Acer 22" Monitor maintenance [image heavy]

[Eudaimonium]

Hai peoples,

Well lately we are all getting aware how everything is simply rigged to go off the day our warranty expires. However, something can be repaired at home, and I simply did not want to let my 22" monitor go.


So, after 3.5 years or so, it started acting weird.

After pressing the power button, logo displays and image should some up. But this one particular morning one week ago, it just kept displaying the logo all over again. Unknowingly, I pressed restart button on my PC and image came up. I was like : :thinking:

So next morning, same deal, staring to get pissed off a little, fueled by the fact that this time, restart didn't help. Second restart did.

Two days later, it won't come on after pressing power button. Pressing the button while turning the splitter on/off did the trick, after which is just kept displaying the logo for about two hours until the image came up online. By that point I ruled out the PC by simply using dad's monitor, which worked right away (but hey, you can't trade 22" wide for 19" 4:3 )

So, finally I came around to disassembling the bastard with intention of repairing the sh?t out of it. As soon as I matched sympthoms to the age of the monitor, I knew what I was looking for, them bastards electrolytic capacitors. Seriously, can you make a component more short living that this ?

Okay so opening the monitor was a pain in the a$$ , since plastic clips holding back cover just won't let go of it. Had to pry it open.

Getting to the PSU board was a bit tricky, but OK, finally taking a look at the PSU board reveals my assumtion correct:

Bigger capacitor was 2200uF, 10V. Smaller was 220uF, 25 V.

Measured their respective capacitances, 137 and 43 uF.

Replaced by 1000uF 16V and 100uF 50 V, respectively (closest match I had). [Oh and, thanks to Bill, my supply of components would not exist now if it weren't for him.]

Take a look at these bastards:

New capacitors soldered on the board :

Re-assembly:

So, powerup after assembly , skipped a beat there

Yeah! I ain't throwing a perfectly good 22" monitor in the trash for two damned capacitors, and I hope this thread did the same for somebody else out there too with same or similar problems!

P.S. Is it just me , or are screws screwing when you're not looking?!

Leftovers. How?! I cared about every single one.

P.P.S Spare a moment to marvel the art of Printed circuit board manufacture process:

Those are like, 0.05 mm wide. Capacitor pictured fits under your fingernail. How do they make them ?

 

[ReNNo]

Nice to see that someone tried to fix these problems.
Most people just throw it in trashcan.

 

[Dr_Evil]

Those capxon capacitors are the cheap pieces of crap. They have caused problems in all kinds of stuff. One of my monitors had a similar issue. Check this place out if you want kits to replace all of the caps.

LCDalternatives

 

[Eudaimonium]

Those capxon capacitors are the cheap pieces of crap. They have caused problems in all kinds of stuff. One of my monitors had a similar issue. Check this place out if you want kits to replace all of the caps.

LCDalternatives

Oh wow, that site is epic.

Thanks man!

 

[Razako]

Yeah I hate cheap electrolytics. After a few years they're just ticking time bombs ready to blow. Too make matters worse manufacturers will sometimes intentionally put a cap in with a voltage rating too low for the job. They'll do it either to simply save money or knowing that the cap will fail sometime in the future and they can bill you for repairs/make you buy a new device.

Whenever I'm building stuff I use quality nichicon or similar quality caps and always make sure to use caps with a voltage rating higher than what's actually needed.

 

[Eudaimonium]

Yeah I hate cheap electrolytics. After a few years they're just ticking time bombs ready to blow. Too make matters worse manufacturers will sometimes intentionally put a cap in with a voltage rating too low for the job. They'll do it either to simply save money or knowing that the cap will fail sometime in the future and they can bill you for repairs/make you buy a new device.

Whenever I'm building stuff I use quality nichicon or similar quality caps and always make sure to use caps with a voltage rating higher than what's actually needed.

As I said, it's pretty much well known that stuff is rigged

Good thing they are not going to hardcode it into main processor to shut itself off after internal timer goes to zero or something.

