[SenorBeef]

I have a 226BW, original samsung model. So far it has worked beautifully, great monitor for an LCD.

Anyway, recently for no apparent reason, it has started to flicker very rapidly when I either first turn it on, or it comes out of a standby state after a significant period of downtime. The screen is practically unusable in this state because it is dim and flickering rapidly. I can't figure out anything I may have done physically to alter its behavior... it did start happening roughly around the same time I upgraded to the latest nvidia drivers, however it doesn't only happen in windows, it happens from a cold boot from the BIOS screen which would indicate it's not driver-related, right?

Anyway, the flickering continues for anywhere from 2 to 6 minutes or so, and at some point it randomly comes full on and works normally. Nothing I can do seems to influence how long it flickers for - I can change resolutions or brightness settings or launch a 3d game or turn it on and off and it doesn't matter... it's just going to randomly pick its own time to stop flickering.

Does anyone know what the cause might be, or any potential solutions? I don't want this monitor to die, it was hard enough to find originally (without getting a crappier subcontracted model of the 226bw). Should I just leave it on 24/7 and not let it power down?

I guess there's a possibility that it relates to the video card rather than the monitor - if you think that's likely then I can drag it to someone else's house and test it on their system. I should also mention that it's part of a dual setup with another 226 (the other one Chimei unfortunately) and it's set up as the primary monitor. The other monitor shows no signs of problems.

 

[TwoCables]

I hate to say it, but it sounds like the monitor could be dying. I mean I'm just guessing that this is what happens when they begin dying.

 

[Somenamehere]

Depending on how long ago you purchased it you could contact samsung. But I agree with twocables it seems like it might be dying slowly.

 

[SenorBeef]

It's out of warranty and I bought it second hand unfortunately. If I could replace it with a monitor that was as good, it wouldn't bother me so much - but based on various reviews I've read none of the samsung monitors that replaced the 226 were as good as it in every categroy - input lag, visual persistance, color, etc. They might be superior in one or two aspects, but not overall.

Anyway, I've alleviated the problem mostly by just leaving my computer on 24/7, and setting it to go to a blank screensaver rather than standby. But I still have to power down my computer sometimes... and when I did it this time, the monitor took 20 minutes before it went from blinking to solidly on. I'm worried it'll get longer and longer until eventually it just blinks indefinitely.

Anyone heard of this problem before? Any suggestions as to what to do?

 

[KloroFormd]

I'd say the inverter or CFL is failing.

You can check eBay for parts and make a fairly easy repair.

 

[TwoCables]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SenorBeef It's out of warranty and I bought it second hand unfortunately. If I could replace it with a monitor that was as good, it wouldn't bother me so much - but based on various reviews I've read none of the samsung monitors that replaced the 226 were as good as it in every categroy - input lag, visual persistance, color, etc. They might be superior in one or two aspects, but not overall. Anyway, I've alleviated the problem mostly by just leaving my computer on 24/7, and setting it to go to a blank screensaver rather than standby. But I still have to power down my computer sometimes... and when I did it this time, the monitor took 20 minutes before it went from blinking to solidly on. I'm worried it'll get longer and longer until eventually it just blinks indefinitely. Anyone heard of this problem before? Any suggestions as to what to do?

I apologize, but I think it's time to save up for a new monitor. I mean, I have never experienced a dying LCD monitor before, but it certainly sounds like this one is dying.

So, if you want a relatively equal replacement, then the 2253BW is a good one. However, at this point you could probably find something pretty superior to the 2253BW for the same price or even less brand new.

But what I'm saying is that if I remember correctly, then the 2253BW is basically the same monitor.

I've had my 2253BW since about the beginning of the last week in April of 2008, and it's still going strong. I use it for over 12 hours every single day, and I've had the monitor set to be turned off after 1 hour this entire time as well.

 

[SenorBeef]

Sorry to bump the thread again, but I think I'm gonna try to replace the inverter myself, assuming that's the problem, and I wanted to check here first.

I kept the thing running 24/7 for the last month and so I never had to deal with this issue, but I accidentally turned it off last night. This time it wouldn't stop flickering even after 8+ hours, so I doubt it's going to kick over.

