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The following tutorial explains how you can replace the CCFL backlight bulb in a laptop LCD screen. As an example the author takes apart a HP Pavilion zt1000 laptop.
Listed below is a typical laptop disassembly. This is most likely not the exact model you will be servicing, however it is indicative of what you will find in most models. They are all relatively the same and we hope this tutorial will give you a basic idea on the scope of backlight replacement.
Step-by-step CCFL backlight replacement tutorial. Are you looking for a new CCFL bulb? You can find it here.
The disassembly and LCD screen removal steps will be the same for many different laptop models.
Before you attempt replacing the CCFL bulb, I would recommend testing your laptop with another working inverter board. It’s possible that your laptop backlight is not working because of failed inverter board.
UPDATE: Here’s another backlight lamp replacement guide that could be useful for all DIY-ers.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
January 20th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Hi,
I have aToshiba satellite A200-TR6.
just a few days ago my screen suddently stopped working..
any time i try to restart it it would light up on one corner for only a second and go off again.. i can still see the screen but the light will not work. and works fine connected to monitor.
I got it checked by my technician and he belives it is only the bulb that is failing and will try to replace it with another screen that “may” possibly fit the size of my laptop.
is it possible it could be a problem with the inverter? should i have him check that before trying to replace my screen?
also, my laptop screen has an integrated webcam that still works perfectly. the screen he planned to replace it with does not have one. is there a way i can find a screen with a webcam too? or would i have to loose my webcam.
thanks.
K.belair
January 15th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Hi,
I have an ibm x32 laptop with a dark screen. it stays lit on bootup for several second up to maybe 30 seconds, then goes out. i’ve swapped out the inverter with several known working others, and get the same several seconds of light and then back to dark. there’s no flickering or discoloration so i didn’t think it was the ccfl, but now i’m wondering if it is after all. any ideas? thanks!
January 9th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Nick,
It’s possible that your new inverter wasn’t good. There is a chance that you bought a defective one.
It’s hard to tell without testing the laptop with a known good inverter board. You’ll have to guess.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
I have a dell 8600 and before the screen failed I noted that it was dimmer, even when set at max, than when it was new. But a month or two ago the screen failed for the first time. I could restart the computer and the screen would turn on for a few seconds, then go dark again. I replace the invert board and that made it work for a time, but I noticed the light would flicker then later it failed with the new inverter.
Do you think it’s the inverters or the ccfl? I replaced the inverter, now im thinking of replacing the whole screen.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:55 pm
I don’t have the resources to connect it to an external monitor… but I could ‘blindly’ move the arrow keys, press enter then I hear that Windows XP melody when you log on.
Here are a few more observations:
- the 1st time it blacked out, I opened my laptop and the LCD is ‘ON’ but is plain black
- the 2nd time, when I opened the laptop, it didn’t light up at all
- the 3rd time (yesterday) was when I had photoshop, media player, firefox (with 10+ tabs), all open at the same time; the screen went blue with a message dumping physical memory, etc. when I restarted it, the monitor won’t work.
Those 3 times I could ‘revive’ the LCD by toggling the laptop on/off (or maybe waiting around 20 minutes before trying again).
(Happy new year, by the way)
December 29th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
nelif,
Could be either one. I would try replacing the inverter board first.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
hey,
there is a problem for my laptop (dell xps m140).When I start this computer, the screen only flickers once (very short, maybe only 1/10 sec) then goes dim. I can see all these images eventhough very dim. I am sure the CPU and vidio card work well because I connected this laptop with a external LCD screen, everything is fine.
Inverter wrong or backlight bulb?
Thanks!
December 28th, 2008 at 1:15 am
Mary,
It’s really hard to tell without further investigation. If the screen is absolutely dark and there is no image at all, even a very faint one, it’s not related to the inverter or CCFL. But you have to make sure that there is no image at all or the problem will be misdiagnosed.
Are you sure the laptop is booting when the screen is off? It would be a good idea to test the laptop with an external monitor when the internal screen fails. Can you get the external monitor to work?
December 26th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Thanks for answering the questions diligently.
(obviously) I also have a problem.
