The Machine has sprung back to life. I replaced the Original inverter with a secondhand one from an Inspiron 6000. It had the same model No. and came with a Samsung screen. (My 8600 Screen is by Samsung) The design of my 8600 is alittle different from the American made 8600. A guy that I know in a local computer shop hooked up a voltage selector to the screen cables and was his opinion that the lamp inside the screen was fine.

The little thin hibernation ‘Stick’ near the power button can be problematic over time as it can also make the screen go black when it gets stuck.

after finally getting the Inverter ‘off’ the screen, It was glued into a silver bracket! Anyway, I tested a few inverter’s and got mixed results, with one The screen came back to life but would flicker (As the voltage on this inverter is too low) I had the lamp tested and it was fine.

Are you sure the baclight lamp inside the LCD screen is good? How did you test the lamp?

Is there anybody out there?

an update: after finally getting the Inverter ‘off’ the screen, It was glued into a silver bracket! Anyway, I tested a few inverter’s and got mixed results, with one The screen came back to life but would flicker (As the voltage on this inverter is too low) I had the lamp tested and it was fine.
This will be the last ‘Hell’ machine I purchase.

Thom.

Now my Dell 8600 Screen has gone Black, During start up the Dell post screen is visible for a second, then black again. The external video connector works flawlessly as does Windows XP so I suspect the inverter. I took it all apart to inspect cabling (My unit was made in Ireland and came with a wooden type top finish) all looks good.

The Inverter on my model is differnet from the images posted here, it seems to be hidden under a thin metal bracket secured by 2 of the tiniest micro philips screws I have ever seen, also the inverter itself is secured by yet another screw on this bracket, All screw drivers I have tried won’t fit. (There were no screws left & right of the Dell logo on the bezel – only rubber mats in a fake hole) and to be honest the bezel over the inverter always looked a bit ‘unsecured’. It looks like a little liquid may have gotten into it.

I need to know the correct model of the inverter as it seems this model 8600 has a number of different inverters) it is certainly thinner that the images shown here,

Any Idea’s?

Thanx again..

FWIW, the Dell service guides online are quite good.

are there any step by step for the lamp replacement???

It’s not easy to replace the backlight lamp. You can try but there is a chance to damage the screen. But who needs a screen without backlight? LOL
Instructions here: How to replace laptop backlight lamp (CCFL)