Dell 1800FP Repair by Brett

Why won’t my monitor turn on? That’s the question I was asking myself when my Dell 1800FP’s LED wouldn’t even turn on. That right away clues me in that something is probably wrong with the internal power supply. Well, let’s crack it open:

A little research into the subject and I found that just like on the HP F1703/F1503 Repair, there were some solder joints (this time on the diode packs) that had went bad over time.

This in turn caused the ICE2AS01 PWM IC to fail. A few minutes on eBay and I was able to find a replacement IC for under $5 shipped to my door. Sweet.

First thing, you’ll want to reheat that diode pack so you don’t blow your new IC. Next, you’ll want to break out the desoldering gear and remove the old IC. Alternatively if you are as good as me, you can just will it out using nothing but kind words and a pair of needle-nose pliers.

Next? You guessed it, put in the new one. Make sure you get pin 1 back in the right hole, or you might turn your monitor into a short lived fog machine. Solder the connections and for goodness sake- make it look pretty! I’ll be double checking your work.

When you’ve plugged it all back in and put it back together, you should be rewarded with the standard dell test pattern.

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Westinghouse LCM-17v8 Repair by Brett

When this monitor was powered on, the inverter would flash on for just a second, then turn off, leaving the screen black again. Taking the LCM-17 apart, it was apparent that a few overachieving capacitors on the combo inverter and power supply board had popped up like a thanksgiving turkey timer. Upon closer inspection, I noticed they were all from the same company, CapXon. My guess is the guy mixing the electrolytic fluid that day was new.

Well, now we have something to point at. Those capacitors have to go. Shopping around, I found some replacements at mouser that should do just the trick:

• 2x 25v 1000µF Capacitor (Mouser)
• 2x 25v 220µF Capacitor (Mouser)

I like to buy the ‘high temp’ ones, because to me that just sounds more durable- plus, you never know when you’ll want a new LCD display in your oven, so it’s best to prepare for those things now.

Assuming you have some basic soldering knowledge, the swap should only take 5-10 minutes. When done, it's just a simple matter of plugging in the cables and putting the screws back in (helps if you put them back in the same place you took them out of).

I'm just guessing here, but I bet this fix would work most if not all of the related models using the same Delta DAC-12M028 inverter board such as the LCM-19v7 LCM-19 LCM-15v5 or LCM-15.

No Spare parts? No blue smoke? No missing fingers? Looks like another job well done!

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HP F1703/F1503 Repair by Brett

If you’ve come here because your HP F1703/F1503 LCD monitor is going blank, flickering, blinking, going black, or turning off, I may just be able to help. Most of the time, the monitor will start off fine, but after a few minutes or maybe a few hours, it’ll just go dark.

Your problem is heat related. When the monitor is cold, it will work just fine, but as it warms up, it’ll just blank out. Why? Glad you asked.

Cold solder joints (aka loose) usually on the chokes (Note to self: where the hell is that picture…) or diode pack (pictured, that one I found). Whatever the case, they may not always be this obvious, so you may have to study the board for a bit and even then, sometimes they are so small you won’t see them at all.

The fix is easy, even the novice solderer should be able to pull it off. Just heat up the joint until the solder completely liquefies; the component is solidly attached to the board. Depending on how bad it is, you may have to add a little more solder to finish the job. For those more comfortable with their skill, you may want to remove the old solder, flux the joint, and apply fresh solder to the connections.

I’ve done several of these, each was fixed this way alone. The bad news? Unfortunately, I think the connection will probably come loose again. I haven’t had to fix one twice yet (probably because I’m just that good…) , but I think it’s only a matter of time since it seems to be a design flaw.

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Genius GM-6 Phone Holder by Brett

I had an old Genius GM-6 mouse and holder sitting around, just waiting to be useful again. It wasn’t the mouse though that got all the attention this time, it was the holder.

For months, I had been wanting a phone holster in my car that would allow quick access and high visibility when using GPS software. The phone fit in the mouse holder and that was all the convincing I needed. A little time with a small handsaw and some files and it was perfect. There was enough room to add some Velcro (loop side) to the inside, making the fit perfect and keeping the phone quietly in place (slides in like butter baby!).

How does it work you ask? Well, I couldn’t be happier. It’s solid enough I can tap away or even take my corners on two wheels (as I normally do) without it sliding around, as it had done previously in the original holder that sat on the dash. The positioning is perfect for me too. Not in the way, not hard to see- just right. Ah, the great feeling you get when things just work.

 

Silly Blackberry, you are far from Genius; you’ll never fit in.

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