Monitor failure. Fix it or forget it.

Brad Schoonmaker on 30/7/2008 at 03:03

Just the other day my monitor went blank while the main led lights started flashing quickly. It's a Dell 1702FP and I guess since the date stamped on the back shows it was made way back in 2001, it might be shot. I'm hoping it's still fixable, though.

I googled for help and found the most helpful (http://www.instructables.com/id/FREE-17%22-LCD-Monitor---How-to-do-it%3F/?comments=all) solution. I checked out the board inside for any marring or leaks, but only saw what looked like spillage on the inverter board not the main one that is commonly the problem. Any advice I see about this online tells me it's a sure sign of the whole thing going bad. And that means replacing an otherwise fine monitor. Is there a way of discharging the energy on these capacitors safely so I can replace them without paying a professional to do it? Not cheap considering I can find a bigger monitor for $170. I'd like to do this myself also, because I've been bad with throwing money away on my computer and I think there should be a way to salvage this one.

bikerdude on 30/7/2008 at 17:38

you say spillage..? if something has popped, it will have been a capacitor as these have small amounts of liquid inside...

I would say bite the bullet and get a new monitor, there are plenty of monitors to choose from, but what's yer budget..?

biker

37637598 on 30/7/2008 at 23:48

if you're sure it's the caps, all you need to do is make sure the monitor is un-plugged, remove each capacitor, and make sure you don't touch the contacts, then figure out what the voltage is on the capacitors and dis-charge them.

Brad Schoonmaker on 30/7/2008 at 23:56

As little as possible. I got this one for free so why break the habit?

The spillage isn't all that bad, but it's dark as if burnt. The site says any capacitor looking that way is bad, but since it's on the inverter board I don't know how safe it is to replace it myself.

I guess I could go see what's available at Micro Center. They're overpriced, but I like the selection there better than other places. I'm looking at around $150 to $180 for a decent monitor. Maybe Acer?

Funny, this old monitor I'm using started getting all wavy like those 'dream sequence' segues in TV shows. Plus, it's blurry as hell.

Thanks.

dvrabel on 1/8/2008 at 09:13

Capacitors will self-discharge so just leave it for a while (a few hours should do).

Brad Schoonmaker on 1/8/2008 at 23:46

Okay, thank you for that. I'll give it try. I was just being too careful, then.

Kyloe on 2/8/2008 at 06:54

If the monitor is from 2001, I would guess it only came with a VGA connector. Any but the cheapest new monitor will have a DVI-connector and that can dramatically improve the picture quality if your graphics card supports it.

Brad Schoonmaker on 2/8/2008 at 15:29

Actually, it has both and for a long time I used the VGA cable that came with it. But since getting the DVI cable, I'm still not sure about the improvement; picture quality or refresh rate. It's a great monitor besides. If this repair doesn't take, I'll only get another monitor that has both, though.

baeuchlein on 3/8/2008 at 21:00

If you're still interested in repairing the monitor, you could take a look at (http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/monfaq.htm). There's a lot of information there which might help you in deciding whether to attempt the repair or not, and how to find the problem. There is even a sub-chapter called "Safe discharging of capacitors in TVs and video monitors", which you might find interesting.

Keep in mind that there are a few dangers when working inside a monitor, such as discharging capacitors by connecting them through your body - involuntary, of course, but potentially lethal as well -, breaking the glass tube (and getting pierced by the glass pieces hurled towards you as a result of the implosion which might occur), and last but not least connecting oneself to the live parts of the monitor while having to work inside with the power cord plugged in. If you know all about these dangers, you can easily avoid them. If you have never heard of these dangers... better read about them first in another sub-chapter, "SAFETY".

Good luck!