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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Welcome all to my second monitor repair tutorial!

As with all tutorials - I am not responsible for any damaged components or injuries.
If you are not comfortable doing this yourself, DON'T OPEN IT. There are places that will perform this service for you, just google it.

I love feedback, so please let me know what you think of this tutorial! It is quite a bit longer than the previous, as this tutorial is aimed to a bit more technical. If you just want to get the darn thing working, you can go for the Quick and Dirty method. Of which, likely wont last as long as the more technical or might not even work at all.

First Things First - Check your cable!
Quote:
Originally Posted by solsamurai View Post

Hey Fir3Chi3f, some time ago I posted here thinking I may have had some bad caps. Turns out it was the VGA cable that came with the monitor. Bought a decent DVI-D to replace it and the issue was resolved.
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Tools and Parts Required
- with cost estimate

$12 for a Rat-Shack fire starter
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062738

$6 for thin solder
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062725

$10-$30 for caps
(resources listed below, price varies depending on if you choose to replace them all and where you buy from)

$0-$20 for one or two screwdrivers
(I've only seen screens with one or two different size screws, most people likely have a screwdriver already)

$0+ Something to pry the screen open

Totals:
- These are just rough estimates
Without soldering iron or screwdriver ~ $41
With tools ~ $26

Please comment below with how much this fix cost you ^_^

For this tutorial our subject Samsung SyncMaster 226BW doesn't actually turn on anymore, but as with my previous tutorial, usual symptoms of bad capacitors include flickering and slow power on time. As shown in the picture from my previous tutorial.
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226BW Service Manual Found at the Below Site and Available Here

The usual culprit is dying/dead capacitors and will thusly be the focus of the tutorial. Other internals can fail, such as: bulbs, fuses or high voltage arch across low voltage components. Ultimately we just wont know until we open it up and find obvious signs of damage or do a bit of testing. For this I've enlisted the help of some of my friends.
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Unscrew everything you can; Really, the hardest part of fixing these things is opening them.
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This particular monitor just needed to be pulled apart from the bottom once the screws were removed, but most monitors use a plastic snap design that requires pressing in the side and prying apart. This usually marks up the side pretty badly, but hey, it's already broken
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We ran into some additional covers internally that were held in by some tiny screws. I use a magnet to keep these from getting lost. If you run across many different types of screws I recommend using a different method for keeping them separate- Such as taping them back into their respective holes. Most monitors don't have these additional screws
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I'm becoming quite partial to this design, the cables on this monitor are quite long and make it easy to lay out parts without having to disconnect them. Now then, pull out the power board, the power mains plugs into it and usually doesn't have any information connections on it.
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Here is exactly what we are looking for, bloated and or leaking capacitors. They can dry out internally however, falling out of spec without any external indicator. In such a case, the only real way to tell is to use an ESR Meter, which will tell you if the cap is out of spec. I don't have one, so it is best to replace all capacitors that are known to fail. The usual culprit is Capxon brand, but there are many more listed here.
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We are now going to remove the clearly bad capacitors, it is really up to you if you are going to replace all of the capacitors or not. But If the brand is on that bad caps list than I do highly recommend replacing them anyway. They are cheap and you wont have to go through with this again.
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During the last tutorial we had a short discussion on capacitor removal techniques. The method I use is to heat one leg from the underside pull or wiggle the cap out a little and switch to the other leg and repeat until it comes out. This usually does leave a bit of solder in the hole making it a bit difficult to insert the new cap.

For generally all methods, heat both the cap leg and the hole until the solder is malleable. If you prefer, one can use solder braid or a solder sucker to pull the solder out of the hole. If using braid, simply place the braid on the solder point and heat until the braid absorbs the solder. If using a sucker or bulb, heat the leg and point until malleable just like my method but then suck it up with the bulb. animal0307 recommends and uses solder suckers from here. Previously I recommended using tape to hold the cap in while soldering in the new cap, but some others that used my technique mentioned that the old solder holds the new cap in place while new solder is added.
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It is so great that everything I've described here is actually mentioned in this soldering tutorial from the EEVblog. You don't have to watch this whole video but I suggest watching the first couple of minutes for a good demonstration of through hole soldering.

