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    Acer 1830t-68u118 Dim LED screen... need help

    Discussion in 'Acer' started by tekhnologica, Jun 26, 2012.

  1. tekhnologica

    tekhnologica Newbie

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    Hey all,

    I have an Acer Aspire TimelineX 11.6" laptop and only recently the display has gone dim to the point of barely being able to read the display. It outputs fine to an external monitor, so the onboard video seems fine.

    I'm perfectly comfortable with tearing this thing apart (it's out of warranty and I've worked on laptops/computers before), but what I'm not used to is troubleshooting LED screens. I realized after some disassembling and research that LED screens have no inverters, so I scratched that off the list of things to consider.

    What I did hear is that with LED screens, there is typically a fuse located on the motherboard that can blow and cause this issue. Well, I think I've found it, but I'd like to make sure. In the picture I've uploaded, I see two things. First, a component labeled "P110" (with 'F1' next to it) and secondly, a component labeled "B3" (with 'D1' next to it).

    If it's not the fuse it could mean replacing the screen or ribbon cable... I just dunno. It's a really nice little laptop and I hate the thought of not being able to use it. Any help those with experience can provide would be very handy!

    Thanks!
     

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  2. popeye1128

    popeye1128 Notebook Consultant

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    I honestly don't know about your specific situation but I am an old electronics technician.
    If you use an ohm meter on the lowest setting across what you think is the fuse (power off of course) you should get a reading of zero or very close (short).
    Anything higher like 10+ or so means the fuse is bad and you are reading through other circuits/components.
    The bottom line is you need to be sure it is a fuse you are reading across.
    Hope this is some kind of help.
     
  3. tekhnologica

    tekhnologica Newbie

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    I took your advice and tested resistance across what I believed to be the fuse, component P110 ('F1'). The meter - which is admittedly a cheap multimeter - read consistently around 1 - 2 ohms. This kinda leads me to believe that the fuse is fine and I'll have to look elsewhere. Thanks for the help popeye!

    I'm going to try re-seating the cable on the monitor and board and see if that doesn't help. Otherwise, what should my next steps be guys?
     
  4. tekhnologica

    tekhnologica Newbie

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    Update:

    I tried re-seating the video cable on both the MB and the LED screen and for a moment the screen was perfectly lit up. Then, the system shut off. Upon turning the system back on the screen was dim, and it has stayed that way (again) ever since.

    Some interesting developments have come out of this, however. Upon inspection of the video cable, I noticed what appears to be frayed wire and a "burn" in the cable "sheath". Please see the attached picture for what I'm talking about. Could this be the culprit?

    I'm wondering if perhaps replacing the LED cable might solve this entire issue.
     

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  5. tekhnologica

    tekhnologica Newbie

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    Replacing the video cable worked, as I thought it might.

    Case closed.