[BLOG] My first LCD: back from the grave

LincLinc OwnerDetroit Icrontian
edited November -1 in Community
My old LCD monitor, the first one I ever bought (during my college sophomore year) has been getting worse and worse. I was using it for my Mac, but it started flickering badly and finally it would only turn on and flicker for 2 seconds and shut off again. I thought it was finally toast. It had a good run and withstood all those moves between dorms and home several times.

I Googled the monitor model number to see if I could replace part of it, and found out that it had a common problem with bad capacitors. Turns out, it just needed 4 of them replaced (about $5 worth of parts) with a soldering iron. Luckily, our friend J has a soldering station. He came over tonight and we disassembled the whole thing and he soldered the new capacitors onto the circuit board in the monitor... and it works like new!

I can't get over the fact that my 6-year-old monitor is working perfectly again for $5.

Comments

  • MyrmidonMyrmidon Baron von Puttenham California Icrontian
    Taking apart monitors can be scary. At least, CRT monitors. I suppose LCDs don't have so much charge stored in their caps. At any rate, did you take pics of the whole thing? That'd be a cool article.
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    Didn't think to take pics :-/

    There were plastic sheaths covering the "high voltage" parts of the inverter board; the caps we were replacing weren't in that area. Neither of us were particularly worried about that part.

    The scariest part for me was prying the case open. It was pressed together, so it required a flat screwdriving and a lot of loud popping noises that sounded like breaking. :eek3:

    I love fixing things. Everything in our culture is so predisposed to throwing things away, and I'm as guilty of it as anyone. Having the opportunity to do something like this is increasingly rare.
  • pseudonympseudonym Michigan Icrontian
    J rescues electronics again!!

    Many moons ago he once saved a video card of mine. Also happens to be the first time I met Prime back at the old Detroit HQ! What happened after that you ask? Why the first LAN.

    J makes LAN babies.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    pseudonym, I hope you aren't married or that your significant other doesn't read this. That sounds an awful lot like a lusty affair.
  • photodudephotodude Salt Lake, Utah Member
    always fun to replace parts and get stuff working again. I replaced a cap on my wireless-N router a few months ago after a brown-out fried the cap (stupid triple protection surge protector failed to do it's job). The router works but now the Wan is in permanent flashing mode. 99% working with $1 in parts (sadly I'll hock the router since I just picked up a new wireless N router with gigabit ports on the cheap, had to make the move from 10/100 to 10/100/1000)

    My next soldering adventure I'm considering is replacing the power connection on on old laptop that has a bad power cable.

    I agree there is some great satisfaction that can only be found in repairing equipment that otherwise would have to be thrown out and replaced. Congrats on your success with your monitor.
Sign In or Register to comment.