Dell C800 inverter

**l33tf00** · March 25th, 2004, 12:56 AM

Yeah, agreed... how do we figure out what really is our problem? I don't know much about lcd displays, except what I get from reading forums.

cmsppl: where'd you find out that it was the graphics card that would cause this failure?

**cmsppl** · March 25th, 2004, 03:30 PM

Originally Posted by plp

now you guys are really confusing me....now I should forget the inverter and upgrade my graphic card?...too what?...perhaps that would help...

Symtoms of graphics card failure...
is that sometimes lcd will show random black and white random lines, and blocks. Also, it will work in the beginning, but the backlight will eventually shut off, but the data on lcd is still readable if you shine light on it.

I had geforce2 and it had symptoms, and i bought a geforce 4 which is hell better off ebay and it works beautifully.

**jza734** · March 25th, 2004, 08:07 PM

where in canada do u live plp?

I work for a dell-oriented dell laptop sales/service shop, amongst other things.
I fix dell's all day long, and own two c8xx series laptops.

The point is that your situation isn't easily defined, it sounds like. I don't claim to be able to pinpoint these problems 100% of the time, but i do have spare parts out the a@@. W/o "known good" spares, fixing laptops is not fun (if u ask me).

Anyways, we're pretty close to windsor ontario. It sounds like 1 hour of labor @ $60 + a part. I also offer mail in service.

lastly, i would be willing to send u a good ati mobility card, the plain one that comes with the c800 free of charge. Video cards i got, spare inverters no...

**plp** · March 25th, 2004, 10:10 PM

jza734....Thanks for the offer, that is most kind of you. If you send me an e-mail, I will give you the mailing address. I am in Hamilton, Ontario.
[email protected]

**tommo666** · March 26th, 2004, 02:48 PM

Is your bios the latest release??

When "They" use newer LCDs or later revisions in a Laptop as replacement ie fixed undr warranty. They will include a bios upgrade cd. Because the newer screens require different voltages etc and these are wriiten into bios. Plus they correct any earlier errors found.

It might make a difference..

**plp** · March 26th, 2004, 03:06 PM

Thanks Tommo666...I have recently upgraded the bios in hopes that it would help...I didn't...same problem as I have been having for the last year...will have to resolve myself to the fact that I have a laptop/destop combo...aka...gloried paperweight...

**247laptoplcd** · March 31st, 2004, 02:02 PM

You can read more about possible reasons for
Dim, Dark, Black , LCD Screen.
http://www.247laptoplcd.com/Laptop-l...een-repair.htm

Dim screen could be because of Bad Inverter, Bad CCFL, Bad Toggle Switch, Bad Inverter Cable, Bad Motherboard, Of heat related problem. Buying New Screen or Inverter wont solve problem. If you dont have proper dignossis of problem.

**puckogre** · April 2nd, 2004, 01:42 PM

We have over 60 of the inspiron 8100 and latitude c840's that my lan division maintains. The LCD problem is rampant in those lines - main symptoms is a rose washout of the lcd until it finally is dark enough to not display video. The root cause of this is the lack of an LCD door button. These put the laptop in power save when the lid is partially closed. Since these laptops don't have the switch, some users will partially close theirs and the heat off the keyboard (videocard is centered under the keyboard and the processor is offset slightly to the right) eventually "bakes" the LCD. Luckily all of ours are still under warranty so far, but we've got about a 15-18% failure rate on these screens (when you have over 60, thats a lot of tech calls to Dell) - seems we always have 2 or 3 waiting on a service call for screen replacement. Just about every time (1 exception - the video card was actually the fault, but symptoms were diff) replacing the LCD fixed the prob. I am uncertain if the inverter is connected on the back of the LCD or not. Sorry :P

Just as a side note, we've had about a 10% failure rate in the IBM travesltar drives on these as well. some DOA.

**motika** · May 10th, 2004, 08:37 PM

Originally Posted by puckogre

We have over 60 of the inspiron 8100 and latitude c840's that my lan division maintains. The LCD problem is rampant in those lines - main symptoms is a rose washout of the lcd until it finally is dark enough to not display video. The root cause of this is the lack of an LCD door button. These put the laptop in power save when the lid is partially closed. Since these laptops don't have the switch, some users will partially close theirs and the heat off the keyboard (videocard is centered under the keyboard and the processor is offset slightly to the right) eventually "bakes" the LCD. Luckily all of ours are still under warranty so far, but we've got about a 15-18% failure rate on these screens (when you have over 60, thats a lot of tech calls to Dell) - seems we always have 2 or 3 waiting on a service call for screen replacement. Just about every time (1 exception - the video card was actually the fault, but symptoms were diff) replacing the LCD fixed the prob. I am uncertain if the inverter is connected on the back of the LCD or not. Sorry :P

Just as a side note, we've had about a 10% failure rate in the IBM travesltar drives on these as well. some DOA.

