Sceptre X20WG-1080P monitor would not power up

[robkey]

For several weeks I had a hard time turning on my monitor, if I would push the power button several times it would eventually power on and work fine. But a couple of days ago it would not power up after multiple attempts. The blue light would only blink like every 5 sec. So I used an old crt monitor and googled the problem. I found on other sites that the blinking light was a fault indicator most likely caused by bad capacitors. It also said to replace them in sets. When I took it apart all of the caps looked good except for a pair (circled in red on the photo) which are 1000uf 16v. I found this forum later on so I thought the "set" would be the 2 that are side by side. I was able to find them locally and replaced them. But now when I turn it on it does seem to want to power up better because the blue light will come on for several seconds but then the screen will show "No Signal Detected" and the blue LED turns red. I saw on another site that this may be caused by a timing problem but the monitor had worked on the same computer before and no settings were changed. I don't think that just hooking the computer up to a crt will change those settings. I did check though and the refresh rate is 60, which I think is supported by this monitor. I gained a lot of info from this post in this forum,https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8571 and my attached picture is taken from that thread even though my set of caps seem to match the second listing rather than the one from original poster and picture. I am quite sure I put everything back together right so can not understand why it is not getting the VGA signal. One problem may be with the 2 pairs of plastic plugs I have also circled in red in the picture. They both have bluish and pink wires that plug into them. Can someone tell me what they are for because I may have pushed the wires in with too much force because they did not seem to go in all the way. Sorry for this lengthy post but I wanted to try and be as descriptive as possible. But if any other info is needed let me know what to add. Thanks for your help.

[robkey]

Re: Sceptre X20WG-1080P monitor would not power up

I had originally tried to place this in the correct thread, Other devices with bad capacitors, but the site was giving me a hard time when trying to attach the jpg, something about logging in since the previous page. So I logged out and wound up adding it to FAQ. Can a Mod move it to the correct thread or do I need to delete and repost?

[retiredcaps]

Re: Sceptre X20WG-1080P monitor would not power up

But now when I turn it on it does seem to want to power up better because the blue light will come on for several seconds but then the screen will show "No Signal Detected" and the blue LED turns red.

Did you trying hooking up a working computer to the lcd? Most monitors will say "no signal" and then go into sleep mode if there is no working computer hooked up.

[retiredcaps]

Re: Sceptre X20WG-1080P monitor would not power up

They both have bluish and pink wires that plug into them. Can someone tell me what they are for because I may have pushed the wires in with too much force because they did not seem to go in all the way.

The blue/pink wires are for the inverter board to the ccfls or backlights connection.

[robkey]

Re: Sceptre X20WG-1080P monitor would not power up

Thanks for the prompt reply, yes, I did power up several times after I turned on the computer, all with no signal detected. I even hot swapped between the crt and lcd and back to the crt--crt worked both before and after but the lcd still had no signal detected. The only change I may have done is to put too much force on those plastic plugs which you say are related to the backlights connection. I was able to push them back into place though and it seems if they were messed up the screen would not show the "no signal detected" message, so I am baffled what the cause may be.

[Mad_Professor]

Re: Sceptre X20WG-1080P monitor would not power up

You got blown caps, if they are all matching your best bet is to replace them all.

The monitor is working better because you have it open to air movement which allows the components to cool better and work longer before failure.

Can you tell us what brand, series, capacitance and volts they are in a list?
Example:
United-Chemi-Con KZG 1500uF 25v

Also What's your general location? *so we recommend some sites to buy caps from.

The only change I may have done is to put too much force on those plastic plugs which you say are related to the backlights connection. I was able to push them back into place though and it seems if they were messed up the screen would not show the "no signal detected" message, so I am baffled what the cause may be.

Never use force unless you absolutely need to. You probably damaged the solder joint there so when you recap you may want to apply some solder to fix it.
What's happening is you are damaging the connector and the ccfl is not drawing power from the PSU which allow more stable voltages to other parts of the LCD to work correctly, all caused by bad caps. You need to chill and learn a bit, before you really break something.

[robkey]

Re: Sceptre X20WG-1080P monitor would not power up

Thanks to both RetiredCaps and Mad Professor. I almost hate to admit what the problem was because I feel like a total fool. But to make this be more helpful to others who may have the same problem I will explain. Because I only dealt with the power supply on the left side of the back of the monitor I did not pay any attention to the right side when I plugged everything back into the power supply. So I am sure your learned minds can predict what I am about to admit. As soon as I took it apart to get the specs for all of the caps, it was very easy to see that the DVI/VGA plug had been inadvertently unplugged. So I plugged it in and put it back together and it now works fine. But I now know that if it goes bad again I will replace all of the caps rather than just the pair that appeared to be bad. So this thread can be closed. Thanks again and God Bless.

[LamSV0]

Sceptre X20WG monitor will not power up

Model: SCEPTRE X20WG

Problem: Monitor is blank, no display. Power LED (blue) flickers once per 5 seconds. (similar to comments from other posters)

Remove monitor plastic covers:
(1) Place monitor face downwards on a soft carpet (not to scratch LCD);
(2) Use a screwdriver (-) to gently pry (insert/twist movement) & separate front bezel from back cover; note: start from the stand base area (mine shows some slack here) & work 3 inches at a time around the entire bezel, either clockwise or anticlockwise direction;
(3) Once front bezel is out, carefully remove 3 tiny connectors which connect to the PSU; note: mark them for easy identification & later re-installation;
(4) Once front bezel is completely out of way, use screwdriver (-) to pry & separate LCD frame from back cover; total 4 slotted clips, 2 left & 2 right; note: easy to understand this step once you actually see it;
(5) LCD frame will come out off back cover;
(6) There are no screws to remove at all; basically everthing is held together by plastic clips; note: be careful and gentle, not to break any plastic clips;

Remove PSU: No brainer once you see it; just be careful to remove the connectors; I suggest you mark them for identification & later re-installation;

Like OPT said, as shown (bubbled up red) in picture of PSU circuit board, & exactly same as in my situation:

Problem: Capacitor (only 1 of the 2) top is bloated (meaning bad); C204 (bad); C205 (still good);

Solution: I replaced both C203 & C204 as a pair with new CAP; however I left all other CAP as is;

Old CAP C203 & C204: 1000uF 16V 10x20mm (different from OPT);
New CAP C203 & C204: 820uF 25V LXY 10x27mm (for both); I can only find these 2 LXY closest matched CAP inside my garage handy; only problem is the vertical dimension (27mm); it is a little too tall to properly close the PSU cover - but I don't care since it will be hidden & nobody can see it anyway;

Installation of PSU, connectors, bezel & cover is the opposite of removal.

Conclusion:
Problem is resolved - monitor fires up & power LED stays blue all the time. Hope it stays working for another few years.

When the old C204 & C205 were desoldered & removed, I used a capacitance meter to confirm following finding:

Bad CAP (C204 bloated top): 185uF (vs 1000uF); --> PROBLEM INDEED!!!
Still Good CAP (C205 not bloated): 1050uF (vs 1000uF);

Hope others find this writeup useful. Good luck.