Where to get CCFLs ?!

[Scenic]

well... i got a Proview LP917W (Model: 900W) 19" Widescreen LCD on my bench right now.

symptoms were:

- turns off after 2 to 10 seconds
- red tint
- hissing noise

replaced all caps in there with rubys... just to find out that the caps weren't the main problem..

the hissing noise is gone now, but it still turns off after 10secs (cold) to 2secs (warmed up)

after some research here, i found out that the CCFL tubes are worn out and are overloading the inverter, so it turns the CCFLs off (OLP).

i then went through the trouble disassembling the panel itself to get to the CCFL tubes.

i somehow managed to do that without destroying anything.. *yay*

okay .. now i got the CCFLs here on my desk.

2 of them in a aluminum frame (4 in total).
when connected to an external inverter (without OLP ... one of those cheap ones that comes with those PC modding CCFLs..) they do actually light up, but the first pair (lower ones) isnt evenly lit and has the ends of one tube totally black, and the other one ..

well... let me put a line break here first ;P

the other pair has all ends totally black, but one of the 2 CCFLs actually lights up red-ish/pink instead of white!? WTF?

took some (bad) photos of that..

lower pair (unevenly lit ; left side brighter than right)
http://bambooz.pytalhost.net/Proview/DSC07062.JPG

ends of those tubes..
http://bambooz.pytalhost.net/Proview/DSC07065.JPG
http://bambooz.pytalhost.net/Proview/DSC07066.JPG


upper pair of CCFLs..
http://bambooz.pytalhost.net/Proview/DSC07068.JPG
http://bambooz.pytalhost.net/Proview/DSC07072.JPG

http://bambooz.pytalhost.net/Proview/DSC07069.JPG
http://bambooz.pytalhost.net/Proview/DSC07068.JPG

so those are pretty much toast

problem is: where the hell do i get replacement CCFLs ?!
the length is the main problem..

the original CCFLs are 2mm diameter and 415mm long (length of the tube without metal contacts)

i found some probably matching ones on digikey germany
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/Dk...me=289-1137-ND
digikey part number 289-1137-ND

but they are 2,4mm diameter and 437mm length (allthough i don't know if that's with or without the metal pins..)

problem is: i would need 4 of those...

4x 12,26 EUR = 49,04 EUR...

almost 50EUR (about 64 USD) in replacement CCFLs for a 119EUR (new) LCD.. okay.. let's forget that

another shop i found on the net has 2,6mm dia 415mm length (without contact pins) CCFLs in stock, but they're even more expensive...

4x 21,42 EUR = 85,68 EUR ... so that would be about 86 EUR (about 109 USD!!!) for those CCFLs-..

and that LCD Monitor sells (new) for 119 EUR at the moment.. sometimes even 99 EUR

i already thought about alternatives...

for example..:

- using one fat 3mm+ CCFL instead of two 2mm ones
- using two cheap 310mm ones aligned so that they light up the screen halfway evenly (see attached pic for what i mean with that.. don't know how to describe that in english >.> )
- using LED stripes instead of CCFLs. this would mean more work to get it working, but it would probably last _much_ longer than any CCFL...

to show you what i mean with LED-stripes..:



sooo.... any ideas where to get replacement CCFLs cheap or what else to do with this thing..!?

it's just too good to be just thrown away, as the LCD works fine (except the backlight) and its a 19" widescreen :/

---

[Toasty]

Re: Where to get CCFLs ?!

You sure they're 2.4mm not 2.6mm? I'm seeing 2.6mm in that 414mm length for $10 US.

http://www.ccflsurplus.com/26x41fuspcc.html

[Scenic]

Re: Where to get CCFLs ?!

*?*

the original (half-dead) ones are 2.0mm dia and 415mm length..

digikey ones are 2.4mm ...

[EGuevarae]

Re: Where to get CCFLs ?!

well... i got a Proview LP917W (Model: 900W) 19" Widescreen LCD on my bench right now.

symptoms were:

- turns off after 2 to 10 seconds
- red tint
- hissing noise

replaced all caps in there with rubys... just to find out that the caps weren't the main problem..

the hissing noise is gone now, but it still turns off after 10secs (cold) to 2secs (warmed up)

after some research here, i found out that the CCFL tubes are worn out and are overloading the inverter, so it turns the CCFLs off (OLP).

I have exactly the same monitor. The same problem: hiss, pink tone, and turn off. I even tested them using the same method (a newon light kit inverter for a case...).
I got a Samsung 203b with a smashed screen, and took out the lamps on that one and installed it on the Proview. They were larger, and I neded to make some "arrangements" but the LCD is working fine.

Regarding your idea of even distribution, I've done that before (once), but when I did it it was like this (sorry for the crappy picture):

But you'll end with faded/darker sides on the screen compared to the center. It was a temp solution.

[Toasty]

Re: Where to get CCFLs ?!

*?*

the original (half-dead) ones are 2.0mm dia and 415mm length..

digikey ones are 2.4mm ...

Uggh! Sorry, I missed that bit about the originals. I really need to take the glasses OFF when I read.

Try here:
http://www.laptopjacks.net/backlights/20420.htm

Qty. 4 to Germany with Shipping & VAT = £45.57, €51.61, US$65.19 Approx.

6mm shouldn't be that big of a deal, from the pics you posted.

