HomeIn this tutorial I’ll explain how to remove LCD screen and replace inverter board in an Acer Aspire 5100 laptop. This tutorial will work for many other Acer laptops with the same body.
In my previous article I was taking an Acer Aspire 5100 apart.
OK, let’s get inside the display assembly.
First of all, turn off the laptop, unplug AC adapter and remove the battery.
The screen bezel has four screws hidden under for seals. Two rubber seals on the top of the bezel and two plastic seals on the bottom.
You can remove all four screw seals with a sharp object as it shown on the picture below. Glue removed seals somewhere on the bezel so they don’t get lost.
Remove four screws found under seals.
Start remove the screen bezel with your fingers. Proceed slowly while removing the bezel.
Continue removing the screen bezel.
The bezel has been removed.
The inverter board is mounted below the LCD screen. If you are replacing the inverter board, you’ll have to separate the top cover from the LCD screen first.
Remove four screws. Two of them securing display hinges and other two securing the inverter board.
Carefully separate the display cover from the screen and access the LCD cable connector.
You’ll have to unplug the LCD cable from the screen.
First, unglue the clear sticky tape securing the connection.
Second, unplug the LCD cable from the connector on the screen.
Now you can access the inverter board witch is still connected to the laptop by cables on both sides.
Carefully unplug cables from both sides of the inverter board.
Remove the screen inverter board and replace it with a new inverter.
Here’s how you can remove the LCD screen.
Simply remove four screws securing the LCD screen to the display hinge. Remove four more screws from the other side of the screen.
Now you can remove and replace the LCD screen with a new LCD screen.
Static electricity can kill your laptop. I recommend wearing an anti-static wrist strap while working with internal parts of your laptop.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
November 24th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Hi, i have to relace my laptop´s screen and I need help for that. I bought the screen and i have to put it but i think i need more details like if is to much complicated or delicated and how can connect the cables etc.
I need your help.
Thanks a lot
November 27th, 2008 at 12:38 am
Hiya,
just wondered if you know the connector type connecting the screen to the motherboard? want to extend the screen, but not sure what type the connector is at the end of the ffc…
thanks
Huw
December 1st, 2008 at 3:14 am
Hi!
Your guide helped me fix my LCD, thx very much!
Does anyone know if one can get this silly LCD cable somewhere? Rest is ok, only this cable has a loose contact.
Greets
Mentok
December 3rd, 2008 at 5:31 am
Thanks, your guide was more than helpful. I’ll tell everyone about your site!!!
Merry Christmas 2008
December 6th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Thanks a lot for the great information! I have 2 Aspire 5100’s and am making one good one from the 2. Can you help me locate a problem with my screen? It used to have one verticle line on the right side. Then it started going blank. I could wiggle it and it would work. Now all I see is bands of vertical lines. I am wondering if the problem is with the screen or the inverter?
Thanks again for your work.
Bill Heumann
December 6th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Bill Heumann,
Sounds like a problem with the screen, not the inverter.
December 17th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I have an Acer Aspire 5100. Occasionally, when turning it on the display comes up white and gray with a somewhat cloth looking pattern. Turning it off and the display does not come up or comes up normal. More often, when turning it on, the display just doesn’t come back even after repeated tries. If held up near bright light, there is no sign of anything so I don’t think it is the backlight. I wait until later and it works. The display never stops working once it is up and running. The no display is only at startup. If an external monitor is connected, it always works. Last Monday, during startup, only the external monitor was working until the click on user’s name screen came up when the display came on. This happened Tuesday morning again but Tuesday night the connection of the external monitor did not cause the display to come on at that point. With no external monitor, if the display is dead at power up it will stay dead. It has been suggest that I could have a probem in the BIOS.
December 18th, 2008 at 7:35 am
More info on my Aspire 5100 and the display that does not come up. I found that the probem does not occur if it is started up on the battery only with the AC disconnected. Also, I got this computer two Decembers ago and a similar problem occured in that the mouse and keyboard would not respond. That happened about September. Acer replaced the main board in December. This new problem started around September also. Both times the problem got progressively worse. I don’t know if the keyboard would have worked if I had powered the computer up on battery only.
December 22nd, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Hello -
I am experience problems with my Acer Aspire 5004 laptop screen. I get a vertical line in the display. Everything above the line is very clear. Everything below the line is lighter and eventually fades out. If I press the back of the screen through the cover, the screen comes out brighter (but still faded) and eventually needs to be manipulated again. There are no visible cracks in the glass or in the computer housing. How can I tell if this is a screen or inverter problem (or some other problem)?
Thank you!
December 22nd, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Paula Roberts,
Sounds like a bad screen. I’m 99% sure it’s not related to the inverter board.
December 28th, 2008 at 11:18 am
I own a Acer Aspire 5100. What happened was my daughter was on Google looking at pictures,When she clicked on a certain picture the screen turned all blue then diffrent writting came on. So she turned off the computer and on again, It seemed that she had gotten a virus.
The screen no longer wants to come on, but the power light, lights on,the fan works,you can hear the cd reading but no picture. what happened? and what do i need to fix to correct this? Can you help?
December 28th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Tracey Cyr,
That’s a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) error.
I think in your case that could be a memory related problem. Apparently one of the memory modules went south and because of that the laptop will not turn on.
Here’s what you can try.
Most likely you have two memory modules installed into your laptop. Both modules can be accessed from the bottom of the laptop as you can see in this tutorial I posted before: Taking apart Acer Aspire 5100 laptop.
Try removing memory modules one by one and test the laptop with each module separately. If the laptop starts fine with one module but not with the other, the second one is bad.
You can run the laptop with one working module until you find a replacement for the second one.
January 3rd, 2009 at 6:01 am
Dear Laptop Tech,
I have an Acer 5100 that works fine attached to a standalone monitor but the primary LCD does not work. When I boot I see faint lighting of the screen and I can also see (faintly) the irritating Windows messages from the system tray. I’d like to fix it and am guessing Inverter or LCD, can you make any recommendation about what to fix first?
Also, is there a place to find the exact part numbers for those items? The machine is an Acer Aspire 5100 manufactured in December 2006.
Thanks so much,
Don H
January 3rd, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Don H,
It’s hard to tell without testing the laptop with another known good inverter board and you’ll have to guess. From my experience, inverter board failures are more common than backlight lamp failures. It’s way easier to replace the inverter board than backlight lamp.
I would try replacing the inverter board first.
Also, check the lid close switch. Make sure it’s not stuck inside the case. When the switch is pressed down, the laptop “thinks” the display is closes and there is no power coming to the inverter/backlight.
I guess you can find the part number somewhere on the inverter board. Access the inverter and google any number strings you can find on it. I don’t know the exact part number.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:20 am
Does anyone know what the little switch right to the cable connector on the mainboard is for?
thanks
vince
January 5th, 2009 at 5:04 am
Hi, I got my husband an Acer 2 years ago. About a year ago the mouse pad stopped working. My husband was skeptical and didn’t want me to try and fix it so he got a wired mouse. We recently the computer started acting funny. Not wanting to come on, etc. Well 3 days ago I was online and they screen just went blank then all these lines came up on it. I shut it off and it wouldn’t come on. I removed the battery and teh lights came on but then it started making a loud noise. After that i removed the battery again and it worked fine. Once we cut it off it comes on but the screen is blank now. What could this possibly be?
