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Old 3rd December 2016, 14:19   #1
WillyHeckaslike
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Default Laptop Backlights

Anyone got any experience with converting laptop backlights from CCFL to LED?

I've recently bought 3 Dell E5400's spares/repair and hope to repair and dedicate at least one of them for car diagnostics use by myself. All of them have problems and came with parts missing, two have dead screens and one has a working screen but it is marred by pink horizontal lines across the bottom In the taskbar area. All of them boot to bios on an external screen.

I'm looking at buying some cheap LED backlight conversion kits from China, the screens are WXGA on the E5400 and I believe that the CCFL length is 307mm but the nearest LED strip that I've seen so far is 310mm. The strip can be cut to shorten it but in groups of 3 LEDs only, would this leave it too short for ease of use?

I accept that post conversion the backlighting may be a little different to OEM but I'm hoping for increased longevity and durability in what will be a working web-free environment that will be different to the norm for use in a home. Thanks in advance for any help and thoughts.

Edit Update 1: I've had a look at the inverter boards on 2 of the laptops and they have different types of screen connectors, one has a 2-pin socket and the other a ribbon connector. The number 0487GT on the board with the ribbon connector identifies it as an LED inverter so good news, an LED backlight is already present on at least one of the laptops. I've just been on ebay and I've managed to order a used but working replacement 0487GT, fingers crossed that it will fix the dead screen on 1 of the laptops.

Edit Update 2: Laptop model typo E500 corrected to E5400.

Last edited by WillyHeckaslike; 9th December 2016 at 02:49.. Reason: Update 2
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Old 8th December 2016, 10:36   #2
Jamiewelch
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WillyHeckaslike View Post
Anyone got any experience with converting laptop backlights from CCFL to LED?

I've recently bought 3 Dell E500's spares/repair and hope to repair and dedicate at least one of them for car diagnostics use by myself. All of them have problems and came with parts missing, two have dead screens and one has a working screen but it is marred by pink horizontal lines across the bottom In the taskbar area. All of them boot to bios on an external screen.

I'm looking at buying some cheap LED backlight conversion kits from China, the screens are WXGA on the E500 and I believe that the CCFL length is 307mm but the nearest LED strip that I've seen so far is 310mm. The strip can be cut to shorten it but in groups of 3 LEDs only, would this leave it too short for ease of use?

I accept that post conversion the backlighting may be a little different to OEM but I'm hoping for increased longevity and durability in what will be a working web-free environment that will be different to the norm for use in a home. Thanks in advance for any help and thoughts.

Edit Update: I've had a look at the inverter boards on 2 of the laptops and they have different types of screen connectors, one has a 2-pin socket and the other a ribbon connector. The number 0487GT on the board with the ribbon connector identifies it as an LED inverter so good news, an LED backlight is already present on at least one of the laptops. I've just been on ebay and I've managed to order a used but working replacement 0487GT, fingers crossed that it will fix the dead screen on 1 of the laptops.
When messing with LCD screens on laptops with the CCFL tubes in make sure you disconnect the battery and remove the power supply. I work in a computer repair shop, and it has been known, with the battery still connected, that messing with a screen can blow a surface mount fuse on the laptop motherboard that provides the backlight, so if changing the inverter doesn't fix it, try the screen out of the one that has pink lines on and see if you get a backlight.

If not you either have a fault inverter, faulty screen cable, or a fault on the main board of the laptop.
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Old 9th December 2016, 00:53   #3
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Thanks for that info Jamie, much appreciated. I've managed to have a look at the backlight inverter boards on all 3 of the laptops now, 2 are CCFL and 1 is LED. After removing the screen bezel on the last laptop for checking the screen fell out of it lol. It wasn't connected so I might get lucky when I reconnect it but the connector needs a little work on it first as it has been damaged at sometime prior to my ownership. Just wish that my eyesight was as good as it once was, I might have to ditch the bifocals for binoculars given the size of the components.
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