Monday, September 28, 2009

HPvs19e Monitor Fix

***UPDATE*** This project summary and any further comments/updates have been moved to http://schmidtcds.com. Please visit the new site for up-to-date info, and to see all the other cool projects!

OK guys, my post on fixing the HP vs19d monitor was immensely popular and it looks like it helped a lot of people save some money on buying a new monitor. I've had several comments made about people that have successfully applied my fix to the vs19e monitors. To help those of you that may be a little uncertain about applying a fix to a different monitor, I've posted images and short instructions for the vs19e below. If you want more explanation, visit the previous post for the vs19d monitor. It goes into a little more depth and detail (vs19d).

So, first things first, here's the image of the monitor:It's almost identical in appearance from the outside to the vs19d. There are a few differences on the inside. The dis-assembly is pretty much identical to the vs19d. First, flip the monitor onto it's front and remove the screw cover at the base. Then remove the three screws holding in the stand:
Next, remove the stand from the monitor, and use a flat head screwdriver to pry the front (light silver) cover from the dark gray main portion of the monitor. See the image below:

When it's all said and done, you should have two pieces now, the main monitor portion and the monitor face plate:

Now, carefully remove the monitor from its case. The switches will still be attached to the main case via a bundle of wires, so be careful not to damage them as you remove the monitor. They will stay attached, so make sure you have room to fold everything out.
As you can see in the above image, there are, like in the vs19d, two metal enclosures in the monitor. We're concerned with the larger of the two. Remove any visible screws securing the metal box. Also remove the screws that hold the power port in place. When you remove the box, you should see the board, like below:


The next step is to find your busted caps. In the monitors I've repaired, they tend to be in the lower right hand corner (referenced to the above image). Someone had already tried to repair this particular monitor and put the caps in backwards. They should have read this post. Oh well. Busted caps seen below:

As an aside, because the question has come up before, that white goo is nothing to be concerned with. HP likely slops that stuff on components that have bare leads to ensure nothing shorts out. I didn't spend too much time inspecting it, but that's my theory. Now you need a way to prop up the board so you can get to the terminals underneath. The board will remained attached via the ribbon cables at the top, so this portion can get a little interesting.
Now heat up your soldering iron, and while melting the solder on the busted caps, pull gently on them to pop them free. Then use some desoldering braid or a desoldering tool to remove the excess solder to make room for the new caps. **I was out of braid, so I used a very small drill bit and very carefully bored out the solder in the holes. Be careful doing this. A dull bit that bites with the torque of a power drill could split the PCB into pieces, then you're screwed.**

The new caps were 1000 microF, 35V (which is overkill) caps from Radio Shack. I recommend these caps over other brands. Some of the other brands I've seen have a different profile and will actually be too tall. Just make sure you get polarity right.

Once everything is soldered in, clip your new caps leads, screw the board back down, screw the metal box back down, reattach the screws at the power port, carefully put the monitor back in the gray case, make sure the switches and speaker wires are all in place (or close to it), reattach the front plate (just press down around the edges, it will snap back together), insert and screw down the stand, and replace the screw cover. Now, hold your breath, plug it in, and hit the power button....



And that's it! You've just fixed your monitor for about $3.00. Also, one more note. It's always nice to work with someone, they can help hold the board or soldering iron if needed. I've included a pic of my work bench buddy below:




UPDATE: I've added some info about finding the busted caps and getting polarity correct. Thanks JoAnna!

1. A cap is blown if the 'X' shaped vent on the top is busted or bulging. You will likely see some brown paste oozing out, but not always. Sometimes, the 'X' vent doesn't fail and the paste comes out the bottom. They're usually pretty easy to spot.

2. On the boards I've worked on, the polarity is indicated on the PCB where the caps are soldered into place. Look at the capacitor on the right in this image (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgilVr_Cph-oZBY18rfH14SCqLRp8viB3etM9J1CtFITXt1rVaF_PeSW07QxfJRgqdSTnEeGr3qPRGjxm5QXAxhoZPZgr6XA7L9KYolf5D4lPA2E9CY7kA_16W6cm1v4wQ_VUsiQ1V77Nk/s1600-h/DSC_0790.JPG). Underneath, you can see that half of the circle is black. This is generally the negative terminal, and you want to line up the negative pin of the new capacitor with the black semi-circle. You'll also notice the other two caps in the picture are backwards (hence why they exploded and required fixing).