Now here is the tricky new part! Instead of replacing the caps with equal farad and voltage values, we are going to look up the ESR (impudence) and Ripple ratings. First step is getting the dimensions and series of the caps you are replacing (This is why we removed them before we could know which ones are correct).

I am replacing CapXon GL series that are about 10x20mm a quick google search brings me this spreadsheet on the GL series. And this spreadsheet tells me that the Ripple is about ~1280 and ESR (impudence) is about ~0.052

The reason we go by "can size" and not Farad ratings is because the size is more in relation to the ESR and Ripple than the voltage or farad rating. You will see this trend in the spreadsheets. If you would like to know why we care about ESR and Ripple more than Farad and voltage, I've found a lovely write up on Badcaps.net The simple explanation is that we need to clean the incoming power.

My favorite sources for learning about electrical engineering has been the EEVBlog! Check out this video from the man himself Dave Jones!

New Video from EEVBlog! - Check out his ESR meter!

As my replacements I've chosen Rubycon 680uF 16v 8mm ZL Series Ripple: 1250 ESR: 0.041 (It maybe a good idea to stay above 12v with replacement caps, but besides that just get ones that are close in ESR and Ripple ratings) Installation is a matter of inserting the new ones and following the soldering suggestions from before. Another neat trick is to bend the legs outward to hold the cap in place while you solder.
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You will notice that the new caps I've put in are smaller than the old ones but they are exactly what I need from a good manufacturer.
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I've gone through and replaced all the other caps on the board using the same method just so I don't have to do this again. You'll notice I've left the large capacitor. This is because I couldn't find any cases of larger caps going bad (and I couldn't find a spreadsheet that included a beast such as that)
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I'm fairly confident that this will work for my case, so I will completely reassemble it before testing. If you're not sure if it will work then please, at lest, screw all the shielding back on before powering up. Good work Gentlemen.
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Powered up and working beautifully, I hope this has been a helpful and interesting tutorial!!
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If you need additional help, be sure to include a picture of the power board and the brand of capacitors used on the board.
You can either post here or create a new thread, but please only do one! If you make yourself a new thread, PM me if you'd like!
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Thus far both monitors that I've done this fix for are still working beautifully! One was fixed with the quick and dirty method and the other with this one. Hopefully more screens will come to me so I can add more to this!

#######################################################################
Respectable sources of capacitor needs:
www.Badcaps.com
www.Digikey.com
www.Mouser.com

For our folks across the pond:
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/ *Suggested by PCBONEZ at badcaps.net*

ESR meter used on EEVblog
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~bobpar/esrmeter.htm

Service Manual Lookup
http://elektrotanya.com/ *As found by jetpak12*

#######################################################################

Most of this tutorial is based off of my discussion at Badcaps.net
I will likely change this in the future as I learn more myself and I will keep a little log file down here about revisions. I've attempted to make this tutorial mildly wide screen friendly, if something doesn't look right let me know.
Note 1: I will be adding people's names as references, if you believe I've referenced you but left your name out shoot me a pm. If you are referenced and don't want to be, than pm me for that as well.
Changes 1: Fixed and added more pictures, new source added. (Keep 'em coming!)
Note 2: I found some excellent videos on capacitors from the Electronics Engineering Blog (EEVblog) and just realized I made no mention of ESR meters.
Changes: Comment upgrades and reference to added video along with mention of ESR meter. Sept 10, 2011
Edit: Consider this part of the previous update, I've been loving EEVblog and thought the soldering video deserved to be included.
[Nov 11, 2011]
- fixed some of the formatting from the new site update. I will likely keep doing this until it looks right to me, so expect changes until I'm happy. I do like how the pictures are bigger, but all the color is missing from the text.
- New log and date format used
Note: All the old video tags were change to [ame] for some reason. All the pictures are different sizes, now that is really annoying, I'll get to that in the future.
[2 April 2012]
- Minor formatting changes and to-do list added
[14 June 2012]
- All images have been re-embedded using the new site standard link to image feature. (Image resize and reupload is still a priority!)
- Added cost estimate thanks to the question below from solsamurai
[19 June 2012]
- Added Service Manual Lookup thanks to jetpak12
[8 August 2012]
-Added suggestion
[7 September 2012]
-Added new video from EEVBlog
6 October 2012
-Added another video from EEVBlog - this time he shows how to use an ESR meter!
-Added quote from solsamurai

