Megatouch Aurora Monitor Problem

[Karetaker]

I am having a problem with a Megatouch Aurora 19" TFT LCD monitor. It is very strange. When I power it up the monitor will come up. Then while it is booting it will go blank. If I unplug power to the monitor and then plug it back in the monitor will come up and stay up. I had some extra new monitor power cables here so I tried a new cable. The same thing happened with the new cable. I checked the 12v supply and it is solid. I even tried powering the monitor with a different power supply and the same thing still happened. Yet when I remove power from the monitor and plug it back it the thing will work. This is the second monitor I had in it and both are doing the same thing. Although both are used monitors. Any help greatly appreciated.

[mahkeymike]

Sounds like faulty vga cable.

[lilshawn]

I'd say it sounds to me like the backlight inverter is on it's way out.

turn it on and after it blips off...wait a bit until the game boots and shine a bright light into the panel...you should be able to very faintly see the graphics. this means the panel is going...but the backlight is off. if you see nothing you have a decoder board problem. (likely capacitors)

quite often when they start to go, they will take a few tries to get up and running...then often stay running. other times, they will blip up for a second and then shut off.

I've literally swapped out 30 or 40 of these now. it's like their lifetime is up right now.

pull out the old inverter and it should have a number on it you can enter (like DP-04-17019) to ebay and find a new one. (sorry I don't have an exact listing.) I normally just swap them out for a bigger beefy universal type inverter...but the aurora cabinet where the monitor sits is SUPER tight, so you'll need to find an exact sizable replacement or you'll have issues closing the monitor cabinet halves.

they can be had for about 20 bucks.

alternatively you can swap the CCFL tubes for LED. it's a bit of a bear to do, but the results are pretty good. I buy these kits for under 20 as well. I normally only do an LED conversion if the CCFL has broken or is damaged by a failed inverter. the buck driver is super small so it goes anywhere.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/425mm-LED-Backlight-Strip-Kit-Update-19-19-inch-Wide-CCFL-LCD-Screen-to-LED-/281750790742?hash=item4199a7e256:g:yiwAAOSwMmBVp3UX

if you go this route, use caution. you can damage the panel as the glass is VERY thin (about 1mm).

[mahkeymike]

shawn he said its his second monitor and its doing the same thing.

[lilshawn]

I wouldn't doubt the inverter being bad in both of them especially if the replacement he got was used. who knows how many hours are on it. I've literally replaced all of our machines inverters and a pile from another vendor who brings us units to fix because their tech left.

don't get me started on the 100 or so touchtunes 19" monitors they've brought with backlight inverter issues.

come to think of it... i think the whole 19" monitor era is full of just bad caps/bad inverter design....bad power supply design. I don't really see this conglomeration of issues in 15 and 17 inch monitors. I keep one spare 15 and one spare 17 inch LCD. I have probably 15 extra 19's on hand. it's just a bad time for manufacturers.

in any case... if he does the "light test", that should clear things up anyway. if the panel is going it's the backlight...if it isn't it an analog decoder issue. if it was cable or input the monitor would say no signal.

[mahkeymike]

That just seems like some serious bad luck if both monitors had the same exact symptom.

I suggest trying a pc monitor and connect its vga cable to the motherboard to rule out any other problem like the onboard video card or possible bad ram.

[Karetaker]

I can see the image when I shine a light on it. So, the panel is going. So I should replace the inverters correct? The other monitor could be bad I never ruled that out. I had it out on location and someone got mad and pushed it off the bar. The touchscreen was broken. But, I did fire it up and the monitor was working at the time. That was some years ago and it has just been sitting around since.

Thanks for the great info lilshawn.

