O.T. - Acer Monitor Goes Black

[David]

Three and a half years ago I bought an Acer 19" LCD monitor.
I had no problems with it until a few days ago, and then it started going
black.
I'd turn it off and back on and it would work for a day, then the same
thing.
Finally it stayed black.
How long should these monitors last?
I use it at home and it's on four or five hours a day M - F. Longer on
weekends.

Thanks,
David

 

[Ken1943]

Three and a half years ago I bought an Acer 19" LCD monitor.
I had no problems with it until a few days ago, and then it started going
black.
I'd turn it off and back on and it would work for a day, then the same
thing.
Finally it stayed black.
How long should these monitors last?
I use it at home and it's on four or five hours a day M - F. Longer on
weekends.

Thanks,
David

Could be the back light, but someone else may know better.
A backlight can be replaced. Never had my three go bad.


KenW

 

[Ken1943]

This may help.

http://www.ehow.com/list_7623843_indications-bad-backlight.html

Three and a half years ago I bought an Acer 19" LCD monitor.
I had no problems with it until a few days ago, and then it started going
black.
I'd turn it off and back on and it would work for a day, then the same
thing.
Finally it stayed black.
How long should these monitors last?
I use it at home and it's on four or five hours a day M - F. Longer on
weekends.

Thanks,
David

KenW

 

[Ken Blake]

Could be the back light, but someone else may know better.
A backlight can be replaced. Never had my three go bad.

Is that something that most people can do themselves, or does it need
service in a shop? Approximately how much does a replacement cost?
Unless it's inexpensive, it might be better to just buy a new monitor.
Amazon.com has several for sale in the $90-100 (US$) range.

 

[Ken1943]

Is that something that most people can do themselves, or does it need
service in a shop? Approximately how much does a replacement cost?
Unless it's inexpensive, it might be better to just buy a new monitor.
Amazon.com has several for sale in the $90-100 (US$) range.

I Googled them and it depends on the monitor as to cost. What I would do,
first, get it open and look how hard to replace. Then check out the cost.

Don't know what I would do with my $1000 tv !!!!????


KenW

 

[Sir_George]

Three and a half years ago I bought an Acer 19" LCD monitor.
I had no problems with it until a few days ago, and then it started
going black. I'd turn it off and back on and it would work for a
day, then the same thing. Finally it stayed black.
How long should these monitors last?
I use it at home and it's on four or five hours a day M - F. Longer
on weekends.

Thanks,
David

Generally as long as the warranty. With that said, there is no way to
actually calculate life expectancy; just like with a human.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Have you tried using it on another computer to make sure it's the
monitor and not the video card?

+1

Also the cable, which may be faulty, loose, or dirty.

Not to mention that the video card or built-in video could have failed.

Your test covers one or more of all of these possibilities and all the
ones that I also left out

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Generally as long as the warranty. With that said, there is no way to
actually calculate life expectancy; just like with a human.

I decided to be picky, hopefully without offending

In fact there are ways of calculating life expectancy for both the
equipment and its owner. QA people and actuaries do that for a living.

What we (usually) can't calculate is the actual lifetime of a single
instance of one of the above...

 

[Paul]

I Googled them and it depends on the monitor as to cost. What I would do,
first, get it open and look how hard to replace. Then check out the cost.

Don't know what I would do with my $1000 tv !!!!????


KenW

The items back there, are "inverter" and "backlight tube".

The most likely thing to fail is the inverter. The CCFL
(cold cathode fluorescent) tube operates for 15000 to 25000
hours. And would likely give a brownish light as it gets
older. Many monitors never get to see the brownish stage,
because the inverter dies first.

As a test, you can try reducing the intensity setting on
the monitor. This will make the backlight stay alive
after the 2 second starting interval. The three weeks
of extra life you get from the monitor, gives you
time to order a new monitor Even with a reduced
intensity setting, the setup is only going to run
for another three weeks. It'll eventually die again.

If you want to replace an inverter, the ones for sale
on the Internet are relatively expensive. If someone
wants $70 for an inverter board, you know the company
making the monitor didn't pay $70 for theirs. They probably
paid around $5 for it. It's too bad the monitor company
themselves didn't stock replacements and sell them
at a more reasonable price.

The inverter and CCFL tube, should be matched. The inverter
has an operating curve. The inverter also has overload
protection. And the overload protection is what trips and
makes the screen go dark. (The inverter provides about
700-1000VAC at 3 milliamps. Somewhere around 3 watts per lamp.)

Larger LCD screens, use multiple CCFL lamps. And some
inverter boards, power multiple tubes. So for example,
if you had an LCD TV with 16 CCFL tubes, maybe you find
four inverter boards with quad connectors.

I just found an application note on this stuff. And while
it doesn't delve into things end users might care about,
it does show just how sensitive the design of this
stuff is. Many companies may try their hand at this
stuff, but not get the details right, causing premature
failures. This is one of the most meandering application
notes, I've ever seen... And I love how the guy writes
on everything with black marker

http://cds.linear.com/docs/Application Note/an65f.pdf

Paul

 

[Ken Blake]

If you want to replace an inverter, the ones for sale
on the Internet are relatively expensive. If someone
wants $70 for an inverter board, you know the company
making the monitor didn't pay $70 for theirs. They probably
paid around $5 for it. It's too bad the monitor company
themselves didn't stock replacements and sell them
at a more reasonable price.

$70? A price like that is what I was afraid of. If I had a problem
with one, I'd sooner replace the whole monitor.