Good luck to everyone. Post questions, comments, successes and failures in the comments below.

If this tutorial saved you lots of money or time, a small donation would be enormously appreciated. This little stream of income allows me to dedicate more time to helping others with their problems. Thanks for stopping by!





39 comments:

Alan Duda said...

Thanks for clearing the air MD. Looking forward to some more bored projects!

JoAnna said...

OMG I am completely astounded that I did this and IT WORKED!!! I have never worked on things like this before but if the monitor is dead what do you have to lose, right? A couple of things would have made life easier.....
1) How do you know that a cap is blown?
2) How do you make sure you have the polarity right?

We (my hubby and I) figured that the caps that were not flat on top (bowed up) were the bad ones and after looking long and hard at the other caps we made an educated guess on the way that the new ones should be oriented.

Thank-you so much for the help! My 13 year old is very happy to have his monitor back!

MD Schmidt said...

Glad it worked for you JoAnna. I apologize, I explained the busted caps and polarity in the vs19d post, but neglected to include it in this one. I'll add an edit, but for now:

1. A cap is blown if the 'X' shaped vent on the top is busted or bulging. You will likely see some brown paste, but not always. Sometimes, the 'X' vent doesn't fail and the paste comes out the bottom. They're usually pretty easy to spot.

2. On the boards I've worked on, the polarity is indicated on the PCB where the caps are soldered into place. Look at the capacitor on the right in this image (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fIwSJQ29tYQ/SsEELy86gwI/AAAAAAAAA5w/-QmOoJd1s8c/s1600-h/DSC_0790.JPG). Underneath, you can see that half of the circle is black. This is generally the negative terminal, and you want to line up the negative pin of the new capacitor with the black semi-circle. You'll also notice the other two caps in the picture are backwards (hence why they exploded and required fixing).

Hope that helps,

Bored Engineer

Mentor46 said...

Hello Mr. Schmitt,

I'm following your instructions in an attempt to repair a vs15c. I'm at the step where the front plastic trim plate is removed and now I need to remove the LCD from the case. Are there any fasteners holding the LCD in place that need to be removed? Or is the LCD just supposed to "pop out?"

MD Schmidt said...

Never worked with a 15c before, but assuming they are of similar structure to the vs19d and vs19e, then no, there are no fasteners which attach the LCD However, take care that you don't just yank up, because it is still connected via ribbon cables to the metal enclosures, and it's also connected to the button array via some rather flimsy wire. If you're encountering resistance and you don't think it's either the ribbon or button wire, then you might have a different design. Forcing it should be a last resort.

Unknown said...

Hi There,
Great blog!
I've the exact same problem.
Opened the monitor and have it laid out.
The four 680uf-25v caps are blown.
I need to remove the board to work on those.
There is one big ribbon type cable(bunch of wires) on one side and 4 smaller (white and blue) wires on the other.
How do I disconnect these to get to the bottom of the board?
the 680 caps are located at the center of the board and are tricky to get to. I can't even figure out their leads with out taking the board out... please please help

MD Schmidt said...

Chris,

I haven't had to take out the board completely, so I'm giving this my best guess. Most ribbon cables have some kind of physical disconnect on either end of the connector attached to the main board. You generally have to push down on either side to get the cable to pop free. There are, however, some that are different and some that aren't meant to be removed. As for the 4 smaller wires, if they aren't in screw-down terminal type connectors, they may be difficult to remove as well. If you want, send me a pic at mike[at]cvve.net and I can try to take a look. It's almost always easier to try and do it without removing the board though. I remember the first time I did this I had to do some acrobatics to get to the caps that were blown, but it paid off in the end when I didn't have to worry about messing up a connection.

Unknown said...

Hi Schmidt,
Thanks for your reply.
First the good new - It's working!
Got a friend to help me unsolder. He held pulled the caps with a needle nose pliers, while I unsoldered. The leads were bent and soldered, so it became a two person job.
I was able to solder on the 4 680uf caps that had blown.