My lcd monitor suddenly refuses to light up (at all). This has happened twice now (december 23 and december 25). Both times I can get my laptop to work again by turning it on and off until the monitor works. The monitor is absolutely dark. No lighting at all. But I know the laptop is booting because the led indicators are flashing.
Do you think I have a problem with the ccfl or the inverter board?
Is it a good idea to do that repeated booting or will it eventually cause more damage?
Thank you so much for answering our queries.
(PS: For people who are asking for THE PRICE ESTIMATE FOR INVERTER BOARDS – laptoptech said it’s $20-$60)
December 26th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
bob,
First of all, check the settings. Maybe you accidentally lowered the screen brightness.
Check the power settings, make sure the brightness is set to maximum for both AC and battery modes.
Check settings in the BIOS menu. On some laptops you can increase/decrease screen brightness through the setting in the BIOS menu.
Also, on some laptops you can increase/decrease screen brightness through the keyboard shortcut. For example on a ThinkPad you can use Fn+Home or Fn+End keys.
On Toshiba laptops Fn+F6 or Fn+F7 keys.
On HP laptops Fn+F7 or Fn+F8 keys.
It’s possible you have a similar shortcut on your laptop.
December 26th, 2008 at 1:11 am
first off merry christmas Laptop Tech
acer aspire 5610 screen just not as bright any more no flickering ,think it might be back light ,do they go dim or just black .
thanks
bob
December 14th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Asher,
Sounds like a problem with the LCD screen.
No, it’s not. Your problem is not related to the CCFL backlight lamp.
When backlight lamp goes bad, your screen goes dark.
From your description I assume that there is a problem with the LCD controller board. It means you’ll have to replace the whole LCD screen.
December 13th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
I have a very strange symptoms on my Toshiba Qosmio G25 laptop. It all started about 2 weeks ago. A vertical bar of flickering appeared in the middle of the LCD. First it was just flashing lines for a minute or so, and then everything went fine. Then the flickering on startup was much longer, and even after that a vertical bar of “haziness” at the same place was staying. Then it became more and more severe, a color vertical stripes persisted appearing on the same spot, distorting the image. In a week the width of that bar doubled, and in doesn’t clear anymore, in changes colors, shades, sometimes it turns into lines, sometimes it becomes semi-transparent and blurry, but most of the time it’s the dead area with some color distortions. The external monitor works 100% Ok. Is it safe to assume that the problem is *ONLY* CCFL backlight bulb or I should replace the whole LCD? I took some pics of the damage, but I don’t know where to post them.
November 8th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
how much does a light bulb cost
November 1st, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Where can you buy a bulb for an LCD display? i have a Toshiba x205 and the bulb busted after a hard fall… any good places you know of?
October 27th, 2008 at 11:08 am
I have an acer aspire 5610 15.4 in. screen. The screen briefly goes on at startup but only half the screen is lit. After that the screen is functioning, but totally dark. If I hold and release the button that tells the laptop it is closed, I can repeat the startup behavior. I am assuming its an inverter issue, but the fact that I can make the screen partially light up for a moment or two makes me doubt this a little. It works fine with external monitor. Do you have any ideas?
September 12th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Thai,
The inverter board is a power supply for the backlight lamp. When inverter board goes bad the backlight stops working but you still should see a very faint image on the screen. The external video should work fine.
In most cases you’ll find the inverter board attached below the LCD screen when you remove the display bezel.
How much would it cost? It depends on the laptop model and where you buy it. I would say somewhere between $20 and $60.
Check out the “Screen Inverter” category, you’ll find inverter replacement instructions for some HP/Compaq models in there.
September 12th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
what exactly is an inverter board? and how much would you estimate the cost to be in order to fix it?
September 12th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Thai,
Could be bad inverter board or bad CCFL (backlight) lamp inside the screen.
All backlight lamps are pretty standard but make sure to get the right size.
You will not find them in retail stores but you can purchase a new backlight lamp on ebay, you’ll find a link where to buy a new lamp in the post.
You can contact the seller and ask him witch lamp is compatible with your screen.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:15 am
I have a compaq presario whos backlight died on me a few days ago. So would the CCFL be compatible with my laptop if I were to purchase one and replace the backlight bulb myself? and are these bulbs sold in electronic stores such as best buy, circuit city, ect.?