January 6th, 2009 at 7:25 am
Hello Laptop tech,
I am working on an acer 5100 for a friend. It appears to not boot at all. Power LED is on, fan is on, hard drive light flashes for a few seconds but does not come on after, and the display stays black. Also, pressing the caps lock or num lock keys don’t cause the LED’s to illuminate. I fear this is a CPU issue, but am not sure how to test this. I removed the bottom covers and cleaned a fair amount of dust from the fan, vents, and heat sink. Afterwords, the laptop powered up and was working, but quit after it was given back to the owner. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
January 6th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
I have an Acer 5100. One day (after my 14 year old had it) the screen came up looking as if it had been smashed. I’ve been using my laptop by connecting it to a stand alone monitor. How can I tell if I have to replace something else other than the monitor? How do I know if I need to replace the inverter board?
January 6th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Steve,
Could be bad memory module and poor connection between the memory module and motherboard.
Try reconnecting memory. If you have two modules installed test the laptop with each memory module separately. Install memory one by one in each slot and test.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Michelle,
.
If I understand correctly the LCD screen is broken. Will it light up at all when you turn on the laptop? If it does, the inverter works properly. All you need is a new screen.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Charnelle,
You mentioned at least different problems with your laptop:
1. Mouse pad stopped working.
2. Laptop will not start.
3. Blank screen with lines.
4. Making loud noise.
Could be anything: bad motherboard, defective LCD, bad fan and hard drive, etc… I cannot tell you what is wrong without looking at the laptop. There are too many different things going on at the same time.
January 7th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Have an Acer 3680-2249 with a cracked screen.
Your site was very helpful with very detailed pictures to assist me in replacing the screen.
It took me only 15 mins to replace the screen
January 10th, 2009 at 2:12 am
I need help regarding my computer.
When I start up my Acer Aspire 1694WLMI I could see the Acer logo on the laptop. But after a while the screen turns black. If I tilt my screen I could see some pictures with say an intensity of a few percentages (very hard to see). But the s-video connected to my TV works perfect. I have also tried to adjust the picture by pressing FN+arrow and FN+F5 but with no picture on the laptop? I have also connected an external monitor but this only shows a picture lasting a second after I have pressed Fn+F5. There after it is black. The only thing that works is the screen on the TV connected to the s-video out! I have tested the above with my battery disconnected.
What is the problem is it the laptop screen or inverter etc? The laptop screen looks normal at start up the first seconds or so then it is totally black.
How to fix this problem?
How much does it cost to fix this problem by Acer
service or my self?
Is it worth fixing the problem (the laptop is 5 years old)?
How to get spare parts if necessary?
I would appreciate a fast response and a detailed answer.
Chris
January 10th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Acer aspire 5610 got water spashed into the video port area. Screen went blank but machine recovered ok. I can see the screen with sunlight or flashlight. I replaced the lcd inverter and backlight bulb. Running an external monitor works just fine. Any ideas? Thanks a lot.
January 11th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Thank you, for the directions on how to take it apart, but i was wondering…since I don’t know much about what kind of laptop screen brand i should get to replace it with…and it’s a Aspire 5100, so if you can give some sites on where to grab these tools to replace the items would be nice.
Thanks.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Christian,
Sounds like a problem with the iverter board. I would definately try replacing the ivnerter board first. If a new inverter doesn’t fix the problem, the next part to blame would be the backlight lamp. The backlight lamp is mounted inside the LCD screen and is very hard to replace. From my experience, inverter failures are more common than backlight failures.
Why not? If you can find a cheap inverter and replace it yourself you have very good cahnces to fix it.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Rob N,
So, you replaced LCD inverter and backlight lamp but still experiencing the same problem? Apparently there is something wrong with the motherboard/video card.
January 11th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Vue,
You can buy a new screen on ebay for less than $70. I linked to the LCD screens in the pos (above the last picture).
January 13th, 2009 at 2:48 am
Can I check if my inverter board for my Acer aspire 1694wlmi is working correctly?
I have seen two wires coming out from the right part of the inverter board one white and one pink wire. Are these wires connected to the backlight of my laptop? Could I measure the voltage between these wires to see if the inverter board is working correctly and what voltage should I read with a multimeter?
January 13th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
christian,
Yes, these wires are connected to the backlight lamp inside the screen.
No, you cannot. At least it didn’t work for me. I tried it on a few good working laptops and it didn’t work for me.
The only good and reliable way would either replacing the inverter board with a good test board or plug in another working backlight lamp.
I’m testing backlight failures with a known good backlight lamp. I simply unplug two cables from the right side of the inverter and plug in my test backlight instead.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Hello, I Have an Acre 3690-2900 Laptop Computer i got from a friend of mine, and for whatever reason the screen got broken, i took everything apart needed… replaced the screen and when i put everything together it only works if i put my hand on the upper left hand corner of the screen and pull it in a twisting motion twords me, as long as i hold it like that it works, the minute i let go of it, the thing goes haywire, can anyone help me??
January 23rd, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Hello, I need some assistance troubleshooting just what’s going on with my 5100’s display…
Not too long ago I installed Vista Ultimate, previously I’d been using XP Pro SP3. I had to go on the “great driver hunt” to obtain everything to get my 5100 working again, and as of three days ago, I found the last piece, drivers for the onboard card reader.
None of this is really crucial to the problem, but it gets us to it.
Upon installation, I was prompted to restart, and did so. I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention while it rebooted, but when Vista finally chimed that it was at the logon screen, and my display was still dark, I knew something wasn’t right. Assuming my laptop was once again behaving poorly, I powered it off and restarted. My screen came back. I assumed all was well, and went about my business, then placed it in hibernation, and returned a few hours later, only to discover upon booting back up, that I had a display ONLY until it finished showing the “windows is resuming” screen. Then it cut off.
I powered down and back up, the screen never came on. Several times I did this, never got the screen back. However placing it in Hibernation and resuming gave me just those few seconds of display during boot.
Over the last few days now I’ve been attempting to solve the problem myself with little success.
The VGA port on the backside works. If I plug a monitor into it, it behaves like the primary screen. This has allowed me to discover that my 5100’s screen (when not working) apparently doesn’t exist anywhere. This also allowed me to discover, much to my relief, that the system itself appears to continue working perfectly fine. My display is just off.
Much googling lead me to your page, and others, mostly pointing to bad inverter boards. The person in at this forum has virtually my EXACT problem. Unfortunately a solution beyond possibly sending it in (I’m not under warranty anymore, haven’t been for at least six months now.) and the fact that it could be a problem with my AMD related hardware (I loathe Acer support, I’ve found no documents containing information like this, I’m not even sure where they would be) isn’t available. The fact his laptop is an HP model doesn’t help me much either, but at least the problem is very very similar and contained some interesting information.
All of this in mind, I set back to work on it today.
I initially was going to attempt to reinstall/repair the system, but discovered Vista apparently doesn’t have an option to do that anymore. (I may have missed it if it’s not under Repair Computer) Regardless, I’m beyond thinking this is software related now.
Restarting after attempting this Repair brought my display back. Thinking I may have just struck fear into the circuits of my computer, I attempted several restarts to prove it worked. It did not. But some progress has been made… Unlike initially, now it seems that if left alone long enough, when booted up, my display will work until I shutdown, restart, or hibernate. I’m not 100% sure, I’m not even 50% sure. It does seem that way though.
