or the very smallest, nor the solid ones. The big and small ones looked pretty good, with no signs of bulging or leakage and I'm hoping they were made on a different assembly line, since the values were way different from the bad ones.
It has been running for about 18 hours, played a full DVD movie, and returns from powers-saving mode. I'm not entirely convinced that one of the IC's is not running at the edge of its specs, since there was some evidence of heat there. Also, on the video output board, there was a poorly adhered heatsink that I reattached with a spec of super glue and a small gob of silicone fixant. It was kind of tipped over onto another chip and not doing its job - probably not an electrical problem.
I am glad, and hope for the future, that there is nothing wrong with the part that would normally encompass the inverter, because it is integrated into the LCD itself and runs the full width of the screen. If I were to be very careful, I could restore the bad caps and try to take advantage of Acer's (so far) excellent customer service and warranty service, but the way the monitor was constructed insured a lot of evidence is left of any repair work (special tapes, tricky plugs, etc - no seals though).
I have also had to do a capacitor replacement on my otherwise very nice Samsung SyncMaster 226BW. Thank goodness for forums!
By the way, I am down to a single machine running MythBuntu/MythTV as far as Linux goes, although I am constantly using various Live CD's for the ease of use, testing, and tools they provide. I also have a couple of Android devices, but haven't dug inside them much except to 'root', etc.
Thanks Liz also - the time was enjoyable, finding the parts helped me find some other stuff, and it worked! It goes very nicely with my Acer 23"LCD/LED.
DaveC
On 1/6/2012 11:51 AM, John Stoffel wrote:
Tim> Funny you say that. We have dozens of those monitors where I Tim> work and we pick one day a month and for about 2 hours we set up Tim> a assembly line. One person desolders the bad caps, another Tim> person solders on new ones, then we have one monitor we use as a Tim> test rig. We can crank them out at this point. Though we long Tim> ago figured which 5 caps are the likely culprits and we just Tim> replace them all, even if the cap looks good.
I love the Samsung 204Bs, I wish I could get more of them. Nice 1600x1200 display, pan/tilt/height adjustments, etc. Got any you want to sell?
John _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
-- David P. Connell "Watch where you're going; remember where you've been."
_______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
-- David P. Connell "Watch where you're going; remember where you've been."
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
participants (6)
-
David P. Connell -
E Johnson -
Jason Couture -
John Stoffel -
Kieran O'Callaghan -
Tim Keller