September 11th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Termi,
Unfortunately, in order to find the culprit, you’ll have to test the laptop either with a known good inverter board or backlight lamp. If you don’t have test equipment you’ll have to guess. I would probably try replacing the inverter board first.
September 11th, 2008 at 12:11 am
Hello,
my Pavilion ze5570us backlight is always dark.
I can see an image when i point a flashlight on the screen.
Is there any way to find out if its the inverter board, without buying a new one?
Greetings
July 29th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Rick,
Could be either one. In order to find out witch one is causing the problem you’ll have to test the laptop with another working inverter or another working backlight lamp.
I would try replacing the inverter board first. In most cases that’s the culprit.
You’ll find display disassembly instructions in in this category: Compaq & HP Laptops.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I have a Compaq Evo n620c. The display goes on shortly after booting (Compaq splash screen), but then becomes black – whether one allows the booting to continue, or presses F10 for BIOS settings. Tried reformatting the hard drive, reinstalling the Windows and the drivers – no help. Tried BIOS reflashing, installing new CMOS batter and no luck.
From the discussions it sounds like it might be an inverter, not a backlight lamp?
The laptop works well on the external monitor.
Are there instructions available for n620c how to replace the inverter?
July 12th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Steve Fowler,
First of all, it’s possible that you got a defective inverter. Did you buy it from a reliable source? Do you still have warranty? Try replacing inverter with another one if you can.
In most cases this problem is related either to the inverter board or backlight lamp (CCFL). If you replaced inverter with another good one but it didn’t fix the problem, probably you have bad backlight.
It’s not easy to replace the CCFL even for experienced technicians and I would try it only as a last resort. If I know that there is a problem with the CCFL, I usually replace the whole LCD screen.
Sorry Steve, there is no simple answer to your question.
July 12th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I have a Toshiba Satelite A135 when I turn it on the screen is very dark. If you look close or shine a light on the screen you can see and image. I replaced the inverter with a new inverter board and the first time I turned iot on the screen lit up for about 5 seconds then it went dark again and hasn’t worked again. I’ve hooked it to another monitor and it works fine. Do you think I should replace the CCFL. If so could you suggest a vendor.
July 7th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Josh,
If the laptop start without backlight on the screen, I would try replacing the inverter first. The inverter board supplies high voltage AC power to the CCFL lamp. The inverter board can be found inside the display assembly, usually it’s mounted below the LCD screen. If your inverter is dead, the laptop will work fine with an external monitor but the laptop screen will stay very very dark. Inverters fail more often then backlight lamps.
July 7th, 2008 at 7:46 am
I have a Dell Latitude D620. I can turn it on but the screen never lights up. It’s very dark, almost invisible. As other people recommended, I tested my laptop with another monitor and it works just fine. Do I have to replace CCFL?
July 6th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Hi Visitor,
I think the image on the screen has a reddish hue because the backlight CCFL lamp is dying and it has to be replaced. If that’s the case you’ll have to replace the whole LCD screen or replace the CCFL bulb inside your screen and this is not easy.
If you’ve never done it before, I would suggest replacing the whole screen.
Most likely they quoted you a new screen because they do not replace backlights. Most laptop repair shops do not offer this service because it’s easy to damage the screen while replacing the backlight lamp.
You can try replacing the LCD screen yourself, it’s not very hard. Buy a new or used LCD screen here and use disassembly instructions for Toshiba notebooks at http://www.irisvista.com
July 6th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Hi there,
I have a Toshiba Satellite A75 notebook with the following problem. When I start my notebook the image on the screen has a reddish hue and later the screen light turns off. I can see that there is an image on the screen but it is very dark. When I reboot my notebook it stars with the same reddish screen and after a while it goes dark again. I still can use the notebook with my desktop monitor.
I took my laptop to a local computer shop for diagnostics and they said the LCD screen has to be replaced and this repair will cost me over $500. I think it’s too much for this older computer. Do you know what is wrong with my notebook? Do you think the LCD screen has to be replaced?
Thanks.