We used to solder custom chips to PS2 to make it run pirated games, soon we'll solder custom chips to monitors to prevent them from exploding.

 

[rangedunits]

I saw a report news about that problem in Europe.
Like a wash machine blowing up after 3years and so on, while it should last at least ten years.

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

I just did this to my Acer AL2419L. The inverter board had 4 popped caps, of brand nkcon, 100uf 35V. I had no specs on the ESR ratings of the originals, so I bought some 100uF 35V Panasonic FC's and some 100uF 50V FM's, enough to replace ALL the caps on the inverter board. Unfortunately, it was late and I accidentally used the FC's instead of the FMs like I was planning. It works better than it did before Every now and then the backlight will dim, barely noticeable.

What brand did you replace with?

Edit: these must have come from different factories, I don't remember mine being so scattered looking.... Mine the caps were all lined up, all 10 transformers were in a nice line...

 

[charliebruce]

Home repairs out of warranty are definitely the way to go. Maybe half of my stuff has been in pieces on my floor at some time or another - over the last few years I've repaired:

Mobile Phones (2 iirc)
iPod
PSPs (2)
Laptops (at least 4)
PS2
PS3
Headphones (2)
Gaming Steering Wheel
Bug Zapper

Then there's a whole other list of parts I've salvaged from items which were beyond repair or obsolete.

About half of those items were just from my household, the rest for friends. There's so much value in crap which people would otherwise throw away (or hoard). More importantly, none of the fixes I've done would be too challenging for anyone with a little confidence and basic practical ability, but only a couple of people I know would actually attempt repairing them. Many will just end up on eBay or in landfill, which is saddening - especially when only one tiny, easy-to-replace part has died, but the rest is in perfect condition.

 

[Eudaimonium]

I just did this to my Acer AL2419L. The inverter board had 4 popped caps, of brand nkcon, 100uf 35V. I had no specs on the ESR ratings of the originals, so I bought some 100uF 35V Panasonic FC's and some 100uF 50V FM's, enough to replace ALL the caps on the inverter board. Unfortunately, it was late and I accidentally used the FC's instead of the FMs like I was planning. It works better than it did before Every now and then the backlight will dim, barely noticeable.

What brand did you replace with?

Edit: these must have come from different factories, I don't remember mine being so scattered looking.... Mine the caps were all lined up, all 10 transformers were in a nice line...

Was your black back cover a pain to take off too?

What brand did I replace, I don't know, I just pulled out my boxes full of components and find the closest matching pair. Monitor right now is working perfectly, my brother playing games at 1650x1080 again, instead of 1280x1024

Home repairs out of warranty are definitely the way to go. Maybe half of my stuff has been in pieces on my floor at some time or another - over the last few years I've repaired:

Mobile Phones (2 iirc)
iPod
PSPs (2)
Laptops (at least 4)
PS2
PS3
Headphones (2)
Gaming Steering Wheel
Bug Zapper

Then there's a whole other list of parts I've salvaged from items which were beyond repair or obsolete.

About half of those items were just from my household, the rest for friends. There's so much value in crap which people would otherwise throw away (or hoard). More importantly, none of the fixes I've done would be too challenging for anyone with a little confidence and basic practical ability, but only a couple of people I know would actually attempt repairing them. Many will just end up on eBay or in landfill, which is saddening - especially when only one tiny, easy-to-replace part has died, but the rest is in perfect condition.

Congratz to you, and I agree - a lot of people throw stuff away because it does not work, and sometimes repairs will cost more than the stuff is worth (I dunno why the dude charges $30 to change a damned capacitor ), so we all see where this is going.

So PS3 you say, I dunno I might not have enough confidence to open it if it was not mine.
What was wrong with it ?

 

[charliebruce]

So PS3 you say, I dunno I might not have enough confidence to open it if it was not mine.
What was wrong with it ?