Following your instructions I’ve cracked open the display. My inverter board looks good, I’ve been lead to believe if it was bad, I’d certainly know about it and be able to tell. All the cables also appear to be in good condition, as does the display itself. While cracked open, I took the opportunity to put the battery back in and power up, just to see if I could tell anything new. The only thing I’ve gained from that, is the theory that my display wasn’t powering up at all is true. You may have seen a small green LED on the bottom left of the panel when it’s on. I’m lead to believe that’s a power LED like on every other monitor, because it was not lit when my display was failing, and was when it worked.
I’ve attempted to research signs and symptoms of laptop displays dying, but haven’t turned up anything useful.
All in all, this has lead me back to your page, posting here for help. I would’ve place all of this in an email, but perhaps other people will benefit from it, and I couldn’t find an address for you.
Do you have any ideas about what’s going on?
Is my display on it’s last legs?
Could it be something else entirely?
The AMD defect perhaps?
I’m going to thank you ahead of time for anything you can do to help. I’d really prefer to not have to spend anything to fix this, and even less so for a new laptop. Nevertheless, if need be, I am considering all my options.
Thank you very, very much. I look forward to your assistance.
January 24th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Dave,
1. Make sure the new LCD screen is seated correctly and the video cable is properly connected to the screen.
2. Could be a defective LCD screen.
January 24th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Ian Sechler,
Sounds like you have a hardware related problem and I don’t think it’s related to Vista OS. To confirm that, you can remove the hard dive and start the laptop. If you still have no image/light on the screen even when the hard dive is removed, it’s not a software issue.
So, the laptop works with an external monitor but not with the internal LCD, right? It tells me that most likely the motherboard/video card in your laptop works properly.
Take a closer look on the laptop LCD. Can you see any image at all? If you see a very faint image, your problem could be related to the inverter board OR backlight lamp.
If you cannot see any image on the laptop screen at all, but the external monitor works fine, there could be a problem with the video cable or LCD screen.
January 25th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Alright,
I’ve removed the hard drive, and attempted to boot several times now. No luck with the display.
Yes, the laptop works with an external monitor, but not the internal LCD.
No, there’s no image at all on the LCD. As I stated before in reference to the small green LED on the lower left of it’s housing, I suspect it doesn’t even turn on.
Is it possible to further nail down what the cause is? Can you even replace the video cables if they’re bad?
One last thing I’d like to note… I said in my prior post that if left alone long enough powered down, upon the next boot, there was a chance my display would return. I think I’ve proven this as a fact now. A handful of times over the last few days, I’ve powered it up every so often and checked. I’ve noticed two things… If upon one boot, the display does not power up, if turned back off, and left alone for say… six hours or more, the next boot stands a high chance of the display powering on. And as I’ve said, once it’s on, it’ll stay on for as long as the laptop is running. Once I power down, if I attempt to boot back up, the display will be gone again. But if I wait those six or so hours… you get the idea.
January 25th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Ian Sechler,
I’m not sure what’s going on with your laptop. My guess would be it’s either a bad video cable or LCD screen.
February 7th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Hey! – Just want to tell you, I’ve found GREAT information on your site! I was able to replace my keyboard on my Acer Aspire 3000 laptop in about 1/2 hour!
Thanks for all your info!
Joe
February 10th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Hey, so before the backlight on my lcd decided to not workin anymore, It use to short out (meaning my screen would flicker on and off). I use to have to move the screen around to get it to stay on. Now i turn it on, and half of the screen works for a good 5 seconds then shuts off. I can still barely see that everything is coming up fine but the light will not stay on. My initial guess was wiring, so i took it apart and all wires seemed to be in tact. Im wondering if a new inverter would fix this or if the screen is just junk.
Please let me know what you think.
Thanks
February 13th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
I have an Acer Aspire 5100, the LCD was replaced less than a year ago, I have had no problems with it since being replaced (I stepped on the lid, totally my fault) A couple weeks ago the screen had trouble turning on, after a few reboots it would turn on. It continued for a few weeks, until yesterday the screen just hasn’t come back on. I have plugged a monitor into it, and it works fine. When I boot the laptop up, it flickers but does nothing. In your opinion would it be just the inverter?
thank you very much, I find your site extremely useful for this useless computer!
February 15th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
excellent tut.. saved my acer 5315…
thx so much….
February 21st, 2009 at 9:51 am
Dear Labtop Tech,
My Acer 5100 will not boot.
The Power LED is on, fan is on, hard drive light flashes for a few seconds but does not come on after, and the display stays black.
I have reseated the CPU after I was told the AMD processor may have been an issue.
I have also reconnected both 512mb memory modules, and even tested them one at a time (as you suggested to other posts). There is still no response … just the same symptoms:
-Power LED is on
- fan is on
- hard drive light flashes for a few seconds but does not come on after
- the display stays black.
Do have any other suggestions? Do you think my memory 512MB cards (modules) are both defective?
Or is this something much bigger?
thanks for your time
~Blake.
February 21st, 2009 at 1:22 pm
I have an Acer Aspire 3000 Laptop. Everytime I try to boot it up, the screen blanks out with Vertical lines. If I try to Reboot, the Screen stays off, the HDD spins up, but doesn’t read, and the cooling fan starts up. I have to boot it 3 or 4 times before it works a little while on battery. If I try to Plug in my AC Adaptor, the screen blanks out like above. Please Help Me!!
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Is there any way to take the LCD screen out and make it into its own monitor?
February 22nd, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Hi, i have an acer aspire 5100-5840 laptop. I’ve been using it for about 2years never had any problems. Recently, i left the laptop on and fell asleep. When i woke up the screen is black, at first i thought maybe it went to hybernation mode but when i try to turn it back on it would still stay black screen. So, i pull the plug and took out the battery and put them back in again hope it would work. Only this time i find that the minute i turn on my laptop the screen would come on for 3 secs and immediately went black. After its booted i could see a faint image on my screen and i tried to press Fn+F6 but the screen would only flashes for 1 sec and back to black. I waited for a few days to try again by keep pressin Fn+f6 and the screen stay normal for about 2 mins and went black again and since then i could never get the screen back to normal again. Theres only faint lights in the background. I tested on my external Monitor and the laptop works fine. My guess maybe its backlight inverter problem??? Or is the lamp? If so any ideas where i can buy the parts or fix it?? Thank you!
February 25th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Hi, i have an Acer Aspire 1654 WLMI. My laptop screen started flickering, freezing and making some beautiful wallpapers made by colour lines and other fancy stuff. Anyway, depending how i move the screen, it works well. Using an external screen, works perfectly.
Any idea of what’s happening? Anyone having the same creepy problem? Any solution?
Thanks in advance.
ps: i guess it’s some bad cable connection or something… but i don’t know enough about hardware and laptop disassembly to fix it!
February 25th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Blake,
Sounds like a problem with the motherboard. Did you try installing different memory modules into DIFFERENT slots on the motherboard? You can try minimizing the laptop as much as possible, remove everything except motherboard, CPU and memory. Try turning it on this way. If still nothing, apparently there is a problem with the motherboard. From my experience, CPU failures are very rare.
Doubt it. It’s very unlikely that both modules failed at the same time.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Pat,
You’ll have to test your laptop with an external monitor attached to the VGA port. Can you get video on the external monitor? Do you see same vertical lines?
If lines appear on both internal and external screens, there is a problem with the video card.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Jake,
Nope, you cannot do that.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
mike,
Could be bad inverter or backlight lamp. I would try replacing the inverter board first, it’s way easier and you have a good chance to fix the laptop.
Did you search eBay? In my post you’ll find a link to the eBay page with inverters for Acer 5100 laptops (under the 10th image).