I have a Dell Inspiron 8100 15" SGXA+ with this same problem, with the Hitachi TX38D99VC1CAA I believe. First red on startup, now dark. I can see the pixels under a bright light, and even use it with a big font and decent overhead light, but it's annoying.

I replaced the inverter from Ebay with a samsung one. It did not fix it, though it flickers on more than it used to. I suspect the backlight CCFL. I recommend looking on ebay if you need an inverter. Mine was $40. Since I have not replaced the light to find out what was wrong, I may end up with an extra, working inverter I could sell someone for about that. The inverter is behind the screen.

A link for the related 15" IBM SGXA+ screen is:
http://www.cmo.com.tw/files/20030305151029ITSX95.pdf

Here's a parts diagram:
http://www.laptopsolutions.plc.uk/de..._diagramme.htm

Related link on backlights:
http://laptops.home.att.net/lcd-repair.htm

Anyone know the CCFL size and replacement method? The guys above look good. I'll ask them.

Egad. 10% Failure on the drives? I'll back up my data pronto.

Thanks,
Tim
http://www.peermetrics.org/main/user/motika.html

**plp** · May 12th, 2004, 10:22 AM

Thanks for your help. Am in the UK at the moment, have my laptop here. got frustrated and bought a new one. (Not a Dell). Think I will flog the Dell on ebay for parts.

**bohumir** · July 8th, 2004, 02:44 PM

I have Dell Inspiron 8100
LCD Hitachi TX38D99VC1CAA (Dell part number JP-0007KN)
inverter: PH-BLC91
(http://www.msstate.edu/~bj48/inverter/top.jpg
(http://www2.msstate.edu/~bj48/inverter/top_detail.jpg)
(inverter is on the back of LCD, you can see its part number if you remove power cable from inverter desk)

I had exactly the same problem as puckgore mentioned:
first rose washout of the LCD,
then flickering for a short time,
followed by a black screen
- letters are still there, visible in the strong light
- external monitor works fine

Note: Be careful when dissassembling LCD panel (when trying to get the backlight out), there is a tiny wiring on the side, I tore it!

I bought a new LCD panel from ebay, with backlight (hopefully good). But I used my old inverter. New panel with backlight did not solve my problem! Screen sometime flashes shortly when turned on, but than it is black again, with barely visible letters. So it may be inverter.

Thus I am trying to get a new inverter. http://www.247laptoplcd.com/ website has it, but it's expansive, so I am trying to get it from e-bay.

BTW: IBM Travelstar hard drive in my laptop failed too!

**Varjeal** · July 23rd, 2004, 08:17 PM

I'm a bit confused by the possibilities.

A few months ago the screen on my laptop went on the fritz. It's a 15" screen.

What happens is that on start up the screen would come on for the Bios, then to flash for a few seconds on the opening XP screen, then suddenly go really dark and stay that way.

The odd day, such as now for example, the screen seems to work perfectly fine (and the external monitor seems to work always). Most days recently though, it has shown no signs of recovery, so I'm sort of hopeful after finding this site.

It has a 32mb Video card, ATI, and from the comments I've read so far it seems to be the inverter. I'm afraid I'm not a whole lot of a techy...I don't mind ripping a PC apart but I'm a little unnerved since I've never seen the insides of a laptop. I also hope this post is in the right place but it seems to go along with the topic.

What steps to go I through to determine the problem? Do I need to remove the trim around the screen? I have ventured as far as that to check the little cable in the bottom right corner, and it seems secure. I've also gone as far as vaccuming and sucking out as much of the cat hair (the comp was given to me by my bro who loves cats, I personally hate them) as possible. I would like the advice of someone with some experience before I attempt to delve further, especially since this is my work computer, but is almost useless since I cannot take it with me on my job.

Another question pops into my mind...are there different types of inverters for the same model?...and how do I determine that?

I'll have a more in-depth read through this thread again, but the poor or damaged inverter definitely sounds plausible.

Assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

**NooNoo** · July 24th, 2004, 07:44 AM

Welcome to Windrivers Varjeal. The problem is that more than one component can be causing this problem...swapping out bits on a laptop is time consuming and expensive on parts so it really does come down to how much money and time you are willing to spend on it.

**Varjeal** · July 24th, 2004, 11:09 AM

Time isn't a problem, but if it becomes more costly than replacing it, I'll just sell it for parts, at this point my main focus on soley on deciphering what the problem is. Once I've found the source then I'll decide whether or not repair or replacement will be necessary. But yeah, I fully understand what you mean.

**NooNoo** · July 24th, 2004, 03:13 PM

in this thread there is a link to a useful faq, I hesitate to recommend it, because they are in business to sell parts, but as faqs go its very informative.