Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

[rzgibbs]

Greetings everyone this is my first post here. I generally like to fix things myself when they go bad, but this is my first foray into replacing anything on a PCB.

As stated in the title this is an Acer x223w, it powers on for a few seconds and then shuts off, and the power led remains on and blue colored.

I used a flashlight while it was in this state to turn the brightness down, so the display is still visible with some extra light. I tested each set of two CCFL wires then swapped them and still achieved the same result (on, displays image, then off 2 seconds later) I then plugged in only one set of CCFL wires (blue and gray) and ended up causing a hissing and a bit of smoke from the PSB. At this point I decided to abandon testing the other three in this manner.

The capacitors in the PSB are as follows:

5 Elite 35v 330uf (C802, C801, C702, C703, C704)
3 Elite but may be generic 16v 1000uf (C706, C707, C708)
1 Elite but may be generic 10v 1000uf (C712)
3 FAOI 50v 47uf (C611, C606, C805)
1 Lelon 450v 120uf (C605) "the big one"
1 Lelon 50v 10uf (C809)

the logic board:
5 FAOI 25v 47uf

None of the capacitors appear bulged or scorched.

I do have a digital multi-meter but I am not quite sure where to actually check the voltages (on brown side of the board, green side.. which side is + etc etc.) I've perused the forums, but I'm not quite sure what to do next, since I would have to buy a decent solder station and sucker, practice, and not ruin things to replace the capacitors

[retiredcaps]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

2 seconds to black can be

a) bad caps
b) bad inverter transformer
c) bad ccfls
d) bad ccfl wiring (especially the return wire)

All are explained at

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=10419

starting with posts #13 and #14.

PS. I marked what I think are your secondary inverter transformer pins. With power off and lcd unplugged, measure the resistance between red. Do the same for yellow. They should be within 3% of each other.

[rzgibbs]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

thanks for the reply. I had stumbled on that page before but favorited the wrong one and couldn't find my way back. I'll run through it and see what else I can find out.

The resistance is within 1% of each other measuring across the red and yellow.

[rzgibbs]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

A few quick newbie questions. When I am reading my DMM and it is set on 2k and I get a reading like .490 do I assume that reading is .490 of 2k ohms? (i.e. 980 ohms)

Could someone indicate which other pins I should be testing on the transformer. It would be fantastic if I could get a markup on a picture. Attached is what I observed holds the transformer in place, but the row of pins I circled in yellow seem like just an attachment to the board.

Judging by the wires, is this a 2 or 4 CCFL monitor? Are the red and white the "to" wires and the blue and gray the "return" wires. OR are is the red a "to" and the white a "return."

[retiredcaps]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

A few quick newbie questions. When I am reading my DMM and it is set on 2k and I get a reading like .490 do I assume that reading is .490 of 2k ohms? (i.e. 980 ohms)

.490 ohms on the 2k scale is 490 ohms. The dial scale (200, 2k, 20K, etc) tells you the highest unit it can measure before it displays "over range".

Could someone indicate which other pins I should be testing on the transformer.

The pins that I indicated earlier is all you need to measure.

Judging by the wires, is this a 2 or 4 CCFL monitor? Are the red and white the "to" wires and the blue and gray the "return" wires. OR are is the red a "to" and the white a "return."

There are ccfl 4 tubes. The thick wire (4 of them) is the high voltage wire. The thinner guage wire is the return wire. The return wire may be desoldered from the end of the bulb or frayed.

[rzgibbs]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

update: finally got around to ordering and replacing all the capacitors.

Good news: I most likely did it correctly

Bad news: monitor has the same issue.

I guess this means onto finding a replacement ccfl and testing that.

[rzgibbs]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

So the same symptom applies when I checked all 4 CCFLs, I even plugged in 4 separate CCFLs and got the same 2 second on, then off result.

Any more ideas?

[jetadm123]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

From post #1, you stated that there was a hissing sound and some smoke. Can you remember where on the board it came from?

[rzgibbs]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

That turned out to be the CCFL plug when I stupidly plugged in only one of the two in the set before I realized I needed to replace the tested CCFL with an alternate.

[rzgibbs]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

Update: So I noticed one of the high voltage ceramic caps what a bit discolored, so I ordered a few of those and replaced the two next to the transformers. When I tested the monitor disassembled it exhibited 3 different sets of symptoms. 1) It would work for a minute or two then revert back to the classic 2 seconds than black set. 2) it would work but with intermittent partial flashes of black screen 3) classic 2 seconds to black.
In all three of these scenarios, when the power was turned on and the d-sub wasn't connected it would make a slight hissing noise (sounded like it was coming from the bottom CCFL) It would also make a lesser hissing noise while it was on and working in scenario 1.

To recap what has been done:
All electrolytic caps + 2 ceramic caps on the power board have been replaced.
CCFLs/wiring have been tested
resistors, diode, fuse, transistors, inverter transformer have been tested.