About disconnecting the board:
I was able to disconnect one side completely - The side that has 4 sets of white and blue wires. I used the needle nose pliers to pull them off.
Your picture(5th from top) has similar connections at the top of the picture, but it appears the wires are white(or yellow)-red, white-black).
These are the wires that go through the metal cover.

The other one, which looks like a ribbon(bunch of wires) on the opposite side of the board is soldered on and it can't be removed (or at least it seems so).

This is my first time with a project of this nature, so it helped that I was able to disconnect one side completely and flip the board over.

Unfortunately, I was not organized enough to take pictures like you did.

Thank you for the awesome instructions and pictures.

mentor46 said...

Mr. Schmitt,
I posted the following back on 11/16/2009: "I'm following your instructions in an attempt to repair a vs15c. I'm at the step where the front plastic trim plate is removed and now I need to remove the LCD from the case. Are there any fasteners holding the LCD in place that need to be removed? Or is the LCD just supposed to "pop out?" What I found on the VS15C are two screws on the bottom end of the monitor attaching the sheet metal structure (which holds the LCD and electronics) to the plastic case; these had to be removed. Then, on the top left and right of the LCD frame were two plastic hooks that fit into slots on the frame; these had to be bent outward slightly to release the LCD frame.
The only evidence I see of damaged caps is that C822 and C824 are bulging slightly at the "X" vent on the top. Many of the articles on this post mention 3 (THREE) capacitors that usually fail and need replacing. Can you advise the reference designator of the 3rd capacitor please? BTW, I got my capacitors from Digi-Key. They have a great selection of mfgs, ratings, sizes, and reasonable prices. I was able to select 1000 uF, 16V caps with the same diameter and same lead spacing as C822 and C824, and a height that was no more than the tallest cap on the board. Shipping was reasonable too. I highly recommend them to others applying this fix.

MD Schmidt said...

Hey mentor, thanks for the information on the case difference for the vs15c. I guess they all have minor differences.

I assume by "reference designator" you are referring to the capacitor number printed on the PCB. In my vs19d repair, the three caps were C822, C823, and C824. There were all right next to each other.

For the vs19e, C824 and C822 were busted, but C823 was fine.

As for the number, some people have had four, others three, and some two, so I'll leave it up to you if you want to go ahead and replace the three ones that USUALLY cause people problems. I would most definitely replace the ones that are bulged at the top.

Anonymous said...

Hello Mr. Schmidt,
I have the same problem...

But I don't speak good english.
I think, from your name, that you
speak german, how me.

If you speak german, I have other questions, because my father would like repair my LCD screen (he is
an electricion), but he too don't speak good english and he need other informations.

Thank you very much


Many greets

Lauro S.

MD Schmidt said...

Haha, I do have a very German last name, but I unfortunately do not speak the language. Your English in your post was good, though.

If you want to post your question in German, I can try to find a friend to translate, or if you want to give English a try, that would be fine as well.

Anonymous said...

Hmm for me my english is a little bad, because it's only the school english and not the "Internet English", with words that are very difficult for me.

So, my question is that:
I have read many answers to your description how to repair an LCD Screen, and I have read that you have changed the old caps with 3 1000uF with 10volts, and other people had used caps with 25 or 35volts.
I don't think that all the 1000uF caps go to replace the old caps.

I live in Switzerland, in Europe,
and there don't exist the Radio Shack company, but the CONRAD-company. I think that there are the same, but I must know the right name of this caps, if it's possible.

Sorry another time for my bad english, if you don't understand anithing you can say it.
I hope you can help me.

Many greets

Lauro

MD Schmidt said...

Lauro,

Your English was great! I visited the CONRAD site to check out what was available. The electrical size of the capacitor (1000uF) is the most important part. The voltage is not as important, as long as it is above the minimum.

Here is a link to the CONRAD International site of the caps I would use:

http://www.conrad-international.com/?article=445112

Those are 1000uF, 25V caps, and at 0.33 euros, they are cheap too.

The only thing you might need to double check is the height of the caps to make sure they will fit in the case when it is put back together. At the very least, they will satisfy the requirements electrically.

Feel free to post back with more questions!

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much!

It was not only the problem of the caps, but another problem with the video-part of the LCD screen.
The energy transformation-part was then okey, with the new caps.