There's one new symptom I noticed: sound. When it's first plugged in (and powered on by default) it makes a weird low pitched white noise kind of sound for 15 seconds, and then that stops and it's quiet. But if you turn it off (if it's plugged in but turned off) there's a high pitched whine. Other than the first 15 seconds after plugging it in, when it's turned on it's silent. The sound is pretty quiet, you need to put your ear up to the back of the unit, but it's definitely there. And my other 226BW doesn't do it.

Is this consistent with a bum power inverter? I don't want to give up on this monitor yet (by far the best LCD I've ever seen) so I'm going to take a stab at fixing it... but I don't want to rip it up and buy a potentially expensive replacement part (yeah I know it's probably a $2 part, but the only one I found so far is on ebay for $70) if it's not going to fix it anyway.

 

[RoscoeMcGurk]

Hey senorbeef,

I Have the 226bw, great monitor. One thing I'd recommend checking is all the capacitors when you have the covers off and can access everything. Take a good look at the tops, look for bulging and/or leaking. Sometimes a bad electrolytic cap is easy to spot, the top should be flat, so if it's rounded and bulging or especially if leaking, it may start to malfunction. Many power supplies and monitors have bitten the dust from nothing more than a failed capacitor- replace bad cap = back in biz. Just something to look for.

 

[dricks]

Do not put your monitor in the bin, this is a really common issue with this model, and it's really easy to repare.

I have a 226BW and had this exact same problem myself, at the point that it took 20minutes of flickering before being usable.

The problem is that 3 capacitors on the power cirtcuitry are dying.


The black arrows show the faulty capacitors.

All you have to do is to replace them with working ones that match their values.
You can safely use :
Those ones :
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270673693891&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280480636244&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Or those ones (better quality but bigger, but they can fit : these are the one i used to repare mine

) :
http://cgi.ebay.fr/2-condensateurs-330uF-35V-105-C-Panasonic-FC-/280307881656
http://cgi.ebay.fr/2-condensateurs-820uF-50V-105-C-low-esr-Panasonic-FC-/280438998951

So, when you have bought them (or other with same values) here is how to unmount your screen :

1/ Remove the black plastic cover
Put your monitor on a table, with the LCD panel facing the table.

On the back: - Remove the 3 screws used for the "foot?"
- 3 others for the main plastic
- unclip the plastic himself

2/ Remove the small cable on the right :

3/ unclip the left metal plate (with a screwdriver, it works great) and remove the 4 little cables. Write down their order and colors so that you won't forget it at mount time.

4/ Slowly open up the main metal plate



5/ Remove this cable by pressing it's sides :



6/ Remove the cable by pressing it sides :



7/ Remove the 3 screws of the left circuitry, which is the Power one :



8/ Remove the small metal plate :



9/ Remove the power circuitry, and check those 3 capacitors :



10/ Replace dead capacitors (those marked by 3 black arrows on the previous image)
You'll need :
two of 820uF or 1000uF /105° / around 25V
one of 330uF /105° / around 25V
You can also use those i've linked at the beginning of this post.

A dead or problematic capacitor can be detected by it's rounded top.
Fully functionnal capacitors must be flat, if it's not, then it's dead or almost dead.
Even if only two capacitors are dead, i would recommand to remove those 3 indicated here, because the third will probably die soon too.

You will need a soldering iron, but trust me, it's really easy to do, and won't cost more than 20$, soldering iron included.

 

[abopster]

Dricks,

You sir, are awesome. Thanks for the detail. Just ordered my capacitors for less then 6 bucks and going to give this a shot.

 

[bcbud420]

Please let me know if the capacitors were at fault and it resolves your issue.

My friend's monitor just started flickering when it turns on after being off for a while after I re-formatted and reinstalled Windows XP Pro Sp3.

I installed the latest drivers and noticed the flickering for the first time. It didn't occur before I reformatted.

I think its a driver issue maybe causing hardware issue. It can't be coincidental that as soon as I reformatted that this flickering started.

But regardless of my predicament I really would like to know how your monitor turns out after the capacitor replacement. Please keep us updated!!

 

[NiK_0_0]

Good to see this bumped for me! I was afraid I was going to rez this post from the dead!

I just started having this same problem about a week ago.. making this monitor about.. 3.5 years old I believe (Dec 07' I think, maybe even '06). Its served me amazingly for the past years and TBH it was going to be replaced in about a month, but I was planning on handing it down, and this issue kind of prevents that.