TODO:
-Reorganize and resize pictures (They are much better looking than how they are when embedded.)
-Make a PDF version
-Upload to Instructables
-Create Logo
-Figure out and add solution for screens with lines in them
 

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Discussion Starter · #4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Master Chief View Post

I was mostly interested in the Elites.
Oh and we are very interested in you demon! Very interested indeed...

attachment.php?attachmentid=223279&stc=1&d=1312662606


Edit for the new site format
 

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Perfect timing for me to find this. I was about to crack open a Samsung monitor that needs repair. I will also agree the pictures were very entertaining. +1
 

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Discussion Starter · #6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by SEN_ONE;15590012
Perfect timing for me to find this. I was about to crack open a Samsung monitor that needs repair. I will also agree the pictures were very entertaining. +1
Why thank you! Please keep us posted on how things go!
 

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Hey great guide, gave me the confidence to try it myself
I just replaced 9 bad CapXon caps in my sig Belinea today . 3 on the PSU and 6 on the inverter board. This thing was only 5 years old.
some of the offenders.
PSU
monitorPSUcaps1.jpg


Inverter
monitorcaps.jpg


Stripping the monitor and finding a shop that still sells the caps was tricky,.but a few burnt fingers later from the soldering iron and it was alive.
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I've been using a 17" CRT for the last few fays , that was the most painful. part

A couple tips
Take your time dismantling it or you will break the plastic clips around the frame.
Don't buy a cheap Chinese soldering iron
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You can use a safety pin to get small amounts of old solder out of the holes
 

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replacing caps to keep hardware alive is so darn cool!
smile.gif
 

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Discussion Starter · #11 ·
Thanks all, I do appreciate the comments and I do read them all!

@MrSleepyin - I know you've read my rant on the subject, thank you.

@robwadeson - Thank you! I do want to upload this to instructables at some point as well. If you have any trouble, don't hesitate to ask!
 

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Wow, this is an awesome guide. I think my monitor may be showing signs of bad caps.
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I know nothing about soldering though. Would it be expensive to get all the tools needed? Even taking it to a repair shop would be cheaper than buying a new monitor. I would love to be able to do it myself as well!
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Discussion Starter · #13 ·

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Thanks for the price info. Constant, slightly noticeable vertical refresh lines from top to bottom. Seems to go away when playing games or using certain software. I can really notice it with the Steam GUI full screen and the desktop which has a mostly black wallpaper.

Lol, forgot to mention I love the use of the figures unscrewing stuff!
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Discussion Starter · #15 ·
It does sound like a bad caps, opening it up and checking is the next step from here. Hopefully you'll see the problem right away.

Dark color is more difficult for LCDs to display and requires more current. Out of spec capacitors can't handle the additional current and begin to allow 'unclean' power through to the bulbs/inverting circuit. Capacitors are rarely used for capacitance anymore when it comes to a lot of modern electrons. I might put that into the tutorial, but I'll need to draw up a diagram.... Gah! I don't have time for this right now!

Anyway, yes! How-To's are just as boring to make as they are to follow, so to keep me focused I took on a slightly shorter stature. I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed it!
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Thanks for the advice. I'll see about opening it up when I have some time myself, lol. I'm super busy as well and feel you there for sure!
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Discussion Starter · #18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by lapengu View Post

Wanted to try this on an old dell that was flickering.. But there were WAY too many caps to check and replace.
Thanks for the guide anyways.
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If you post pictures we can try to narrow it down for you.
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Hi Fir3Chi3f, nice write up you have here.
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I recently "recovered" an LCD TV that was left outside on the curb for the garbage truck. I cleaned it up and tried plugging it in and it doesn't power on at all, no lights and no flicker--nothing. I opened it up and didn't see any bulging caps or anything that looked out of place. Do you mind if I post pictures in this thread?
 
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