Flat Panel Monitors for Parts and Repair
Do any of you save parts from monitors to use for repairing others? If so, what parts do you mainly look for and keep? Can you know if the saved part is still good, and how?
I've been sorting though and testing flat panel monitors, and due to doing some Googling, have found that many times a specific problem will likely need only the replacement of a specific part, or board. In the case I found this fix, I also found a list of likely donor monitors(of several different brands) which used the same board. I'm not far enough along in this project to start replacing capacitors, but might not be that far from it, and have certainly seen a number of them bulging.
The most common problem I've found so far is the "two seconds to black screen", which is likely an inverter or backlight, which in my case simply needs a single board from a donor, which can be found on several different brands and models.
The next most common problem I've found is no lights anywhere, in which case I will first be looking for a blown fuse.
It appears the most likely ones to be working are the smaller 15" ones, which were likely replaced with larger ones and discarded. I'm also keeping these as possible FreeCycle gifts to someone who needs one badly. The scrap value of these is likely quite minimal, and may be a good way to connect with people who may have other electronics or an old computer in the closet they hadn't thought of.
I've been using a spare computer, just leaving it running, and hooking up each monitor to see if it's working. You don't need to power the computer down each time you switch monitors. I do however, unhook the power first, and hook it back last, just from an excess of caution.