[lilshawn]

okay. chances are pretty good it's just the inverter then. when you kick it to operate, does the brightness look okay? is the color even?

these panels have 4 fluorescent lights, 2 at the top and 2 at the bottom of the panel. sometimes when an inverter goes, it will burn out a tube causing one of them to be discolored or dark. so if it's nice and even, you are good... an inverter is all you need. if it's discolored or the brightness is uneven from one side to another the inverter AND the fluorescent tubes will need to be replaced... in that case it's best to just go LED.

[mahkeymike]

Shawn,
Do you have a link to a 19 inch 4:3 LED replacement and a 19 inch 16:9 LED replacement?

I was under the impression that they stopped making 4:3 LCD long before LED started becomming the norm.

[Karetaker]

Shawn,
Do you have a link to a 19 inch 4:3 LED replacement and a 19 inch 16:9 LED replacement?

I was under the impression that they stopped making 4:3 LCD long before LED started becomming the norm.

While I was searching around I found these that can be cut to different lengths:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330mm-LED-Backlight-Strip-Kit-Update-7-15-4-CCFL-LCD-Laptop-Monitor-To-LED/272344643312?_trksid=p2045573.c100508.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41375%26meid%3D85b5ef6fa60f445b9a9c6bced2aa27f3%26pid%3D100508%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26

Here are longer ones:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/533mm-Universal-LED-Backlight-Strip-Kit-For-LCD-Monitor-Cut-to-15-23/272344244336?_trksid=p2045573.c100642.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41375%26meid%3Dccc97b3f6bef4f12a1ca593243c5364d%26pid%3D100642%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26

[mahkeymike]

Shawn,
Do you have a link to a 19 inch 4:3 LED replacement and a 19 inch 16:9 LED replacement?

I was under the impression that they stopped making 4:3 LCD long before LED started becomming the norm.

While I was searching around I found these that can be cut to different lengths:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330mm-LED-Backlight-Strip-Kit-Update-7-15-4-CCFL-LCD-Laptop-Monitor-To-LED/272344643312?_trksid=p2045573.c100508.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41375%26meid%3D85b5ef6fa60f445b9a9c6bced2aa27f3%26pid%3D100508%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26

Here are longer ones:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/533mm-Universal-LED-Backlight-Strip-Kit-For-LCD-Monitor-Cut-to-15-23/272344244336?_trksid=p2045573.c100642.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41375%26meid%3Dccc97b3f6bef4f12a1ca593243c5364d%26pid%3D100642%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26

LOL, I had a few too many tonight. I was thinking LED monitor not LED lamps. 

[ed12]

no i am sure shawn naile it in frist post about the led backlights
karetaker
used them done it did it
works perfect

ed

[lilshawn]

yes, I buy them as close to the width as I can... if not the next size up. sometimes have to trim them a tiny bit. the kits I buy you can cut them every 3 LED's which is about every inch. it has a tiny black marks on the PCB that shows where.

not a big deal if they are a little short... they are so bright it doesn't matter anyways.

also, you only need 2 strips to replace the 4 lamps. 1 will go on each side.

[Karetaker]

Thanks a bunch guys. I ordered the LED replacement kit. I noticed these kits have and "on" wire. Is that just tied to 12v?
Thanks again I really appreciate the help.

[lilshawn]

yes you can.

you can either dissect the pinout of the original and tie the appropriate wires to the connector or just tie the yellow wire next to the red together and feed it 12v. if you remove the brightness wire or don't tie it in, it will run at full brightness and your brightness adjustment on the OSD won't work.

pin 1/2 - 12volts
pin3 - on/off <- if fed 12 volts will be on. if 0 will be off.
pin 4 - brightness <- 5 volts full dim - 0 volts full brightness
pin 5/6 - ground

WARNING - the cable supplied often has plugs on both sides and either end will plug in, but are wired flip flop. be sure the red wire is on the side with Vin and not on the GND side.


PROTIP:

if the connector on your inverter is the same 6 pin connector and will plug directly into the LED kit... 90% it should will work as is. (best to double check) if it has a weird connector...or has the small fine pin connector, it won't.