Two of the thin circuitry strips attached to the contact points were lifted slightly in the removal of two caps, When i put the new caps in, the contacts seem to come back down flush with the board.

Should I investigate the video board?
I don't think I have much more patience with this monitor.
Thanks in advance for any replies.

[alexanna]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

On several occasions when I have had monitors with the high voltage caps that were damaged by the inverter transformers, I have found faulty wiring on the HOT wire connected to the CCFL. Is the hissing noise coming from the area where you had to replace the high voltage caps?
Dose one transformer appear to be running hotter than the other?

[Sparky1102]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

This is my first post, so I guess I am only allowed to post on existing threads. I hope this doesn't incovience anyone, my problem is quite similar at least. The images look identical to the components of the Asus x223w shared in this post, and it is giving me the '2 seconds to black' syndrome. In my case the measuring the resistances across the CFLL connectors are not matched, and the values are quite a lot higher than those reported in this post. cn801 is unique at about 4.6 Mohm while cn802, cn803, and cn804 are all running close to the same at 1.47 Mohm. I have taken these measurements with the board disconnected, as well as reconnecting it with the various connectors, all done while powered off (of course). Unfortunately, I am not sure what that implies with respect to component failure. I also do not see any abnormal behavior with respect to the Caps on the board, they all look great on the outside. No overheating evidence with respect to the resistors or transistors on teh front of the board, although it is tough to read the state of the SM components on the back. Any ideas anyone could suggest would be most welcome and appreciated. Thanks.

[johnobub]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

This is my first post, so I guess I am only allowed to post on existing threads. I hope this doesn't incovience anyone, my problem is quite similar at least. The images look identical to the components of the Asus x223w shared in this post, and it is giving me the '2 seconds to black' syndrome. In my case the measuring the resistances across the CFLL connectors are not matched, and the values are quite a lot higher than those reported in this post. cn801 is unique at about 4.6 Mohm while cn802, cn803, and cn804 are all running close to the same at 1.47 Mohm. I have taken these measurements with the board disconnected, as well as reconnecting it with the various connectors, all done while powered off (of course). Unfortunately, I am not sure what that implies with respect to component failure. I also do not see any abnormal behavior with respect to the Caps on the board, they all look great on the outside. No overheating evidence with respect to the resistors or transistors on teh front of the board, although it is tough to read the state of the SM components on the back. Any ideas anyone could suggest would be most welcome and appreciated. Thanks.

I have the same problem with an Acer X223W. Anyone have some ideas? All the caps on the power board look fine. I looked at the CFLL's and they look fine. Are these just crappy power board caps or what?

[budm]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

@john, can we see the pictures of YOUR board? Bad cap can look normal but can have high ESR. What resistance readings are you getting on the high voltage winding side of the inverter transformers? There are more than one version of the board.http://s807.photobucket.com/user/bud...R/Acer%20X223W

[Faisal78Khan]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

I have similar problem in my soyo 26 inch TV. Although i have a general question. My TV has 8 u shaped lamps, one of them is physically broken in two halves. Is it necessary to connect all lamps? Or inverter shuts off automatically after 2 seconds if it see any open connection? I connected a u shaped ordinary CFL lamp in place of the broken lamp in order to simulate the load and turn it ON but TV does same thing, ie turn on 2 seconds (my external CFL also lit for 2 seconds) and then turn off. I have temporarily made array of 70 white LEDs and placed with scotch tape on the CFLs to use my TV (funny but it works). TV is running fine except brightness is very low. Now I am thinking to do the real fix, but not sure if my inverter is bad or what? I appreciate expert's reply. Thanks

[kenmras]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

Hi all, also a new poster with the EXACT same problem, also on an Acer x223W.

Once I took everything apart I also figured it was the power/inverter board because of the number of caps and general troubleshooting that no light would indicate bad CFL power. Instead of spending the time troubleshooting I bought a replacement power board on e-bay, made sure same board number and looked identical... the seller said it was working but when hooked up to the monitor I get the same results. My logic says that it should be the logic board then but there are only a few tiny caps on that. Any recommendations before I dump more money into this project?

More troubleshooting and pictures to come...

[selldoor]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

Yes - not sure why you have posted this.? You need to read carefully through this thread and the two sec to black guide (start post19) and come back with pictures and tell us what you have tested.Do the flashlight light test
My guess is it is failed backlight/wiring (common on Acers ) or failed inverter transformer. - Check all fuses.

[jamorenos]

Re: Acer X223w turns on a few seconds then shuts down.

@rzgibbs
Hi I read through all of the posts, I have same Acer model and same problem as described in your first post, the CCFL seem to be working (haven't checked yet) no bulginf caps when I connect my laptop it goes on everything seem to be fine and all the sudden shutoff after few seconds during the ON scenario I heard a buzzing but at the top around the inverter PCB, did you get to a conclusion or a successful repair at all on yours?