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    How to maximize life of laptop fluorescent bulb?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by ickibar123, Jul 30, 2011.

  1. ickibar123

    ickibar123 Notebook Consultant

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    So what is the best way to maximize the life of a laptop's fluroescent bulb, besides not using it.
    I use my laptop off an on throughout the day, is it better to leave the screen on all day and shut it off when i got to bed, or to shut the backlight off when i'm not using it? I know the regular fluorescent bulbs don't like to turn on and off a lot.
    What is the lifetime of the backlight? How expensive to replace?

    I usually use my laptop with 50% brightness or so and I assume this extends the life as well.
    Thanks.
     
  2. ramgen

    ramgen -- Morgan Stanley --

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    1- Don't use it (the best and the not-so-feasible option). :)
    2- Use it when you need it. Turn it off if you are away.
    3- Use it with the lowest possible brightness.

    Lifetime of the backlight should be more than the average lifetime of the laptop. I have read that the fluorescent LCD backlights have an average life of 50,000 hours which means 11.4 years if you use it 12 hours per day (don't have the source right now). I have seen laptops with Pentium 3 CPUs whose screen were still running just like a new laptop. So no need to worry on that side.


    --
     
  3. naton

    naton Notebook Virtuoso

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    I have a 10 years old samsung laptop. The screen is still as bright as when I bought it in 2005.

    If something is likely to fail it will be the inverter or the circuit boards on the back of the screen.
     
  4. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    don't drop it
     
  5. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    Guys, please keep it on topic.

    As stated, don't drop your laptop. Don't use it when you don't have to. My laptops are either on full blast or turned off. Inverters go out before backlights do btw.
     
  6. niffcreature

    niffcreature ex computer dyke

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    I didn't see anything off topic.

    Giving alternative solutions and further information may not be answering the question directly but its still on topic.

    E. G. you can buy kits to replace CCFL backlit screens with LEDs.
     
  7. ramgen

    ramgen -- Morgan Stanley --

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    @niff, you did not see the deleted posts. :)
    The remaining ones are all on-topic.

    --
     
  8. ickibar123

    ickibar123 Notebook Consultant

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    50,000 hrs, that's not bad. Just curious how on/off cycles affect it.
    Yeah I plan on having my laptop for a long long time.
     
  9. niffcreature

    niffcreature ex computer dyke

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    Ah I see, or don't see rather (the deleted posts)

    About the screen, maybe you just want to get a new LCD when it dies. The quality varies so much its not a bad idea to try a few out, especially if you could up the resolution.

    Also, its a fun project to try and replace backlights - Well I already said that, failed to mention its more fun when you're not relying too much on the outcome :rolleyes:
     
  10. ickibar123

    ickibar123 Notebook Consultant

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    Has anybody changed their G50v(t) screens to LED? I found a few websites that offer laptop CCFl to led conversion kits that come with a led strip and a way to connect it to the existing inverter, but in their list of compatible laptops, Asus was nowhere to be found.
     
  11. niffcreature

    niffcreature ex computer dyke

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    It doesn't matter. All these screens are the same.

    I don't know why they would tell you how to connect it to the existing inverter tho, you probably need a new inverter entirely. And thats really the most difficult part of the mod.
    You might lose backlight control.
    Inverters to vary from brand to brand. Its just the input voltage that is the same, usually just the DC voltage of ~19v which gets regulated and sent through a PWM circuit.

    It might be easier and definitely cheaper to find the parts yourself.
     
  12. ickibar123

    ickibar123 Notebook Consultant

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    I have noticed this more and more often; once every few days now;
    The backlight will all of a sudden turn off. I press Fn+f7, which the keyboard shortcut to change between an external monitor and back. I press this to tell the inverter or whatever to cut power, and then I press the shortcut again to turn it back on; it turns on for about 1/4 second then shuts off again. It will do this each time the shortcut is supposed to turn on/give power to the inverter.

    So my solution is to put the laptop into battery mode, and then wait about 10 seconds and do the shortcut again, and the backlight will turn on like a charm. Right at this time it sometimes doesn't like it when I immediately turn the brightness up all the way (and turns off), but within a minute the backlight is working perfectly normal again.

    Usually after waiting the 10 seconds or so in battery mode, I turn the backlight on and then shortly after plug the laptop back into mains power.

    Then the laptop is back to normal.
    Maybe the inverter is going bad? Or could it be that the inverter tries to power on the CFL and it just flickers on for a split second, this is an indication of high load by the CFL/High resistance? and the inverter protects itself by shutting off.

    Or could it be that it somehow thinks that the lid is closed?

    Does this look legit for an inverter replacement? Asus G50 V EP048C LCD Screen Inverter [69N07JI10A01-A01] - £14.99 : Vanhass, Quality Used Components
     
  13. niffcreature

    niffcreature ex computer dyke

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    I dunno, without buzzing or flickering that doesn't sound quite like a bulb or even inverter problem.

    Do you know how your lid switch functions exactly?
     
  14. ickibar123

    ickibar123 Notebook Consultant

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    yea right now it is behaving like the issue is logical (e.g. something is a '1' when it should be a '0'). The switch is working properly.. the bulb shuts off at the right time as i'm closing the lid and comes on at the right time when i open it.

    No flickering. But perhaps the logical problem is in some protection circuit.. anyway the problem isn't a big deal yet but I will report back if the problem becomes more severe.
     
  15. ickibar123

    ickibar123 Notebook Consultant

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  16. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

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    your inverter board will fail before your backlight will.
     
  17. ickibar123

    ickibar123 Notebook Consultant

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    but maybe the backlight is getting older and so the inverter is detecting a change in resistance/change in power draw and is protecting itself? Does anybody know what inverter my g50vt uses? I have the 1050xblah screen.
    Is the inverter part# :"08G21VJ1010C" ?
     
  18. ickibar123

    ickibar123 Notebook Consultant

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    Also known as "60-NMLIN1000-A01" ?