Dell W1700

[seanlindo06]

I read through a pretty lengthy thread on this site but couldn't come up with a definitive answer, so here they are:

1. How do I open the unit, it's been unplugged for a couple of months now, is there any remaining electrical hazard?

2. How can I tell if it's a bad cap, backlight, backlight inverter, or all 3?

[seanlindo06]

Re: Dell W1700

3. Why did Dell make such a great TV/Monitor with such shoddy components?

[Krankshaft]

Re: Dell W1700

1. No need to be overparanoid most LCD monitors will discharge their caps in seconds after unplugging it. It's CRTs which can hold their charge for months and thats only under the red anode wires suction cup. The charge from CRTs will not kill you (high voltage low current) but it won't be a pleasant experience.

2. Bad capacitors will have a bulged top or they will push their bung out the bottom. In some cases the caps ESR just goes up and shows no signs of failure. As for how to open it try a Google search I have opened Dell monitors before but not this specific model.

If it's like other Dell monitors it probably is held together with a combination of clips around the perimeter of the cover and screws.

I believe that the W1700s inverters like to fail replace the SMT fuses on the inverter and the 2 caps. Beyond that electronics troubleshooting will be required and I'd recommend a new inverter module.

3. Ask Yum Cha Electronics Dell gave them a price to manufacture an LCD and they met it. Most of Dell's stuff is crap anyway IMO pure lowest bidder manufacturing.

[roblef]

Re: Dell W1700

hey folks,
yep another newbie to the forum...same dang prob' tho. black screen..sound n power up light. anybody happen to have the specs on the caps and fuses? I gotta try that before i buy a board. Thx

[mbates14]

Re: Dell W1700

i ran into a W1700 that actually had a bad flash IC. believe it or not. unit would not do anything until flash IC was very warm, and it powered up.

So i ended up ripping a copy of the flash IC cold and hot, and there were several byte differences!. keep this in mind. I took the hot flash dump and burned it to a new flash IC, it worked fine afterwords.

[aliasdck]

Re: Dell W1700

I picked up a dell w1700 at a local ewaste recycler a few months ago. The power led would light but the backlights would not fire.

Opened it up and found a blown inverter fuse. I probed around and discovered that one of p and n channel mosfets (single package containing both) that drive one of the inverter transformers was shorted. I replaced the fuse, the mosfet ic and also the caps on the board for good measure.

Now this tv/monitor works but unfortunetly it has a horrible red tint due to aging bulb(s). I have put it aside for a rainy day as I really hate taking apart lcd panels... plus this display uses eight bulbs so it will be expensive as I would replace all the bulbs at the same time.

[mbates14]

Re: Dell W1700

thats what caused the inverters to fail in the first place. I would use a large EL strip if you can get them cheap enough, or LEDs with a Fresnel lense to reduce spotting.

[kelsjon3]

Re: Dell W1700

I know this is old, but I thought I'd post a link to disassembly instructions:

[kocoman]

Re: Dell W1700

Does anyone have a photo of the LVDS cable? the 30 pin side? thanks