Asus G50VT screen backlight or inverter broken!

Hey guys, I started off posting this problem in a thread in the general hardware section of this site a few days ago.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-maximize-life-laptop-fluorescent-bulb-2.html

Anyway, watch this video. ‪g50vt screen backlight or inverter problem, backlight not lighting‬‏ - YouTube

I try to restart the invert/backlight, but it won't power up.
This started happening about a week ago and now I can rarely get the bulb to light up and stay lit up. If I turn up the brightness too much, it shuts off again.

Is it the inverter or the bulb? It is possible that the bulb isn't failing but it is causing the inverter to protect itself due Resistance or power draw or something.

What is the part# for these items? I have the 1050x whatever 15.4" screen. How expensive?

Thanks and here to hoping you never have to see this happening to your screen!

 

bump10char
I ended up ordering the inverter from 'asusparts' , $40 after shipping! Hopefully it is the problem.
http://www.asusparts.eu/index.php?cPath=67674_73347_73674_73713

I'll search around for take-apart guide for this laptop. I'll need to open up the lid to access the inverter board.

 

I was afraid to throw out a "guess" on this one simply cause I didn't want you just throwing money in to your laptop.

I've had something kinda similar happen to an old compaq and it ended up just being the cfl going out.

Either way I hope you get this right so you don't go throwing money in to parts before you figure it out.

 

me toooooo

 

OK, so I used this guide; http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...8551-asus-g50-notebook-disassembly-guide.html

and I replaced the inverter board. It did not fix the problem. I believe that the inverter board is shutting itself off to protect itself for some reason.

So the next thing to do would be to replace the screen or the bulb of the screen.
What are the part #s for the screen or the bulb of the screen?

Thanks

 

I bought the bulb here for ~$28.50 shipped
15.4" LCD Screen CCFL Bulb Asus G50V G50VT G50VT-X6 | eBay

A 334mm long, 2mm thick bulb
Hopefully it will work out. I hope installing the bulb is easy enough.

The problem could instead be the IC board on the back of the screen, so I have my fingers crossed that the bulb is the problem.

 

UPDATE:
IT'S FIIIIIIIIIIXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXEXXEXEEXEXESDVDSDDDDDDDD!
It was the bulb, and I kept the new inverter plugged in instead of using the original.
I will post pics soon. It was very difficult to do this properly because there are many layers to an LCD screen and I kind of broke off a piece of the inner plastic frame that keeps 'em all in line... I used lots of scotch tape, and it took me 2 tries before it looked ok. The first time, the bottom of the LCD was insanely bright, while the top was very dim. The second time, it is almost uniform, but there are still some very bright patches on the bottom. Very usable now and not very hard on the eyes.
Beats paying$150 for a new WSXGA+ 15.4" panel.
I paid $70 for the inverter and bulb altogether.

 

PICS:
Screen inverter replacement: asus g50vt screen inverter replacement pictures by danwat1234 - Photobucket

CCFL replacement:
asus g50vt screen CCFL bulb replacement pictures by danwat1234 - Photobucket

The first 4 pics is how the screen looked after the second attempt. Much better! I didn't post pics of the panel's interior or backside on the second attempt so you can't see the marvelous taping job.

The next 3 pics of CCFL album is how the screen looked after the first attempt. Not good.

A shout out to ebay store 'clamparts' for the ccfl bulb. 1yr warranty, fast shipping, shipped carefully with a reflector, good brightness. I ordered it wednesday night, asked if expedited shipping was available (not an option@purchase), and they emailed back saying that they would do a favor and ship it out the next morning because expedited shipping would be very spendy. They did and I got it on Monday. w00t

 

Wow. Nicely done!