Thinkpad T60p Display Problems: Inverter Card or Backlight?

Hey folks,

I have a Thinkpad T60p (2623DDU) with the 15" 1600x1200 display, almost 4 years old now. Currently, the display only works intermittently. It works fine with an external monitor attached (which is what I am relegated to doing nowadays), but if I attempt to switch it to the built-in display (using Fn-F7), it will either work for a couple minutes before going dark, flash very briefly before going dark, or not light up at all. In all cases, the image is still faintly visible on the screen if I look very closely. Hitting F7 again repeats the cycle.

I replaced the inverter card with a used one off Ebay, and that did not fix the problem.

Based on the above, does it sound like a faulty backlight? Or did I simply have bad luck and receive another bad inverter card? If the backlight, has anyone had any problems replacing them with the $10 units commonly available?

Thanks in advance. I'm actually about to replace this laptop, but wanted to increase its useful life (for a 4 year old machine it still performs extremely well) and be able to resell it.

 

it'll be one of four things: LCD panel, backlight, cable, or inverter.   the inverter is the least likely unless the pink/black power wire isn't plugged in correctly or the wire is damaged on the LCD.

i repaired an X61 where the backlight appeared to have gone out.   replacing the LCD cable fixed it.   the cable was damaged from wear.   it took a 10x loupe to see issue through the kapton.

given how easy it is to introduce dust into a panel when trying to replace a backlight (especially if it's your first time), you'd be better off buying a refurbished display online.

it's difficult to say whether your issue is in the LCD cable, backlight, or panel itself.   you might have to throw some money at it before you find the problem.

good luck!

 

Sounds to me like a backlight problem.

 

Erik,

If it was the ribbon cable, that suggests an intermittent connection, and that I could somehow trigger the display to come on with movement (e.g. wiggling the panel back and forth). This is not the case. Once it goes off, it stays off, until I do another Fn-F7.

Thoughts?

 

if both inverters act identically then i'd start pricing out a refurb display.   UXGA IPS T60p models still sell for a decent price and are worth more with good displays.   the marketplace on forum.thinkpads.com would be your easiest place to sell it once the panel has been swapped.

 

I have the 2623DDU and the LCD Panel has been replaced twice in the last year.

 

I had a similar issue with my ~4 year old T42, which turned out to be a dying CCFL backlight. In addition to the symptoms you mention, when the screen did light up it would have a pinkish hue that would gradually fade, which is a good indicator of a bad backlight. I didn't want to attempt to replace the CCFLs myself (it seems like a difficult repair to get right) so I paid a local shop to do it. This fixed the issue and the display looks good as new.