T400 led screen failure. Help needed.

Hi all noob here,

Recently my screen's backlight seems to have died after i closed the lid on the computer to put it to sleep before I slept.


The situation is similar to the one described here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/leno...t-working.html

Where all of my indicator lights do not turn on asides from the one that indicates wifi connectivity. One thing different that I had noticed was that the panel still produces images. Upon booting I can see the Thinkpad logo faintly if I shine a light on the panel.

I had already tried to take apart the notebook and unplugging and replugging display power cable on the motherboard and also the panel.

Does any body have any ideas? is the panel itself dead as whole?



Thanks in advance guys!



Jason.

 

Try replacing the LCD inverter, sometimes a faulty inverter can prevent the backlight on the LCD from working. It's worth a shot since replacing a brand new LCD panel is not exactly cheap.

 

did you order the machine with CCFL or LED version of the LCD?

 

thanks for the quick reply guys!

i have the wxga+ led screen so the inverter card isn't applicable to me. I've come across a thread on this forum where the OP had brought up not knowing whether the LED sub board actually does anything asides from hold the status lights. Can anyone confirm whether that would be a factor or not? (i hope it is , lol)

 

Given how much of a pain it is to deal with backlighting, it is generally more cost/time effective to swap in a new panel. They seem to average 70-99 just for the LCD. For ~120 you can purchased a whole top portion, that's what I did for my T60, the XGA panel was not lighting up and went through 2 inverters and I just bought a SXGA+ whole top piece for 59 shipped.

 

I haven't come across and failures of LED backlights (unlike CCFL where the tubes and inverters can both die).

I would therefore wonder if the problem is with the cable connecting the display to the mainboard. These can die because of the flexing or may have worked loose at one end.

John

 

I agree, change the whole top is the best solution.

I just replaced the ccfl backlight tube in my T60, it is a lot more difficult than I thought, and it is very likely you will break something.

 

Ya I'll start looking into the prices and all for the replacement tops. I can't say i've seen any whole top portions for the t400. i figured if i'm replacing the unit i'll go and upgrade to the wxga+ high nit unit.

someone on another forum suggested it could be a blown fuse on the motherboard. i'm worried that if it's that then a replacement screen/top wouldn't make a difference.

I've already taken apart my notebook and unplugged and replugged the ribbon cable. I guess going out and buying a new one and replacing that would be a cheaper alternative/test.