February 25th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
1001,
Could be bad video cable or LCD screen. To me your description sounds like a bad/damaged video cable, I would try replacing it first.
If you are not sure about taking it apart, please don’t. You can make it worse. Take it to the repair center.
February 26th, 2009 at 7:13 am
Your instructions are great. I have an Acer Aspire 5100 and I bought a new iPhone, during synch it screwed up my laptop. My monitor went black and my computer stopped booting. I replaced the hard drive and decided since I was adding new parts to upgrade the memory. I tried to get my laptop running again with the recovery cd’s my screen would show the acer splash screen and go black. I ordered a new inverter and just replaced that, now my computer boots but I haven’t been able to run the recovery cds as the screen is so dark that I can read what is on the screen. Getting frustrated now. I realized I forgot to disconnect the lcd cable connector before removing the old inverter and replacing it with the new one. Would that have any affect? Any suggestions?
Thanks for writing on this topic.
February 26th, 2009 at 11:03 am
mcprgirl,
Shouldn’t be a problem.
Can you use the laptop with an external monitor? Can you see external video?
I’m just trying to figure out if your problem is related to the inverter or not.
When you have a bad inverter board, the laptop will work and the screen will be very dim, but you still should be able to use the laptop with an external monitor. Can you?
February 26th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Dear Laptop tech,
thanks responding to my post.
This site has been very helpful
~Blake.
March 2nd, 2009 at 6:48 am
Dear LapTech,
hi again,
i’ve figured it out that it may not be the video cable.
The reason why i’m saying this it’s because when i apply pressure over the circuit board behind the lcd screen (upper-left, looking the screen from the right side), it works fine.
Otherwise, when i don’t push the circuit board, it goes white, vertical color lines and other patterns…
am i right?
thanks.
March 2nd, 2009 at 10:06 am
1001,
If the video works fine when you apply pressure on the LCD controller board but it goes bad as soon as you release the pressure, most likely it’s related to the LCD controller board, which means you’ll have to replace the whole LCD screen. I’ve seen failures like that many times before.
You are right, it doesn’t sound like a bad video cable.
Take a look at this post: Laptop has bad video on the LCD screen. What is wrong?
I think your failure is similar to the example 7.
March 2nd, 2009 at 11:20 am
you’re right, my screen looks exactly as example 7.
now i know i have to replace the lcd… but probably i won’t, my laptop is too old for that kind of expensive surgery
anyway, most of the time i use it as a desktop pc with the external monitor.
thanks a lot for your time, you’re a great asset to the DIY community !! ^^
1001
March 7th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
I was having problems with a Compaq 2100 15″ LCD that would sometimes come on when booting, most of the time not. When it did come on it would start good then get horizontal lines, then sections of horizontal lines then blank, but the back light would remain lit. After messing around with the inverter, I decided it was not that and since the backlite was on, it was good too. After much fiddling, it was discovered that ALL these symptoms were due to a poor connection of the power supply to the laptop’s connector. FYI
March 16th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I have an ACER 5100 that while viewing photos the screen went black. When I push the small plunger that senses the laptop screen to be closed the screen will reappear for a second or maybe two but it is dark in the left lower corner. I am able to use an external monitor without any difficulty. Should I start with the inverter? Thank you in advance.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Thanks again for a great guide. First you helped me change/replace my Acer 5100 keyboard, and now the lcd. I will let you know how I get on when i start work on it.
Thanks again.!
Micky
March 20th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Hi saved me some time to remove hard drive , however need tips how to get at left click button as this does not work anymore thanks Robbie
March 21st, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Hello,
I am currently using a HP COMPAQ PRESARIO F700 laptop model, which I purchased less than a year ago.
Around three weeks ago, the laptop back light would RANDOMLY dim off all the time. The programs/sound is still functioning in the background– and it can still slightly, but barely be seen.
This would occur even when my battery is charged or even when it is being charged. Adjusting the screen light from the keyboard doesnt help either. Hence I always end up having to reboot the laptop.
Also, adjusting the angle of the laptop screen would also cause the screen to dim off as well.
The laptop still functions perfectly normally, it is just the back light issue that is annoying.
After searching through many websites and comparing the symptoms, I cannot determine whether the problem with my laptop is either with the BACKLIGHT or INVERTER.
In addition, how much would it approximately cost to fix the backlight OR the inverter?
Thanks!
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Karen,
Isn’t it still covered by HP warranty?
There is no simple answer to your question. Could be either one. I would say most likely it’s the inverter related problem. The backlight failure is less likely. The only way to find out is installing a known good inverter and hopefully it fixes the problem.
March 24th, 2009 at 10:55 am
i replaced my lcd & inverter but the screen is still dark. i read that it could be the “inverter id” how do u set the inverter id on an aspire 5100? is there some utility? any help would be greatly appreciated
March 24th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Ok I just replaced my Acer 8930-6448 screen with an ew one after my son stepped on it and cracked it. But after the install I do not get a picture at all in fact when I select fn-f5 the only option is the external monitor I have connected to my laptop. What can be the cause of not having my laptop screen as a monitor option?
March 24th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Where would you recommend I go to that I get a new inverter installed? As i probably will not be able to put a new one in myself.
I brought my laptop in to ask the info tech guy at my university, but he said he doubts it is a problem with the backlight or inverter, and said it was just my battery options problem.
But even after he fixed the battery options for me, it has occured again.
It seems to occur most of the time when I turn my computer back on from hibernation…
The laptop would work a majority of the time perfectly fine — lately the problem is it randomly starts flickering a lot, and then it would dim off.
Is it expensive to replace the inverter?
March 24th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
annie,
I’ve never heard of that. Not sure what “inverter id” is. If you replace the original inverter with the same or compatible inverter, it should work without any adjustments.
Did you test your laptop with an external monitor? The external video works fine? Maybe your problem is not related to LCD/inverter?
March 24th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Ben,
Are you sure the new screen is compatible with the old one? If not, it might require a different cable.
Also, make sure the video cable is properly connected to the motherboard. Try reseating the cable just in case.
Finally, could be defective LCD.
March 24th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Karen,
If you are not sure, do not disassemble the laptop. Most likely you’ll make it worse. Take it to a repair shop.
March 25th, 2009 at 7:14 am
yes an external monitor works perfectly.
thanks for ur help anyway
March 27th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
We bought a laptop that had not screen or bezel or any top top to it at all and we have bought two different screens for it and tried to put them on and neither one seems to be recognized by my computer or will come on and yet I can hook my computer up to an external monitor and it runs great. What could be the problem and how do I fix it? Thanks!
March 28th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Hi the screen on my aspire 5100 sometimes flickers when opening and closing the display. I think its the backlight thats coming on and off.
Ive had it repaired by Acer twice under warranty but that has now run out, one time they replaced a cable and the other time they re seated it.
Any ideas on how to sort it?
Thanks
March 29th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Becky,
I assume you are buying compatible screen/inverter/cable.
Here’s what you can try. Connect the screen and turn on the laptop with an external monitor, make sure it works properly. After that try switching video from the external to internal mode. You can do it by using the keyboard shortcut Fn+F5 (or Fn+F6 I don’t remember).
March 29th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Aiden,
Does the screen flickers only when you move the display?
How it flickers? Is it loosing backlight or loosing image?
March 29th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Yes we did buy compatible and we already tried that suggestion and it didn’t work. It for some reason doesn’t recognize the screen being connected at all. We have heard that it could be the capaloid or something like that on the motherboard but not sure where to find it on there to jump it.
