Just a caveat to add Jerry, Monitors keep/hold a charge for many years to come, even when they've been unplugged. I'm very leary of ever recommending a client open a CRT and having them touch anything. You can get zapped by doing so even 5+ years later. Best wishes,
Jeff Slyn, Owner SLYN Systems & Peripherals (502) 426-5469 serving Kentuckiana clients 7 days a week since 1985! On Tue, 24 May 2005 09:44:11 -0400 Jerry Ethington <jethington at mac.com> writes: Ward, My 17" Apple Display is blinking. I tried everything Apple's site said to do and it is still blinking. It is doing two fast and one long blink, which I believe has to do with the backlight. Is there an easy repair for this or is this something major? Also, will it hurt to continue using it. Nora Probasco I'm not Ward :) but I thought I'd throw some additional grist in the mill for other readers o' the list since I just went through this with my 15" display. The 2 fast/ 1 slow blinking light is a diagnostic telling you a backlight has failed, as the document Ward pointed you to points out. That can mean either a backlight fluorescent tube has burned out (CCFL, cold cathode fluorescent tube) or the inverter board inside the display has barfed, and isn't supplying power to one or more of the backlight CCFL tubes. In the case of the 17" display though, it turns out this is a VERY common problem with the inverter board. There are two CCFL tubes at the top and two at the bottom of the 17 inch display, one in each corner, but it is MUCH more likely to be the inverter board in this particular case. You'll probably notice if you look at the screen closely that it is darker towards one of the corners - that probably means a portion of the inverter board supplying power to that corner has croaked. The board actually has four complete inverters supplying juice to the four tubes. In my case, I didn't know whether it was the tube or the inverter board, but I figured what do I have to lose by opening the display up and having a look. I looked at the inverter board first because it was an easier repair to make if that turned out to be the problem - less work :). One portion of the board looked like it had taken a direct hit from a photon torpedo - the transformer was charred and the board it was soldered to was scorched, so it was pretty clear that this was the problem. I searched the web and found <http://www.lcdpart.com>. They had full illustrated instructions on opening up the display and replacing the inverter board, and they sold a replacement board for $110, way less than a new display or the exorbitant repair cost. They also have an improved board that isn't nearly as likely to choke as the original board - this costs about $130. If you are even slightly adept at working on computer gear, you'll have no problems doing the replacement at all. The illustrated instructions at <http://www.lcdpart.com/images/Apple_Inverter_installation.pdf> are pretty clear and make it easy - took me about 20 minutes to put in the replacement board and have my display up and running again. I've no idea why Apple and other manufacturers are so ornery about repairing LCD displays - clearly that are a few parts inside that can easily and economically be replaced if they wanted to do so. The same outfit also sells replacement tubes for LCD displays - like all light bulbs they will eventually burn out, but they are pretty long lived. The tubes are pretty cheap, around $10-$15 each, but it is a bit more work to replace those - they are pretty fragile and some soldering is involved. It might well still be worth doing though - the LCD panel practically never burns out, so new backlight tubes pretty much makes a display good as new. In my case, I didn't have to fool with the tubes - a replacement inverter board fixed my display right up. Since this is so common with the 17" Apple display, the odds are that is the problem with your display too. Thought I'd make you aware of an option other than pitch the display and replace it, or spend $500 to repair it..... For those who do not feel comfortable doing their own repairs, their parent company, <http://www.moniserv.com>, performs flat rate LCD display repairs. In the case of the Apple 17" display, they charge $165. Hope this info helps..... -- Jerry W. Ethington 245 Hawkeegan Drive Frankfort, KY 40601-3912 (502)223-5489 (502)682-2607 cellular jethington at mac.com "Quando omni, flunkus moritati." (When all else fails, play dead.) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.math.louisville.edu/pipermail/macgroup/attachments/20050524/e90dcf13/attachment.html