Exact same issue as documented, flickering when first turned on, takes maybe 2 minutes of power cycling / source cycling before the caps get charged enough I guess? I'm assuming there is no warranty left on these monitors even though Samsung had a serious part malfunction? Is the cap replacement the only possible way to bring back this monitor to its original state?

Thanks,

Nick

 

[tpi2007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dricks;12714355
Do not put your monitor in the bin, this is a really common issue with this model, and it's really easy to repare.

I have a 226BW and had this exact same problem myself, at the point that it took 20minutes of flickering before being usable.

The problem is that 3 capacitors on the power cirtcuitry are dying.


The black arrows show the faulty capacitors.

All you have to do is to replace them with working ones that match their values.
You can safely use :
Those ones :
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270673693891&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280480636244&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Or those ones (better quality but bigger, but they can fit : these are the one i used to repare mine

) :
http://cgi.ebay.fr/2-condensateurs-330uF-35V-105-C-Panasonic-FC-/280307881656
http://cgi.ebay.fr/2-condensateurs-820uF-50V-105-C-low-esr-Panasonic-FC-/280438998951

So, when you have bought them (or other with same values) here is how to unmount your screen :

1/ Remove the black plastic cover
Put your monitor on a table, with the LCD panel facing the table.

On the back: - Remove the 3 screws used for the "foot?"
- 3 others for the main plastic
- unclip the plastic himself

2/ Remove the small cable on the right :

3/ unclip the left metal plate (with a screwdriver, it works great) and remove the 4 little cables. Write down their order and colors so that you won't forget it at mount time.

4/ Slowly open up the main metal plate



5/ Remove this cable by pressing it's sides :



6/ Remove the cable by pressing it sides :



7/ Remove the 3 screws of the left circuitry, which is the Power one :



8/ Remove the small metal plate :



9/ Remove the power circuitry, and check those 3 capacitors :



10/ Replace dead capacitors (those marked by 3 black arrows on the previous image)
You'll need :
two of 820uF or 1000uF /105° / around 25V
one of 330uF /105° / around 25V
You can also use those i've linked at the beginning of this post.

A dead or problematic capacitor can be detected by it's rounded top.
Fully functionnal capacitors must be flat, if it's not, then it's dead or almost dead.
Even if only two capacitors are dead, i would recommand to remove those 3 indicated here, because the third will probably die soon too.

You will need a soldering iron, but trust me, it's really easy to do, and won't cost more than 20$, soldering iron included.

Great info and how-to! Rep+

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiK_0_0;13338574
Good to see this bumped for me! I was afraid I was going to rez this post from the dead!

I just started having this same problem about a week ago.. making this monitor about.. 3.5 years old I believe (Dec 07' I think, maybe even '06). Its served me amazingly for the past years and TBH it was going to be replaced in about a month, but I was planning on handing it down, and this issue kind of prevents that.

Exact same issue as documented, flickering when first turned on, takes maybe 2 minutes of power cycling / source cycling before the caps get charged enough I guess? I'm assuming there is no warranty left on these monitors even though Samsung had a serious part malfunction? Is the cap replacement the only possible way to bring back this monitor to its original state?

Thanks,

Nick

If the caps are bulged (even slightly - the tops should be perfectly flat - anything else indicates the capacitor is not working well anymore and the pressure inside it is building up), or even burst, there is no other way to fix the monitor.

Samsung did not necessarily have a serious part malfunction, what I think happened is they used cheap capacitors. The second ones pointed by dricks (the ones he used to replace the faulty ones) are much higher quality (can be seen by the gold stripe) and will last you many years.

Cheap capacitors have a lower temperature rating and if the electrolytic formula is not exactly right they can even fail after a few months. It all depends on how well made they are. They can last months or 3+ years like yours. I had a DFI motherboard back in 2001 that lasted for 6 years and then lots of capacitors (but all of the same size, the others were fine) started to have bulged caps and eventually the tops burst. The PC would sometimes not boot, but if you tried booting up a second time it would normally do it right - although the motherboard monitor software alerted to some insufficient voltages, but it gets worse with time.

You should replace them as soon as you can, because if the tops burst off, some of the acid contained inside could eventually damage the PCB, and then you are looking at a more expensive repair.

 

[BluRayLeader]

P13121-ND 1000uF 25V, 10000 Hrs @ 105°C, -40°C ~ 105°C, .87 ea
P13123-ND 330µF 25V, 10000 Hrs @ 105°C, -40°C ~ 105°C, .53 ea

 

[DeeLaa77]

Thank you Dricks for this detailed guide on fixing this monitor.