March 30th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Hello,
Recently, after using my Acer 3680, I closed the screen as normal and left. Upon returning, the laptop powered up, but the screen was completely black. Only problem I can recall in the past was occasionally, (and it hasn’t happened for a while) the screen would seem to slightly flicker, and I would lightly tap the screen on the back and it would fix it.
From your comments here, I see you’ve recommended perhaps checking the memory. Is it possible that could be the case here, or might it be something else? Please help, and thank you for your time.
March 30th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
After posting, I tried the memory swap. It didn’t work however, I then tried hooking the VGA port up to another monitor, and it worked. The screen works thru the VGA port, and not thru the laptop itself. This would denote a problem with the screen or inverter? Thanks for the help.
March 31st, 2009 at 10:12 am
Sorry for all the messages. After searching the web more, I found a post that suggested to put a flashlight to the screen. I did this, and was able to see the image on the screen. Apparently something is up with the backlight. Is there a way to trouble shoot this, and if so, what should I check. Thanks again so much for your time.
-David
March 31st, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Becky,
In the comment 70 you said the laptop was purchased with no screen installed. Maybe the seller removed the screen because he couldn’t get it to work either?
If you are installing the right LCD and using the right cable, but it’s not detected by the laptop, there could be a problem with the motherboard.
Start the laptop with an external monitor and enter the BIOS setup menu. Check the settings in there, maybe you have to specify the monitor (internal or external) in the BIOS. Try loading default BIOS settings.
March 31st, 2009 at 8:50 pm
David,
Sounds like a problem with the inverter board or backlight.
1. Does your laptop have the lid close switch – a small button located close to one of the hinges? Try tapping on the button, make sure it moved freely. Sometimes, the button gets dirty and might stuck inside the case. The laptop “thinks” the lid is closed and because of that turn off the backlight. Tapping on the lid close switch might fix it.
2. Do you feel comfortable taking your laptop apart? You can remove the screen bezel, access the inverter board and try reconnecting cables. Maybe the connection got oxidized.
3. If reseating the cable doesn’t help I would try replacing the inverter next.
4. If a new inverter doesn’t fix the problem, most likely you have a faulty backlight lamp. If that’s the case, you’ll have to replace the LCD screen. You can attempt to disassemble the screen and replace the backlight bulb but it’s very hard. LCD screens are cheap these days.
5. Finally, if nothing helps, that could be a problem with the motherboard or video cable but this is not common.
March 31st, 2009 at 10:57 pm
I did try messing with the button, as well as reconnecting the cables. None of that helped. Just ordered up an inverter, so hopefully that helps. Thanks again!
March 31st, 2009 at 11:05 pm
David,
Let me know if it fixes the problem. It might help other people with the same problem.
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:48 am
I have a Acer 3690-2900 and am looking at seeling it. I want to either remove the hard drive (need to know how?) or delete EVERYTHING on the hard drive (also need to know how??). Is there anything you can tell me. Have me go get? Anything… Im frustrated!!!!
April 4th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Just received the inverter, and installed it. I still have the same problem. I recall in the past to having the monitor flicker ever so often. Would this indicate the backlight going out?
April 4th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Sara,
You can use a free version of Active@ Kill Disk – Hard Drive Eraser.
1. Download and ISO image.
2. Burn it on a CD.
3. Boot your laptop from that CD.
4. Run the disk erasing utility.
This will erase everything from the hard drive.
April 7th, 2009 at 12:20 am
I have a used Acer aspire 5100, the screen would go all black or black/gray with lines. Restarting the laptop would make it work again. Its back lit and everything. Just trying to figure out how to fix it.
April 7th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Carl,
First, you’ll have to figure out if the problem is related to the display panel or motherboard/video card.
Start your laptop with an external monitor attached to the VGA port and set the laptop to output video on both screens – internal and external. Now wait until the internal screen fails and goes black or black/gray with lines.
If the external video fails too, your problem is related to the motherboard/video card.
If the external video works fine even though internal fails, most likely it’s related to the LCD screen.
April 12th, 2009 at 5:25 am
Hi , the monitor on my Aspire 5610 is intermittent . It works fine when I take it by work where a tech guy I know can see it and malfunctions again when I take it home ! It gets very pixelated and white but then sometimes it works fine so how could it be the screen ? An external monitor works fine but I haven’t run it very long with one so perhaps it might do the same thing given enough time .THANKS!
April 12th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Doug,
It’s hart to tell without looking at the laptop but…
If the external monitor works fine all the time, but the laptop LCD fails intermittently as you said (gets very pixelated and turns white), most likely it’s related to the LCD screen.
Here’s what you can try. When the laptop LCD fails, grab the LCD by the top left and right corners and carefully torque the screen. Will it go back to normal? If it will, you have a faulty screen.
April 17th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I am having issues with the ACER Aspire 5100 display. I am experiencing a blue flickering in the background. It is not constant, but it comes when I open an application, or if it sits idle for too long. The LCD is still working fine, besides the blue highlights. Do I need a new screen?
April 18th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Update: When I plug the laptop into an external monitor, it does not show the blue “highlight” in the background. so, I am guessing that it is truly a LCD screen problem.
April 18th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
More information: Sorry, the blue highlight does not show on the external monitor, but it continues to show intermittently the LCD screen.
April 19th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Do you have any more details to actually replacing only the backlight? I was thinking of ordering one on Ebay and would love some more details on how to replace it as they sell some with or without ends???
Thanks
April 20th, 2009 at 12:08 am
Charlene,
Can you test the laptop with an external monitor. Will it do the same on the external screen or the problem appears only on the laptop screen?
Have you tried reinstalling the video driver?
I just noticed that you posted another comment:
If the flickering appears only on the laptop screen but not on the external monitor, your problem could be related to the screen or video cable. I’m not sure which one is failing, I have to see the flickering.
Here’s what I do in cases like that.
I disassemble the display panel so I can access the video cable. After that turn on the laptop and touch/move the video cable. If moving the cable affects video on the screen, most likely the problem is related to the cable.
May 5th, 2009 at 11:18 am
I am having issues replacing My Acer 5050 screen, I was able to fit a new screen which I bought according to the instructions but nothing shows up when I turn on the laptop….I then replaced the old half bled one and it doesnt work anymore now???
May 5th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Excellent guide! I have a 3100 model and it is exactly the same. Thank you very much for the detailed pictures!
I have an issue I am trying to resolve that is similar to many posts I have read here. My screen has been going on and off recently. Most of the time it stays off. But, if I wiggle then sensor that turns the screen off when the lid is closed I can see feint images of the screen and sometimes it even comes back on. This isn’t a permanent fix though.
I have taken the casing apart and wiggled all the screen cables around and made sure they were tight. After closing the case up and turning the laptop back on, it has been working fine (almost an hour so far).
My question is, if the screen goes black again, what part should I replace? Is it the inverter, or the backlight? I am a newbie when it comes to parts.
I have another small issue that I just want to ask to see if anyone knows an answer. The silver casing to the left of the mousepad where my left hand rests while typing has worn off. I have a big black circle there now, lol. Is it possible to replace that casing piece and does anyone know where I can buy one?
Thanks in advance,
Justin
May 5th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Justin,
Sounds like you have either bad inverter or backligth lamp. Which one is failing? I don’t know. They both fail the same way.
If you have to guess, go with the inverter first.
Here’s how you can test the inverter using a known good backligth lamp.