 

[Ken Blake]

I decided to be picky, hopefully without offending

In fact there are ways of calculating life expectancy for both the
equipment and its owner. QA people and actuaries do that for a living.

Yes, you can come up with statistics. And if you look at a
large-enough sampling, the statistics will be very close to correct.

What we (usually) can't calculate is the actual lifetime of a single
instance of one of the above...

Exactly! You can *not* actually calculate life expectancy for an
individual, whether a monitor or a human.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Yes, you can come up with statistics. And if you look at a
large-enough sampling, the statistics will be very close to correct.


Exactly! You can *not* actually calculate life expectancy for an
individual, whether a monitor or a human.

Au contraire. You *can* calculate the life *expectancy* for an
individual. It is the statistical average for his or her population.

What you *can't* calculate is the actual *lifetime* - i.e., the time of
death - for that individual.

Even that isn't completely true. Here's a gedanken experiment: if I am
standing in front of my unsatisfactory monitor with a sledge hammer and
an attitude, I can state with a high degree of certainty that its life
expectancy is 27 seconds.

You evidently need to consult a definition. Try this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy

 

[Char Jackson]

$70? A price like that is what I was afraid of. If I had a problem
with one, I'd sooner replace the whole monitor.

I replaced an inverter on a HP laptop awhile back for about $8. I
didn't realize monitor inverters were so much more expensive.

 

[charlie]

Au contraire. You *can* calculate the life *expectancy* for an
individual. It is the statistical average for his or her population.

What you *can't* calculate is the actual *lifetime* - i.e., the time of
death - for that individual.

Even that isn't completely true. Here's a gedanken experiment: if I am
standing in front of my unsatisfactory monitor with a sledge hammer and
an attitude, I can state with a high degree of certainty that its life
expectancy is 27 seconds.

You evidently need to consult a definition. Try this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy

Swinging the hammer a little slow these days? <G>

Harbor Freight has a nice little and inexpensive pneumatic palm hammer
that's just the thing for doing dastardly deeds, such as removing old
bathroom tile down to the steel mesh backing.
It would make short work of an LCD display. (Wear gloves and goggles
though!)

A CRT display is a different story. A 32 pistol at 20 feet is about
right.

 

[Paul]

I replaced an inverter on a HP laptop awhile back for about $8. I
didn't realize monitor inverters were so much more expensive.

They're hardly ever "exact replacements", and the smaller operations
selling these will charge whatever the market will bear.

Paul

 

[Sir_George]

I decided to be picky, hopefully without offending

In fact there are ways of calculating life expectancy for both the
equipment and its owner. QA people and actuaries do that for a living.

What we (usually) can't calculate is the actual lifetime of a single
instance of one of the above...

OK, so I should have added for any one particular item or person, which
was my intent. Of course, you failed to mention that I did provide an
average life span for the monitor, which is "as long as the warranty"
and that was suppose to be both a statistical average and FUNNY! Come
on, guys!

 

[Ken Blake]

On Sat, 20 Oct 2012 19:32:37 -0700, Ken Blake wrote:


Au contraire. You *can* calculate the life *expectancy* for an
individual. It is the statistical average for his or her population.

What you *can't* calculate is the actual *lifetime* - i.e., the time of
death - for that individual.

OK, fine. I didn't use the words precisely. But you know what I meant.

 

[DanS]

What you *can't* calculate is the actual *lifetime* - i.e., the time of
death - for that individual.

Even that isn't completely true. Here's a gedanken experiment: if I am
standing in front of my unsatisfactory monitor with a sledge hammer and
an attitude, I can state with a high degree of certainty that its life
expectancy is 27 seconds.

To be anal about it, in the above case, the life expectancy would actually
be however long you've had it, *plus* 27 seconds.

Although, if you're already standing over it with a hammer, are you
mulling it over for 25 seconds and then 2 seconds for the mechanics of the
swing?

 

[mick]

Three and a half years ago I bought an Acer 19" LCD monitor.

I had no problems with it until a few days ago, and then it started going
black.
I'd turn it off and back on and it would work for a day, then the same thing.
Finally it stayed black.
How long should these monitors last?
I use it at home and it's on four or five hours a day M - F. Longer on
weekends.

Thanks,
David

search google for the exact monitor model you have and see if there is
any mention of the same problem you are having.

A couple of months ago my samsung was flickering badly at startup, a
quick google search indicated there was a problem with three capacitors
which required replacing. The You tube video explained how to
dismantle and do the fix, the cost to me was less than £5 and a couple
of hours of my time. Much better than throwing it in the skip and
buying a new one which I was about to do

 

[Paul]

search google for the exact monitor model you have and see if there is
any mention of the same problem you are having.

A couple of months ago my samsung was flickering badly at startup, a
quick google search indicated there was a problem with three capacitors
which required replacing. The You tube video explained how to dismantle
and do the fix, the cost to me was less than £5 and a couple of hours of
my time. Much better than throwing it in the skip and buying a new one
which I was about to do

Good catch. I completely forgot about those. (The bad internal
power supply problem).

Bunches of bulging caps FTW... The capacitor in the bottom right
has a bit of leakage showing on the top (dark discoloration).
On the busted gear I have here, the discoloration has been
an orange/rust color.

http://c.fixya.net/fixya20/uploads/Images/CF9687E.JPG

The LCD monitor I use on this computer is a bit different, in that
the power supply is an external wall wart. So if the monitor
were to flake out, at least I can shop for another 12V 3A
adapter and fix it (without soldering any caps)

Paul