The little graphiccard of the video-part was "broken" (I don't know how say it).

This was a special lesson for me even if the screen does not function.

Nevertheless I thank you very much, probably for a second time.


PS: HP sucks =D

Lauro S.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the repair information. I replaced the 3 caps as suggested on this and a similar blog. Only 2 of 3 appeared bad, but went for all 3 hoping to avoid future problem. Unit powers up OK now, but screen starts out fuzzy green/blue with windows logo barely visible, and then brightens with no info, then fades to black.

Anonymous said...

Dear MD
thank you so much for a great post!
Thanks to your instructions, I was able to repair my HP vs19e. I replaced the 3 capacitors with Radio Shack (1000 uf 35V) units and it works great again!
I did however have to remove the entire board, which required removing the ribbon cable and some other white connectors mentioned in previous posts. For others, the ribbon cable came out by "flipping up" 90 degrees the thin black retaining strip.
Thanks again MD!!
David

~Mary said...

I'm in the middle of repairing my HPvs19e (THANK YOU for this tutorial!), and i've come across a problem... the soldering iron and braid wont melt the existing solder to remove the capacitors! I'm using a 30w iron, which has worked for all other projects up until now. Even purchased a new tip for this project.

Any ideas/tricks?

Thanks!

MD Schmidt said...

Hey Mary, glad you are finding it useful! Sometimes, especially on manufactured boards, the solder is really hard to re-melt. I'm not sure if sometimes a paste is applied to keep the components from being de-soldered or not.

You've probably already tried it, but try just using the iron (without the braid) to get the solder started melting. Obviously, more heat gets to the solder, since none is dissipated by the braid.

But, assuming you've already tried that, AND you're using a new tip, it might be that the actual element in the iron has gone bad. What kind of iron is it? If the solder isn't melting at all, might be time for a new iron. Weller makes some really good ones for under $100 if you do a lot of soldering work. If not, one of the cheapo Radio Shack ones, while not particularly awesome, should get the job done. Let me know what you try.

Unknown said...

I'm another satisfied "customer". It's amazing what Googling something will bring up - who knew there were so many others with the exact same problem?

I ended up with 1000uF 35v caps (Radio Shack) that were larger than the 10v stock, but they fit just fine.

REMEMBER, IF THIS BLOG SAVED YOU MONEY, DONATE TO SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION! I DID!

(Disclaimer: Every word of this post was written independently from and with no prior knowledge of MD Schmidt and I am receiving no remuneration, financial, physical or otherwise for this or any other post.)

MD Schmidt said...

Thanks tdmcmillen! Glad to hear you got the RS caps to fit properly.

~Mary said...

update on the soldering iron issue....picked up a new one at radio shack (40w just in case), and it worked perfectly...i'm thinking the other was just too old!

In any case, my monitor is back up and running, and it thanks you profusely for this tutorial so that it didn't get kicked to the curb! =)

MD Schmidt said...

Good Mary! I'm glad you got the issue worked out. Soldering irons can be finicky. Good luck with everything.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your fix. It repaired a dead monitor. My HP vs19d only has one circuit board but it only had 3 1000 capacitors and they were bulged on the end. I also used this experience to find a similar repair on a Gateway monitor.

drkblz said...

So I have a vs19e that has a backlight issue. It turns on for 10+ seconds (up to 4 hours once), then goes off. I tried replacing a few capacitors, as they seemed off, almost bulging around the edges on the top, with the top piece dipping downwards slightly into the center. It appears to have had no effect, although I can hear (slightly more noticably) a humming sound coming from the monitor. Any ideas?

Andrew said...

Hi, I'm new to this whole solder business, could you explain what solder I would be looking for, what a braid is, and more thoroughly explain all the steps involving soldering in more detail? ;D thanks, Andrew.

MD Schmidt said...

Andrew,

For this type of project, you'll want some pretty small diameter solder. Best bet is radio shack, something like .032" diameter rosin core standard solder would do the trick. Desoldering braid allows you to remove solder that's already in place. You just press the braid against the solder joint, and apply the soldering iron heat from the other side. The solder melts and is absorbed by the braid.