You’ll have to replace the whole top cover assembly.
May 5th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Jason,
Check connections between the video cable and LCD screen. Will it work with an external monitor attached to the VGA port?
May 5th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
I have a15.4‘ LCD because of water damage. However I have water within the part that labeled LCD (between the frame and the background). Any ideas of how to get rid of that water? Thanks!
May 5th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
coliex,
It’s not easy. You’ll have to disassemble the LCD. Here’s how I was able to fix a laptop LCD screen with water damage.
You can permanently damage the LCD screen while cleaning it, so be ready to buy a new one if needed.
May 6th, 2009 at 1:56 am
My laptop was spoiled by water from left side of USB port and other sockets, when the laptop was running but i closed the lid.
I tured it off immediately but started it again after a while. It couldn’t work, but the battery light on. I tried again one day later, as it booted, the battery light and AC light blinked (without AC connecting). Nothing appeared on the screen and the system stopped work. The laptop after the spill, worked 4-5 times with proper booting and stuff but shut off after 30-40 mins and now it dosent boot at all:( What can I do now? HELP! Thanks advance.
May 6th, 2009 at 4:57 am
I checked all connections and it works through VGA port…………I now notice that one of the screen brackets has broken at the right bottom……..would this be part of the problem?
May 8th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
My laptop screen is very dim at times and recently started to shut down after I started it but the screen shows dim spots on the left side. Is my screen getting ready to go?
May 15th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Followup on Comments #95 and #96
I purchased an inverter from eBay for $8.99.
Shipped pretty quick for being overseas. Easy install, fixed my problem right away. Thanks for the help!
May 16th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Well, I spoke too soon. The inverter card seemed to have fix the problem temporarily. After a few more hours of use, the screen began flickering and went out.
Now I’m back to square one, if I wiggle the little sensor that turns the screen off when the lid is closed, the screen flickers a bit.
Should I replace the backlight lamp now? If so, where can I purchase it?
Thanks,
Justin
May 18th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Realy strange. I have replaced broken LCD screen and new inverter. I found there another problem. Screen doesn’t light properly. LCD inverter making problems. When I turn on laptop screen doesn’t light up. I found solution, when I slightly touch on inverter connection (metal pins on the plug where going input inverter cable) screen light up and keeping lighting. When I switch off and disconnect power adapter and again connect, screen has again same problem. I have to still touch to the connector if I want to light up screen. I think it’s problem of cable, maybe it’s somewhere broken but I’m not sure and a little bit confused from that. I tried to move with cable, ones I had effect but no more. Had someone similar problem? Is it short circuit what making screen light up?
May 27th, 2009 at 9:40 am
I used this guide to replace my Acer Aspire 5580 screen. On boot, the screen is extremely dim. This problem has never occurred before for this laptop. I opened the case up again and wiggled all the connections and made sure they were firmly in place….while doing so, the screen ripped out two of the lower corner screw bores :S Anyways, I assume this is an inverter issue, but I’m not sure? I saw someone mention something about touching things with your fingers….doesn’t the inverter use very high voltage? How safe is it to wiggle live connections and pins?
I tested my old screen with the inverter and it lights up fine….does this mean that my new lcd screen that I bought has a bad back light?
May 28th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Brett,
If your old screen lights up most likely your new screen is defective. Apparently it has a defective backligth lamp.
June 7th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
My acer 5050-5430 is switching on but the screen do not have a light when I place a flash light when I heard vista welcome, I can see images. How much would it costs for me to replace and have the lights fixed?(if it is the problem)
June 8th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
I have an Acer 3690 laptop and just replaced the lcd screen according to your instructions. But, when I turn on the laptop i hear the fan, but nothing comes up on the screen. Also, I dont hear any noise, like windows loading up. The only reason I replaced the screen is cause the other one was cracked. I have even tried to hook up an external monitor and nothing, but that doesnt supprise me because even before I changed out the screen I had problems getting the laptop to come up on an external monitor. What can I do to fix this problem? Did I get a bad new lcd screen, or what? I am worried about that because I ordered it off of ebay. Thanks, Shannon
June 8th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Shannon,
Did the cracked screen light up before the repair?
If for some reason you removed memory modules while replacing the screen make sure they are seated correctly.
Also, take a look inside the video cable connector on the motherboard. I hope you didn’t bent pins inside the connector.
June 8th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Yes, the old screen did light up….up untill the end when it got too cracked…the crack kinda spidered. And I looked at the connections and it doesnt look as though any pins are bent.
June 8th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
I just held a light behind the screen to see if I could see anything when I turned the laptop on. All I saw was a bunch of lines flash and that was it. What does this mean? Thanks
June 12th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Hey I just wanted to put down one of my issues with my screen here and see if anyone knows anything about it. Anyways I have a Acer Aspire 5100 and my screen has a problem. On the very right side of the screen there is random colored bars that go up and down all the way right there for about 1/2 of a centimeter. And it stops after that. Then about 2.5 inches from the rights side of the screen their is one blue bar that goes up and down just like the other bars that are on the right side of the screen. There is only one there though. Sorry if I am not describing well enough. I can better I just don’t have much time to put this down right now. Please help.
June 15th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I have two problems that are in a way connected.
First, my user interface is gone completely in my Acer Aspire 5100 notebook. No keypad, no key board, no mouse, no touchpad. Everything is blank, even in bios.
Second, in order to have a look at the hardware possibilities I need to get to the motherboard, and all comes off well except a screw located just under the heat sink – cannot get to it unless I remove the copper heat sink attached to the CPU. I cannot get the heat sink off of the CPU – could it just be some sticky paste holding it and I am not pulling enough???
Does anybody have any input on either of these issues? Thanks.
June 23rd, 2009 at 5:49 am
i replaced the scrren of my acer 5100 laptop it wrks on a another monitor but screen is vey dim just able to see the icon i got a new invertor say problem. I tried in increase the brightness still no change what do i need to do or did i miss something so simple while replacing the screen and invertor??
June 24th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Paul,
Why did you replace the screen? Was it broken or had no back light? Maybe the problem wasn’t related to the screen?
June 24th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Unhomme,
Not a very clear description. Are you getting any video at all or not?
If there is no video at all, check the memory module. Could be bad memory. Try removing memory modules one by one and test the laptop with each memory module separately.
June 25th, 2009 at 3:29 am
Wonderful site. Thanks for hosting it!
Question: Dell Inspiron 1150. On third inverter card. First lasted 3.5 years. Screen went faint a year ago; got a new one, stuck it in – happiness. Screen started flickering about a month ago. Went faint again – ordered new inverter. Popped it in last night; immediate happiness — for exactly 54 minutes!!
Screen lights up for a second or two when you unseat the inverter and reseat it. Or rock the connector back and forth. Did that last year, too. And with the two I currently have now. But it won’t hold an image.
I had not moved the laptop at all on the latest repair. Did it at a table, and never moved it. Seems to be a connector problem but at the same time doesn’t seem to be, as it’s just a flash of happiness now after 54 minutes of it. Could it be the connector cable from the inverter to the screen (the larger one?)
June 30th, 2009 at 2:49 am
i replaced my acer 5100 screen as it was cracked and only half the screen works. the new screen is very dim and i can not change the contrast. i also replaced the invertor same problem still.
June 30th, 2009 at 3:18 am
I changed my LP171WP5 lcd as above and now works fine but there are 3 blue vertical lines when i turn on the laptop.. what is the problem? what can i do??