Toast

[Scenic]

Re: Where to get CCFLs ?!

oh well... i bought a 19" non-wide LCD panel on ebay.
seller said he pulled a monitor apart because it suddenly didn't turn on anymore.

got the panel today.. such a waste.. panel and CCFLs are working great.. but it had 2 slightly darker spots in the middle of the display.. (probably just because of the shitty packaging -.-!)

got the CCFLs out. just 0,5cm too short. damnit -.-
i guess i gotta try to fit them like i described in the last pic of the 1st post.

shouldn't be that much of a problem with an unevely lit display with just half a cm missing..

CCFLs are shining bright and are evenly lit, and the ends of those are just veeery slightly gray (not black like the dead ones *lol* )

BTW: total cost for that "defective" 19" non-wide display: 5,85 EUR (about 7,40 USD) incl. shipping

[EGuevarae]

Re: Where to get CCFLs ?!

oh well... i bought a 19" non-wide LCD panel on ebay.
seller said he pulled a monitor apart because it suddenly didn't turn on anymore.

got the panel today.. such a waste.. panel and CCFLs are working great.. but it had 2 slightly darker spots in the middle of the display.. (probably just because of the shitty packaging -.-!)

got the CCFLs out. just 0,5cm too short. damnit -.-
i guess i gotta try to fit them like i described in the last pic of the 1st post.

shouldn't be that much of a problem with an unevely lit display with just half a cm missing..

CCFLs are shining bright and are evenly lit, and the ends of those are just veeery slightly gray (not black like the dead ones *lol* )

BTW: total cost for that "defective" 19" non-wide display: 5,85 EUR (about 7,40 USD) incl. shipping

Go ahead. 5mm is not a big issue, and if you put them the way you say, you'll not see any difference. I've done it before, with as much as 9mm and no difference can be seen with 4 CCFLs (when there's only one at the top and only at the bottom, you can, but with 2 on each end, you will not see it)

[Scenic]

Re: Where to get CCFLs ?!

the hell?!

was searching for solutions for a dead samsung monitor on the forums... and for some reason this old (& long forgotten) thread showed up in the search results.

well i've told the customer about the problems and explained them to him. Also explained how it's maybe possible to mount the shorter CCFLs, but with the risk of bricking the panel or not getting it to work right.

well.. he said "go ahead and try it.. it's dead anyways".. and so i did

had to get a little bit "creative" on mounting the too short CCFLs in the metal U-profile. I used tiny drops of clear hot melt glue to keep the shorter ends with the wire from flopping around inside the u-profile. the other side of those CCFLs wasn't a problem, as they fit perfectly into those rubber end-caps.

after lots of cussing to get the panel and the rest of this cheapo monitor back together without breaking anything, it turned out really great
there's just about 0.5cm (edit: less than 0.2 inches) in the corners of the screen which are slightly darker than the rest. it's really hard to tell and people who don't know about my "ghetto mod" would probably just say "it's because it's a cheapo monitor"

customer is happy, i've got a little bit more experience (not buying proview monitors) and i didn't break anything.

oh and the monitor is _still_ working fine..
the "customer" is actually the dad of a friend of mine. was there a week or so ago.. still running great.. and probably will keep working fine for a while (ruby caps + semi-new CCFLs + brightness at 30% to not toast the CCFLs that fast again)

[TECHMECH]

Re: Where to get CCFLs ?!

Mouser Electronics sells just about any size CCFL you need.

[dondrusco]

Re: Where to get CCFLs ?!

I have the same problem with Belinea 10 19 20 (manufacturer Proview)- there are 395x2,1mm CCFLs, but my vendor has 390x2,6mm.
I have an idea - to buy LED strip in IKEA and try to put in instead of CCFL.

[Scenic]

Re: Where to get CCFLs ?!

i also thought about a strip of SMD LEDs instead of CCFLs.

never actually got around trying to do it though..
main problem i can think of is to mount all those tiny SMD LEDs right next to each other. would need some kind of PCB for that. or some sort of flex cable.. but have fun finding something like that

got a few (at least 3) Medion 15" LCDs i could experiment with.
all of them have the same common problem: inverter fried itself.. cap dried up, switchers blew the magic smoke, destroying the PCB around them in the process (traces and through hole connections)..
pretty simple LCD with an external power brick and a not-so-slim LG-Philips LCD panel.. (= more room to play around with the LEDs)

[Uranium-235]

Re: Where to get CCFLs ?!

story time

one time someone with a laptop got a 'friends advise' that his ccfl is bad. so he ordered one online, and just brought it in, asking us to replace it.

the lamp is bare, because its literally soldered to wires that go right to the inverter. and is EXTREMLY DIFFICULT to get out, and put back in. You have to isolate the sides with heat shrink or something equivalent so the soldered joints on each side don't hit the outside of the lcd screen and short. I broke his old lamp getting it out, an his new one putting it in. we later hooked another screen to his computer and the problem was his inverter the whole time.

what a waste of a screen and my damn time.

remember this is _laptop_ ccfl's, desktops don't seem to have such problems, as i've slided them out before. but no. with laptop screens, you have to take the screen completely apart, and do a next to impossible task of taking a veeery fragile glass lamp out, desoldering the wires from each side, re-soldering the new wires with some heat shrink tubing, and carefully putting it back in.

we will never do that again. infact the act has been added to the 'shop ban list'