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In this guide I’ll be removing the LCD screen and inverter board from a Dell Inspiron 9400 laptop. You can use same set of instructions for a Dell Inspiron E1705 and probably some other Dell laptops. If my guide works for you, please mention the laptop model in the comments below.
Need a new LCD screen for your Dell Inspiron 9400/E1705 laptop? Find it here for less than $100.
Like in most other laptops, in this model the LCD screen is mounted between the display cover and front bezel. You’ll find eight screw seals on the front bezel. Six rubber seals (red circles) and two plastic seals (green circles).
Remove rubber seals using a sharp object. Glue these seals somewhere on the front bezel so they don’t get lost.
Remove two plastic seals using the same tool. Also, glue them somewhere on the front bezel.
Remove all eight screws found under the seals.
When all screws are removed you can start separating the front bezel from the display cover. Use your fingers and a piece of soft plastic. In this guide I’m using a guitar pick.
Continue separating the front bezel.
The front bezel has been removed.
There are screws securing the LCD screen to the hinge bracket. You’ll find four screws on each side.
Remove four screw on one side of the display panel.
And after that remove four screws on the other side of the panel.
Now you can separate the LCD screen assembly from the cover.
Be careful, there is a video cable connecting the LCD screen and inverter board to the motherboard.
Place the LCD screen on the palm rest so you can access the video cable and unplug it from the LCD screen and inverter.
Press on latches on both sides of the video cable connector and pull it from the LCD screen.
Unplug the other end of the video cable from the inverter board.
Now you can remove the LCD screen and inverter board. As you see, the inverter board is attached to the LCD screen frame. It’s very common setup for Dell laptops.
The inverter board is mounted inside the metal casing which is a part of the LCD screen frame.
Remove one screw securing the inverter board and turn the LCD screen upside down.
Unplug the backlight cable from the inverter board.
Carefully remove the inverter board from the metal casing and replace it with a new one if needed. You can buy a new inverter board here for about $15-20.
When you buy a new LCD screen for your Dell laptop, it might come with the inverter board already attached to it. It’s very common. If that’s the case, you don’t have to remove the old inverter.
UPDATE: in next guides I explain how to fix damaged display hinge and how to replace damaged keyboard.
November 28th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
My Inspiron 9300 was developing the Dell infamous vertical line problem. I had an Inspiron E1705 that was not working so I thought I’d try swapping screens. Your instructions were perfect. Only problem was the inverter was bad on the 1705 so I had to duct tape the 9300 inverter to the 1705 screen since the mounting system was different. Works great! No more lines. And now I know what the problem was with the 1705.
November 18th, 2011 at 4:54 pm
Dells version of this document..
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins9400/en/sm/display.htm
August 21st, 2011 at 1:29 pm
Is it possible to use LCD screen from my old Laptop (Dell 9400) as a secondary display? is it possible to convert connector to DVI or HDMI?
thanks
August 17th, 2011 at 1:03 pm
Pics were very useful, thanks. The only thing I’d add is that getting the front bezel off can be a bit frustrating, but is much easier if you pry the bottom section away from the LCD screen, which is very easily done, and then pull down and out on the bottom right-hand corner of the bezel to get it free. Otherwise, the whole thing is pretty straight forward.
For anyone else in my situation, if your Inspiron 9400 starts to gain a coloured hue (in my case, red/pink) and then blacks out completely, your LCD screen will likely need replacing and it’s MUCH cheaper to buy a replacement screen from some hardware supplier and then putting it in yourself than buying the part from DELL themselves (if you’re out of warranty).
July 19th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
The hinge on my Dell E1505 broke and I couldn’t shut the case. I got a new lid and hinges for $19.95 from Dell, but no instructions. Thanks for your presentation on the E1705! It was close enough to show me what I needed to know and everything is now fixed.
July 6th, 2011 at 5:24 pm
Oops – forgot to say I replaced the inverter.
July 6th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
Thanks so much. Fry’s quoted me $15 for the part and a minimum of $149 to look at the Dell 6400 I have with a screen gone dark. I did my research, found a part for $7 and it took all of 20 minutes for me – a 53 year old non-computer person to do it! I am so pleased with myself and the results. thanks again and cheers to what you do to help us poor saps save a little dough!!
July 3rd, 2011 at 6:10 pm
In my case I replaced a 17 ” Phillips LG WUXGA with a Samsung screen. I did not need to replace the inverter. It did get a little complicated. The Phillips screen has the inverter attached to the metal frame whereas the Samsung does not. So once I had the screen free of the laptop my approach was to prise the metal bracket holding the inverter away from the metal frame which meant forcefully separating the rivets. Don’t be timid but be careful. The metal is quite soft so it can stand being bent around a bit. Once I had the inverter off still in its bracket I used double sided tape to reattach it in the same position on the Samsung screen but you have to be careful to align the screw holes at either end of the bracket because the bezel attaches to these and holds the inverter frame in place.
June 29th, 2011 at 9:41 am
I have a Inspiron E1705 that the Boss dropped this morning.
The laptop boots with no problem. The screen however has issues
I’m getting lines going across like static and the left hand side is green.
When I plug in an external monitor the monitor shows no problem with
the laptop and I can work. Is just the LCD screen junk?
March 30th, 2011 at 5:51 pm
Dan B,
Maybe you shout try uninstalling and reinstalling the video driver?