I have 2 of them and 1 started to flicker, so after reading your guide, I decided to give it a shot (after all I was going to throw it away and buy a new one, so no harm if I were to F&*% it up...lol).

Everyday it was getting longer and longer (it took 8 hours to come on one day), so I decided to leave the monitor on 24/7 as my PC is always on. Then one day in my drunken state, I decided to turn things off, and the next day I turned the monitor on, after 3 days the flickering hadn't stopped (lucky I had the other monitor).

Before the capacitors arrived, my other monitor started flikering for 10 secs and I was spewing I didn't order enough for both (so from then on the second monitor would have to stay on... lol) The Capacitors arrived and I got excited and straight to work. Unfortunately my soldering skills are not that crash hot (not pun intented) and unfortunately I think I may have fried the board itself.

Oh Well, next step.... I saw on eBay, there was the Power board available to purchase itself, so $46 (x2, as I ordered for the other monitor also) and 3 weeks later, they arrived and once again I got excited, used your guide again to take apart the monitor and got to work.

The next thing that made me laugh (and cry) was the part on the power board which you plug into, was slightly different, it had a switch on the new one. The old one didn't, not being detered, I got out the 'Dremel', took the other chip board off and got stuck into it. Put it all together and.........

IT WORKS.... lol

Then I started on the second monitor and after dremeling the hole bigger, I started putting it back together and it needed a little more shaved off. Stupid me was in a hurry and decided to leave the other chip board in there whilst dremeling the hole a little bigger and I think the vibrations may have affected the other chip board and although the second monitor is working, it is a little pixelated.

Do you think this is what happened or something different? Can the second chip board be ordered?

Also on another note:
Quote:

3/ unclip the left metal plate (with a screwdriver, it works great) and remove the 4 little cables. Write down their order and colors so that you won't forget it at mount time.

On the first monitor, my cables were exactly like yours (red on the outsides), however on the second monitor, they were different, the red ones were on the top on both, put it back how I found it though. What would happen if I put them back wrong?

Thanks for listening to my long winded story.... lol (I find it funny).

DeeLaa

 

[SenorBeef]

I lost track of this old thread, but I saw it again and wanted to thank Dricks for such a detailed guide. I haven't actually tried it yet - I've been pretty happy with my replacement monitor (Asus VW246H) but I'll give it a try - can't have too many good monitors.

 

[Clibelle]

Thanks Dricks, Sadly it still doesn't work...

Maybe someone can help me?

Here is the story:

I to, have a bw226 monitor. One of the later models I guess. Cuze after a morning it wouldn't start anymore (before it toke more then 5 minutes) and so I toke it appart.

Mine has 3 big 820 capacitors (set in a triangle figur, arround a wiered looking capacitor) and a 330 smal one. They where all blown, so I replaced them with 3 1000uF 25v and a 330 35v from the local elc. store. The rest of the capacitors looks fine.

Then I plugged the monitor in, and nothing happend.
I think I can fairly say I have medium soldering skills.

So today I got the ones you used, the 820uf 35v via ebay, and solderd those in. Plugged it in and nothing happend, again.

What can be the problem?
I only have a simple multimeter at my disposal and a soldering iron.
Is this monitor still saveable? Or did I destroyed it?

Thanks for listening,

Greatings, Clibelle

 

[Mehdi]

LOL its great seeing this thread show up. I have the exact same issue with the exact same monitor. It all started happening about 3 weeks ago, with it taking about 30 minutes to come up, now it takes hours upon hours.

I might try to fix it myself, but I am beginning to lean towards getting a new monitor all together

 

[bryandaste]

Thanks for the info. I am attempting this repair...in step 3, how do you get those 4 little cables loose? I can wiggle them but they're not coming off.

 

[Fir3Chi3f]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bryandaste;15590014
Thanks for the info. I am attempting this repair...in step 3, how do you get those 4 little cables loose? I can wiggle them but they're not coming off.

You should be able to pinch the connector together and pull it out, else you can put a flat-head screw driver under the tab and carefully pry it up.

I don't mean to pry my own tutorial, but I do actually use this monitor for the subject of my "in depth" tutorial. I try to keep the tutorial very general so it can apply to most monitors, but you may find some useful information in it. Let us know how this goes!