July 1st, 2009 at 9:57 am
xrictod,
First of all, check the video cable connection. Make sure the cable is properly connected to the motherboard and LCD screen.
Are they very thin (1 pixel) vertical lines? It’s possible that you got a defective screen.
July 1st, 2009 at 10:08 am
Paul,
Try installing the old cracked LCD back into the laptop. Does it light up? Can you see the working half of the screen properly?
If the old screen lights up but the new one doesn’t, most likely the new screen has a defective backlight lamp inside.
I assume you purchased a compatible screen.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:23 am
Paul,
You may have a CFFL (bulb) issue. The replacement may have a bad bulb and when you installed the lcd was dark as you wrote. I am working on one (5100) that had a dim, almost black screen. I opened up the lcd screen to find the ccfl and sure enough it was broken.
The problem with replacing the bulb is that it was basically “soldered,” to the connectors. Now I am getting a new cover, lcd, inverter, bulbs, and wiring harnesses. The one I am getting is in good working order.
So it seems you ended up in the same situation you started in. There are lcd screens on Ebay for $69.99 + shipping. Less if you want to trying bidding on one. I would not recommend replacing the ccfl unless you are willing to risk breaking it.
July 1st, 2009 at 11:30 am
Agree 100%. If you have a bad backlight lamp I would suggest replacing the whole LCD screen. It’s way easier and LCDs are cheap these days.
July 28th, 2009 at 4:23 am
I replaced the screen following your instructions (it’s the 2nd one I’ve replaced) I didn’t replace the inverter board but I can’t get the inverter to fit back in – it’s held in with one screw and fits onto a little receiver at the other end. Also when I have it all back together again the laptop won’t power up and is dead – using connector that works on my Acer so not a power issue. HELP – I’m fixing this for a friend and it looks like I’ve wrecked it.
July 30th, 2009 at 5:30 am
I have an acer 3010 and the problem that not only gives igane pressing the left superiro strongly the image would not. thanks for your help
August 11th, 2009 at 10:45 am
please help i have these flat screen monitor “relisys PD-70fa” . when i used generator on the monitor it work for 30 minute and go off, if i remove the power cord and plug again it flicker and and remain blank. but when using direct NEPA light it works perfectly. pls what could be wrong?
August 13th, 2009 at 6:52 am
Hi, i have an acer aspire one and the screen is damaged. I have just purchased a new screen and would appriciate a tutourial on how to remove and fit a screen to it as i am having difficulty finding out how to do this for this particular model.
Thanks
August 13th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
AH,
Have you tried using instructions I posted here? Step for replacing the LCD screen will be very similar across many different Acer laptops. Maybe some screws will be located in different spots but most general steps will be the same.
August 18th, 2009 at 3:52 am
So… my Acer Aspire 5102 was working perfectly yesterday, but I forgot it turned on during the night with a video playing all the time, so it wouldn’t go into sleep mode or turn the screen off by itself. When I check it at the morning the screen was blank. During reboot I got a quick flash at the boot menu, but then nothing more.
Under some heavy light I can see the LCD is working, and everything works ok plugged in another monitor. From what I read around, it’s not likely to be the backlight lamp, most likely it’s the inverter. I took it apart already and can replace it easily if I can find another one, but I’m a little afraid to buy another one without being sure.
This computer is over 2 years old, but from what I know the backlight lamp wouldn’t die suddenly like that. Any chance the problem is with it and not the inverter?
August 18th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Werneck,
Can be either bad inverter or backlight. Both have very similar failure symptoms. You cannot tell which one is causing the problem until you test the laptop with a known good inverter. If you have to guess, try replacing the inverter board first. There is a good chance to fix the problem.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Hello, and thank you in advance for your help.
My Aspire 5100 has a display problem. It has always been opened up from the side. Now it seems to have a short somewhere.
After opening the lcd screen you will see light and colors nothing that you can make out. But when you pull or push the lcd from the side ever so slighty it begins to work but if you move your hand and the lcd screen moves even a little the image goes blank or you will see strange light patterns.
What could this mean?
Thanks,
Anson
August 28th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Anson,
You’ll have to test the laptop with an external monitor.
If external video works fine and this problem appears only on the laptop screen, it’s possible that you have one of the following:
1. Loose connection between the video cable and motherboard/LCD screen. Try reconnecting the cable.
2. Faulty video cable. Try replacing the cable.
3. Bad LCD screen. You’ll have to replace the screen.
August 30th, 2009 at 2:08 am
Hi, and I must say thanks for such a great site! I have a query and wondered if you could help me with some advice before I buy a new inverter?
I was using the wife’s laptop yesterday (Acer Aspire 5100, 15.4″ screen) when all of a sudden the screen went blank. I restarted, the PC boots into windows fine but nothing on the screen.
So I hooked up the PC to the LCD TV via VGA cable; the PC outputs just fine to the TV. Even when I clone the TV display and laptop display, there’s nothing on the laptop screen.
While WIndows is running, I looked very closely at the PC screen and I could see, very faintly, the outlines of the backdrop. Holding the screen under a bright light meant I could also see edges of the pop-up windows etc.
In your inestimable opinion, would this rather sound like more of a problem with the inverter than the screen itself? I’ve seen some quite cheap inverters for the 5100 that I could pick up but didn’t want to waste money on one if it’s the screen which is up the spout.
Many, many thanks for your advice!
August 31st, 2009 at 4:05 am
Hi,
Thanks for the great info!…I’ve ordered an inverter and I’m just waiting for it to arrive. I had a quick question though…why do I have to remove the LCD cable? Silly question maybe, maybe I should assume that the inverter has 3 connections…1 one each side of the inverter and another that goes somewhere in the middle for the LCD cable…correct?
Not having removed the inverter yet, I can’t see what else may be behind the inverter that may be connected to it. (ie. the LCD cable)
September 1st, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Hi.. my inverter did not come with the covering(light grey one).. is it ok to use the inverter without that covering?
September 6th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I have an acer aspire 5101 which belonged to my brother. He was told the onboard graphics had failed and gave it to me for spares. However I checked the VGA output and it is fine on my PC LCD monitor. So I believe the problem lies elsewhere and the onboard graphics are OK. The screen is absolutely black, even in a dark room. No lines, nothing however close you look. The only clue is that upon power-on there is a very clear (but not bright) flicker of light on the screen and at the same time a sound (very quiet) like a “pink” – a bit like the sound of a filament light bulb failing. Could you point me in the right direction… thanks, Rob
September 9th, 2009 at 4:37 am
Hi! What a great website – I have a problem with my Acer Travelmate 7720g Notebook.
There is no backlight on the screen but the windows page is showing in the background. I have connected an external monitor and it works fine with the notebook.
I also have an Acer Extensa 5220 which is of the same design as the Travelmate. I swapped the invertor and screen from the broken Travelmate along with the LCD cable and it worked fine in the Extensa. I also tried the Extensa invertor and screen and LCD cable in the Travelmate and the screen still didn’t light up…
What could be the problem – The switch for the lid switches off the external display so I assume it is working fine…
Why would the Travelmate not light up the LCD?
Thankyou for any help!!
September 10th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Robert,
Sounds like a problem with the motherboard. I don’t know what else could be wrong.
September 15th, 2009 at 9:22 am
I have the problem similar to post #96 – hitting the close lid switch will bring the screen back to life with some overall discoloration (a not so nice shade of pink) then it fails. While it’s on there is a distinct buzzing from the lower part of the LCD frame until it fails. Torquing the LCD has no effect, and external monitor works fine.
