Topic: LCD mystery problem

[NJAntman]

I have two ViewSonic VA1912wb LCD screens bought withiin a month of each other several years ago, both are now on the fritz.

One was mom's when i gave her my old desktop, she recently returned the system in December in fine working order; but when I hooked it up here the LCD screen started to randomly not power on until the power cord was swithched to a different power strip or the video cable was disconnected  and reconnected. Back in March it changed to always getting power regardless of the power strip chosen but when powered up the screen would flash a crazy hash of static across the bottom, the true image would briefly appear, then it would black out. That pattern would repeat at an interval of several seconds until last month  when the behavior no longer repeated at interval. Now it sometimes powers up and shows the static and brief image but only after flicking the LCD power button several times, or several times over a few minutes, sometimes after a few hours, and sometimes not at all after being powered up all day. Oddly once it does start to display correctly I have left it running for a week solid without any problems.


Thats was a nuisance until this week when the identical LCD on my main desktop started to not power up. Switched outlets and it worked Ok (would loose the last used resolution and need to be reset, something the other does not do). But if I turn off the desktop or let the screen power down it won't power back up until I switch back to the other power strip. And just yesterday it started with powering up and displaying a flash of light across the bottom and then the LCD power switch would turn off and then turn on and repeat for about a minute until the image finally stayed on full time.

I'm already looking for a replacement but want to know if anyone has any clue about this weird behaviour.

[Javora]

Identical monitors that are practically the same age are showing similar issues?  Sounds like a component inside the monitor is going bad.  Probably a bad capacitor or something .  I do have a question though.  Are the monitors located in cold climate and if so were they near a window?  If you know of a TV repair company that does board level repairs you might be able to get them fixed.  Hope this helps.

[NJAntman]

New Jersey cold, but they are in doors.

Only the first one I described is near a window, within five feet of one. But both are at the oppositte corners of the house.

Replacements for these 19" LCDs are running just over $100. What does a "typical" board level repair go for?

[Javora]

Where I'm from the repair is about the same price as a new monitor.  If the monitors are near a window and there is a cold draft coming in then it might have affected the monitor.  That happened to me a few years ago.  I would just replace them and move on.  Sorry for your luck.

[NJAntman]

Now I'm curious, how did a cold draft affect them?

[Javora]

The constant hot and cold from the window and heater vent affected the soldier that held the components together across the back side of the monitor.  At the time the one TV repair man in my area that still did board level repairs quoted me a $50 repair on a $300 replacement so it was better for me to have it fixed obviously.  After that I just moved the system to another part of the house until I had the window fixed.