February 21, 2007
Fixing a dull laptop LCD screen
My friend Keith gave me his old laptop because the screen no longer worked and it was useless to him. I was not going to let a possibly good laptop go to waste because of a dull screen. I had never fixed a laptop with this problem before and I figured it was worth a shot. This will be a basic rundown on how to fix a dull LCD screen on a (gateway) laptop.
*NOTE: This is not an advanced description on fixing a laptop LCD screen. It is a recreation of a situation that happened to me and how I went about fixing it. Also, I had already fixed the laptop before I wrote this post so some of the pictures already have the fix applied.
1. Remove the screws that are on the bottom of the monitor.
2. Using a sharp object, remove the protective casing around the LCD monitor.
3. Above the power button and a little to the left is the location of the chip that powers the brightness of the LCD. For me, that chip had fallen off and was just sitting there. However, if the chip is either not there at all or is broken, you will need to purchase a chip before you can continue.
4. Once you have the chip ready to be reconnected, you will need to solder it to the circuit board. In my situation, the chip was going to be too hard to solder directly on the board. I took two wires from a CAT-5e network cable, stripped the wire casing and soldered the wires directly onto the board for easier handling.
5. Next I soldered the other end of the wires to the chip. Turn the computer on to make sure the solder worked. After the soldering was complete and it was secure enough, I gave it extra protection by taping the wires around the chip. (I would not recommend doing this if you are trying for a proper fix)
6. Stuff the chip and wires into the area where the circuit board is and reconnect the monitor casing.
7. Finally, screw in all of screws that you took out at the beginning and you are done.