In possibly related issue, prior to the failure, I noticed the bottom on the LCD frame getting very hot. I was also getting hot on the lower left area of the keyboard and to the left of the touch pad. I’ve verified the fan is running at low speed, but will only ramp up to high speed during the power up testing.
Thanks!
September 19th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Chris,
It’s either bad backight lamp or faulty inverter. I cannot tell without testing the laptop with a known good backlight lamp. A shade of pink might be a symptom of failing backligth lamp. A noise from the lower part of the screen could be a symptom of failing inverter board. It’s hard to tell which one is causing the problem.
I would definitely try replacing the inverter first. It’s not expensive and will not take more than 20 minutes. If not help, you’ll need a new screen.
This is not related to the screen failure.
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Where can I buy a screen for my acer notebook??
September 22nd, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Jillygal,
I linked to the eBay page with LCD screens under the last picture. Have you checked eBay?
October 1st, 2009 at 9:38 am
ok well i relpaced the lcd screen and inverter with no problems at all but now my aspire 3100 is like possesed by the devil.after i did the screen my cpu fan went bad.fixed tht.then the internet decided tht it didnt want to work in vista anymore but when i boot over to my ubuntu partion its fine.now to top off the cake….i had it plugged into the wall last week and all of a sudden it lost power.no idicator lights nothing.so i did everything i could think of to get it to come back from taking the battery out to trying to turn it on without the hard drive switched chargers wall outlets the whole shebang.si i took the whole thing apart down to the motherboard to see if there was any signs of shorts or heat damage which i saw no signs of. decided to put the whole thing back together and pray.well when i was putting the wireless card back in i noticed tht there was alot of slack from the cables tht hadnt been there before i got it put bak the best i could got it to power up and everything and charge only to have the monitor no longer work grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr help
October 10th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Hello, I have an ACER Aspire 5610Z. I had it plugged in with a universal adapter on 19V, the screen went dark after a few hours and I noticed that my 2 yr old son switched the 19 to 24V! When I power on, I can see the graphics very faint in the background. What could this be? I’m sorry but I’m not computer savvy so any help would be appreciated. Thank yoU!
October 14th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Hi, I have an acer 3100 series and that doesn’t work and wanted to know if I could take the acer 3100 series lcd and put it on the base of an acer 5100 series. They look similar from the pics I see on Ebay. Just don’t want to buy something thats not compatible. Thanks for all of your help..
Larry..
October 15th, 2009 at 3:02 am
Thanks for the step by step guide. I would have worked it out for myself eventually but I would have lost patience with the screen lid without this page!
October 24th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Hi ,
i have an acer 3680 with some wierd issues , it was shut down im properly with just the power button. after that when you push the power button it does start . you can hear everything running
but no display i mean black as night, im reading all the articles on here and it sounds like i have bad inverter and or lcd . I went ahead and changed the invertor. and still no display should i be looking at replacing the lcd or is there something else i should check
I tried to hook it up on an external monitor with no luck it seems i dont know what keys to push to start the external monitor . any suggestions?
October 25th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
brady champion,
1. Turn off the laptop, unplug the power adapter, remove the battery and wait for a minute or two. Plug the power adapter and try turning it on.
2. If the screen is completely black and blank, it’s not the inverter. Could be memory failure. Try reseating both memory modules. Remove memory modules one by one and test the laptop with each module separately. It will start when you remove the bad module.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:36 am
Hi! Great tutorial. Made it easy to replace the screen in my acer aspire 5515.
But now I have a problem! The first time I powered the laptop after replacing the screen, the screen turned completely white for about 10 seconsd, then went to black and has stayed black since. Pitch black as if there is no power. All of the normal sounds seem to be happening when I power up.. I took the laptop apart again to see if the cables were all connected, but I don’t really feel 100% that the video cable and inverter were reconnected successfully, especially the video cable! I am also unsure if maybe the new screen I bought doesn’t work- although like I said, it did turn white the first time I turned it on.
I can either go to a local computerrepair place (would they tell me if I installed the new screen incorrectly?)buy and replace the inverter, send the screen back and get a new one, or ship the laptop to Acer (even though I think I voided the warrenty by replacing the screen). What should I do? I can’t hook the laptop up to an external monitor because I haven’t a clue about how to do it!
Thanks!
November 7th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
April,
I cannot tell what is wrong without looking at the laptop. It feels like connection related problem. I think the video cable is not plugged correctly.
November 9th, 2009 at 3:13 am
Hi
I want to turn my aspire 5110 into a tablet pc. i have currently turned the screen around. i want to know if i can get an extender for the video cable or at least for the 7-pin inverter cable.
thanks
November 9th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Will,
LOL. That’s a funny project.
Does this laptop come with a touch screen?
Only if you make them yourself.
November 9th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Laptop Tech,
This laptop doesn’t come with a touch screen but i found one on ebay that could be installed. I just had the laptop lying around an i wanted a tablet so i thought id try turning it into one. well looks like i have some fun times ahead. i would document it but my camera is broken. I will let you know how it turns out though.
Thanks
November 9th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Will,
Not sure if it’s going to work. Most likely the touch screen will require a completely different video cable which is not compatible with your motherboard.
But… you’ll get a lot of fun trying that. That’s for sure.
November 9th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Laptop Tech,
. im not sure how i can connect it to the usb port while keeping the control board inside the case.
The touch screen i am getting is usb one, i was hoping to just use one of the usb ports for it. the touch sensitive part just goes in front of an existing screen so it wont actually need to be plugged into the motherboard through video cable
Will
November 16th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
I purchased an Acer Aspire 5100 portable second hand for $10 bucks. I have an Acer Aspire 3000 that is pretty shot but still works and has a good screen. (the 3000 works but all screws are missing, have to use external keyboard and mouse because touchpad and keyboard do not work) I started up the 5100 it made all the right sounds but nothing on the screen at all – totally black. So I took off the screen and replaced it with my good LCD from the 3000. This 3000 screen (that works fine on my 3000) does not work on the 5100 but under strong light you can see the screen is working. Then I put the 5100 screen on my 3000 and it worked perfect, bright clear and everything. So what is the problem here? Just guessing I would say the Inverter Board but how come the 3000 screen somewhat works on the 5100 and the 5100 screen that did not work at all now works fine on the 3000?
November 16th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
thomas Heward,
Maybe the video cable on the Aspire 5100 laptop is bad? Maybe someone tried to fix your Aspire and installed a wrong video cable? Just a guess.
November 17th, 2009 at 6:34 am
The computer was dropped and there is a crack somewhere inside at one of the back corners. I haven’t yet fully deconstructed the system to see the internal damage so I don’t know the extent of it but I know it is there since I can see some damage through one of the screw holes. The system still works though but it has an intermittant issue.
When you boot, it will do the BIOS splash and then cut to black. Looking closely at the monitor shows a jumpy cursor prompt with staticy like lines on the display. You essentially have to open and close the display turn it on and see if it is seated right and boots an keep doing it until it works.
This is no fun and I’ve since replaced the laptop but I’d like to turn this over to the kids to use at a desk. I have an external monitor to use with it so I really want to detach the screen altogether and run it with an external monitor. Anyone know if a laptop will work if you completely remove the screen?
November 17th, 2009 at 9:42 am
earl,
Yes, it should work with an external monitor attached.
In some models, you’ll have to enter the BIOS setup menu and set the external monitor as a primary screen.