Laser failure - replaced the sled and it was fine. I'd originally thought it was the drive's circuit and/or motor, but turns out I was wrong, and the BR diode had died. The process is as simple as getting the sled out of a DVD drive and then reassembling it.

Whenever I repair anything for someone I don't know well, I tell the person that it's at their own risk and I do so without any guarantees of quality. Sometimes you might not succeed fully (one of the laptops, for me), and occasionally you may do more harm than good (luckily, none I can remember), but being careful and gentle, and doing your research beforehand, you will get many more good results than bad.

 

[Eudaimonium]

Laser failure - replaced the sled and it was fine. I'd originally thought it was the drive's circuit and/or motor, but turns out I was wrong, and the BR diode had died. The process is as simple as getting the sled out of a DVD drive and then reassembling it.

Whenever I repair anything for someone I don't know well, I tell the person that it's at their own risk and I do so without any guarantees of quality. Sometimes you might not succeed fully (one of the laptops, for me), and occasionally you may do more harm than good (luckily, none I can remember), but being careful and gentle, and doing your research beforehand, you will get many more good results than bad.

How come that laser diodes inside sleds die like 5x more than in our lasers , where we torture them and push them to the limits?

Honestly how many times have we heard of PS2/3 laser going bad ?

Yeah you got a point there. Still, if I wrecked somebody's PS3 I'd feel pretty bad about it.

 

[charliebruce]

How come that laser diodes inside sleds die like 5x more than in our lasers , where we torture them and push them to the limits?

Honestly how many times have we heard of PS2/3 laser going bad ?

Yeah you got a point there. Still, if I wrecked somebody's PS3 I'd feel pretty bad about it.

The first PS3s were still early in the blu-ray production cycle, and had the IR and red dies on the same chip. The PHRs came later and for some reason (optics, price, lack of IR/red, time) were rated at much higher power outputs. I'm not sure of the precise details though, PBD or a few other members will probably have better explanations.

The PS3 was mine, but I've worked on friends' laptops and phones before. In fact, I'll probably be doing another phone tomorrow (iPhone 3G screen) It's a bit nerve-racking to be honest, but I'm careful that the people I'm working with understand the reward and risk properly.

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

I knew someone who had an iPhone with a cracked screen. They bought a new phone and planned on selling the old one on Ebay after repairing the screen. The new screen came in, installation went painstakingly slow, but after a few hours, the screen was in and the phone was back together in one piece. Unfortunately, one of the ribbon cables had been pinched between the two halves. They pried the two halves partially apart to stuff the ribbon cable back in and the new screen shattered :crackup:

I know it's mean, but I thought it was funny :evil:

And my monitor was very easy to take apart. 4 corner screws and one on the back of the button panel, and tabs along the left and right sides. Then about 12 screws for the grounding cage, and it's all open.

 

[Eudaimonium]

I knew someone who had an iPhone with a cracked screen. They bought a new phone and planned on selling the old one on Ebay after repairing the screen. The new screen came in, installation went painstakingly slow, but after a few hours, the screen was in and the phone was back together in one piece. Unfortunately, one of the ribbon cables had been pinched between the two halves. They pried the two halves partially apart to stuff the ribbon cable back in and the new screen shattered :crackup:

I know it's mean, but I thought it was funny :evil:

And my monitor was very easy to take apart. 4 corner screws and one on the back of the button panel, and tabs along the left and right sides. Then about 12 screws for the grounding cage, and it's all open.

Mine was similar, if not same, forgot screw count, but I remember that taking the black plastic cover off the monitor was a real pain.

It had like, 10 total plastic inside clamps to hold it, I needed to work with two screwdrivers to eventually pry it apart.

 

[jimjoe123]

to:

Eudaimonium​

I see that this was posted on 2010, but I hope you will reply,
I see there are TWO connection to LCD panel, see attached file.
What type (name??) of connection is that? I only know about either 30 or 40 pin connectors on laptop LCD panels.