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#1 2008-07-08 10:10 am
- KenM
- Member
- Registered: 2006-05-09
- Posts: 9
Titanium Powerbook LCD problem
Not sure if this is the right place but here goes. I have a Ti-Powerbook G4 with a 15" screen. I've had it for a few years and after the first year the screen went black. I could tell there is still an image on the screen just really faint. So after some research I had determined it was either the LCD board or the backlight. I found both on ebay and changed the board, no help. So I proceded to change the backlight. I had detailed instructions on how to do this along with a warning that said don't try this at home. Well I did. After tearing the whole thing apart and successfully changing the backlight, when I was putting it back together one wire was on the inside of the inner workings of the hinge and one on the outside. There was no way around this so I proceded to put back together. So when the hinge assembly was done I pinched one of the wires in the hinge. Put it all back together and started it up. The wire went ssssssss and now I'm back to a black screen.
This is not a procedure that I want to do anytime soon since I am probably lucky it still works at all. The Mac store wants to replace the whole screen for $800. I've seen places like Apple-restore or powerbook-restore or something like that, that you send them the powerbook and they change out the screen for $300. Does anyone know of a place that I could take it to just swap out the backlight for more reasonable $$? In Oregon? Thanks
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#2 2008-07-09 9:40 am
- Mr. T
- Best of both worlds

- From: omnipresent
- Registered: 2002-04-02
- Posts: 4147
Re: Titanium Powerbook LCD problem
If you shorted a backlight wire on the hinge, the inverter board (another inexpensive part that drives the backlight) might be bad now, too, but not the whole screen. Can you still see a faint image when you hold the screen under a bright lamp? If so, the screen's fine. If you want to try it yourself again, this time putting the wire back the "right" way, there's some guides on ifixit. Also, I don't know if this will help, but there's a lot of pictures of a disassembled powerbook. If you'd rather pay someone else to do it, you might have better luck in Everyday Tech (accidentally called it balloon help).
Last edited by Mr. T (2008-07-09 9:44 am)
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