I suggest you search google for soldering/desoldering tutorials. There are several execllent one's on youtube. As for the specific steps involved in my process, it will vary slightly from user to user, and based on what tools you have available. If you have more specific questions once you dive in, I can try to help there as well.

Anonymous said...

Hey-
I followed your instructions in hopes of fixing me HP vs19e. After following the first few steps and getting the LCD off, I realized that there was only ONE circuit board present on mine compared to the two in your pictures. I decided to take things into my own hands and began to dissemble it but the really tricky part is moving the monitor cable port (with the blue pinholes) to budge so that the board can be accessed. Otherwise, the huge metal casing over the board won't move. I've removed the 7 screws (2 on the side, 5 on the top) but thats the last thing that preventing me from accessing the board. I can even see the capacitors and everything (with the white goo oozed out) so I know I have the same problem and am dying to fix it. I was only going to post after being successful but unfortunately, I need help already.

If you've ever dealt with a monitor where there was only one circuit board, could you PLEASE help me out here? I can't access the board properly because of this.

p.s. (To clarify, the "blue pinhole outlet" im talking about is where you attach the monitor cable when connecting it to the CPU).

I hope you'll be able to help. Will definitely make a donation. Thanks so much already for the tips.

MD Schmidt said...

@Seth,

The VGA port (the blue pinhole port you are referring to) is usually attached to the metal casing by the threaded inserts where your VGA cable actually screws into the port. You can use some needle nose pliers to gently unscrew these threaded inserts from the case. That SHOULD dislodge the metal case from the port.

Good Luck!

George Roberts said...

It worked for me! I am grateful for your help. The two capacitors, that I purchased from Radio Shack were somewhat different in size and terminals (wires). First the capacitors were longer, and instead of having the two wires coming out from one end, these had one wire each, coming out from the ends. I just made certain that there was clearance between the housing and any bare wires on the circuit board. One advice to others, please take note of the currents direction, which should be in a form of an arrow on the capacitor(s), before removing the burnt ones. The new ones will need to be mounted the same direction.

Art F said...

Regarding Seth's comments on the monitor version with only one board:

To remove the board, there are THREE different sets of screws that must be taken out: (1) The seven screws on the solder side of the board; (2) The screws that hold in the power and monitor cable jacks, the latter requiring long-nosed pliers or some such, and (3) Two screws that hold the shield onto the component side of the board and screw into a metal block mounted on that side.

John said...

Just wanted to say this worked for me as well. I used an old CPU mother board that I had laying around and took off 2 1200uf cap's soldered them on and BAM! it is working like a charm. I Love The Internet

Steve C said...

Regarding the comments by Art F (January 20, 2011) on the monitor version with only one board:

I am having trouble removing the board. I have removed the 7 screws on the solder side of the board. I have removed the screws that hold in the power and monitor cable (VGA) jacks. I don't see the two screws last mentioned as item (3).

The board appears to be firmly attached to something at its bottom edge between the monitor cable on one end and the power input on the other.

I don't see any other screws to remove. Any help would be much appreciated. (The board is labeled PTB-1720 07/12 '06)

Steve C said...

Sorry - I should have noted that my monitot is an HP vs19d.

MD Schmidt said...

Steve C-

Send me some pictures and I'll take a look. mschmidt[at]schmidtcds.com

kyecoon said...

i dont have any bad caps (yet) but i just got my hpvs17 back from miltary shiping (2 years late)an i cant seem to find the 3 screws that hold the stand to the screen is there any way i could get a pic of them or there size/type from you so i can look in my soap box of screws or order some new ones.
semper fi!

MD Schmidt said...

kyecoon-

I'll look at those screws and send you some dimensions when I get home from work today.

Shredder said...

Thank you for the guide, HPvs19e is now back in operation. I was searching 'How To Dismantle' the monitor, then I discovered your guide, turned out to be the same problem, only 2 of the caps were blown.

Tip: To identify the negative terminal on the Cap, negative will be the shorter of the two terminals (wires).

borlom said...

Thanks!
I repair my HP vs19b changing 3 capacitors. I use 1000uF and 16V. When i was change capacitors, at first screen turn green with some lines but at the end next to 5-10minutes all was good. Exactly appended that capacitors charged with some energy in 5-10 minutes then screen changed with good colors.

I spended 5€. It was very easy.