How to replace laptop backlight lamp (CCFL)
In this guide I will disassemble a laptop LCD screen in order to remove and replace the backlight lamp (CCFL).
Replacing the backlight lamp is not an easy task even for experienced technicians. If you do something wrong you will permanently damage the LCD screen and have to buy a new one. Proceed on your own risk and do not blame me. 
Some recommendations before you start:
1. Work in a clean room. You don’t want dust and lint inside your LCD screen.
2. Make notes, so you know how to assemble your screen back.
3. Take pictures.
4. Before you remove something, take a closer look at the part and memorize how it is assembled.
5. When you are assembling the screen, remove dust and lint with compressed air. Do not use cloth.
The backlight lamp (CCFL) is located inside the LCD screen, so we are going to take it apart. In this article I’m not going to explain how to remove LCD from a laptop, it’s been covered before.
Here some examples:
Removing LCD screen from a Dell laptop.
Taking apart IBM ThinkPad display panel.
Removing screen from Toshiba laptops.
Remove sticky tape and foil from the back of the screen and glue it somewhere so you can reuse it later, when you assemble the screen.
Removing tape from the backlight cables.
On my screen the green circuit board was glued to the plastic frame with a double sided tape. Carefully unglue the circuit board. Be very careful, do not flex or bend the circuit board.
The circuit board has been unglued.
Place the LCD screen on the side and start removing the metal frame witch secures the LCD to the plastic frame. There will be many latches on all sides of the frame, you can unlock them with a small screwdriver.
Continue separating the metal frame from the plastic base.
On the following picture you can see that frame, LCD with the circuit board and screen base have been separated. Be careful, do not touch internal components with your fingers. Handle all internal components by the sides.
Place the metal frame and LCD with the circuit board aside. You’ll need them only when you assemble everything back together.
There will be a few transparent layers inside. Carefully remove them from the screen base. Do not separate the layers, just put them aside together.
Keep everything organized, so you have no trouble assembling the screen.
Start removing the metal cover from the backlight lamp (CCFL).
The backlight cover has been removed.
The backlight lamp (CCFL) cables are routed through small plastic hooks.
Unroute the backlight lamp cables.
Now probably the hardest part in this disassembly process - removing the backlight lamp and reflector. The backlight lamp is secured inside the reflector so you have to remove both and then separate them.
Before you remove the backlight lamp and reflector take a closer look how it’s assembled and mounted to the screen base. Fitting the backlight and reflector back in place could be a very challenging task.
The reflector is glued to the screen base with a double sided tape.
After the reflector has been unattached from the screen base, you can start removing the backlight lamp. As you see on the picture, I marked the left side of the reflector with a red dot so I know where the red cable goes when I assemble everything back together.
The backlight lamp (CCFL) has been removed from the reflector.
In order to access the backlight lamp leads you’ll have to remove the rubber caps from both side of the lamp. I’m not sure if you can touch the backlight lamp with your fingers, so I would use rubber gloves.
Cabled on both sides of the backlight lamp are soldered to the backlight leads. In order to access the leads you’ll have to remove the black insulator on both side of the lamp.
Unsolder both cables from the old backlight lamp and solder them to a new one.
You can test the new backlight lamp (CCFL) before you install it back into the screen. Connect the backlight lamp into the inverter board and turn on the laptop. The backlight lamp should light up.
From my experience, on some laptops the backlight lamp will not light up until the video cable is connected to the LCD screen. In this case you’ll have to assemble the LCD screen and then test it.
You can search for a new CCFL backlight lamp here.
Entry Filed under: LCD Screen Repair
53 Responses to “How to replace laptop backlight lamp (CCFL)”
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Pages: « 6 [5] 4 3 2 1 » Show All
July 10th, 2008 at 1:40 am
I have replaced both an inverter and the screen with a working backlight, still see a dim screen. Spent hours stripping the laptop and checking for any lose cables to no avail. Anyone any ideas?
PACKARD BELL E6310? My only guess could be the inverter which i bought of ebay is faulty or the videocable is faulty or even the motherboard….please help anyone
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Hi, I just got a free laptop that isn;t working, it boots and runs fine with external monitor, but the laptop monitor remains dark and there is a LOT of heat where the LCD cable plugs into the motherboard. The screen flickers once when initially powered on and thats it. Bought a new LCD cable, and it does the same thing. Does this sound like a backlight, LCD inverter, or a motherboard problem?
Thanks for your help and the great article!
July 1st, 2008 at 1:23 am
I am interested in replacing my 15.4″ WXGA with any of the following: WSXGA, WXGA+ or WUXGA
my question is, are lcd connections to the inverter and the motherboard standardized? are the lcd panels themselves standardized as well, i.e. are all 15.4″ laptop panels created with equal dimensions?
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
M Neher,
No, this is not a driver related problem. This problem could be related to the backlight lamp, video cable or motherboard.
Check out this post: Troubleshooting laptop with backlight failure
You may find some useful information in there.
By the way, you can find a new backlight here for around $15. You can find one with wires already attached to it, so you can plug it into the inverter and test before you open up the LCD screen.
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I just replaced the inverter and still have the dark screen, very faint image. Before I tackle the backlight replacement I have a quick question, I bought the laptop as a gift and immediately had to wipe Vista and installed Windows XP, could I be having a driver related problem? The screen went dark just a couple of months after I changed the OS.
June 16th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
I have replaced the inverter with its own cables not the video cable. I meant the inverter board and the cables that go into the inverter.
When I replaced the LCD, unfortunately I purchased the wrong model but it did still work. the cables weren’t the same as in the new lcd but the screen did show that black screen again.
I haven’t tried to change the video cable itself. Now it is the turn to replace the CCFL tube but it looks complicated. And after you said it may be the motherboard, I even thought that it is not worth the time I put into repairing it. I should have just sold the damn thing and got a new cheap laptop. well, well…we’ll see if I can do this tube replacement..
June 6th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Ahmet,
You said that you replace the inverter with the cables. Did you mean the video cable?
First of all, I assume that all new parts you installed are in a good working condition. If you replaced the LCD screen, inverter and video cable but still experience the same problem (very dark image on the screen), apparently that’s related to the motherboard. I don’t know what else can cause this problem. I’ve seen that before but it’s not very common. In most cases replacing the inverter board and LCD screen after that fixes the issue.
By the way, check the lid close switch - a small button located close to one of the hinges. Make sure the close switch moves freely and is not stuck inside the laptop case. When you press on the lid close switch it cuts off power from the inverter board (and backlight lamp). A dirty switch may stuck inside the laptop case and because of that the laptop “thinks” that the switch is pressed down. In this case there is no power coming to the inverter/backlight lamp and the screen remains very dark even after the laptop is turned on.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
I have tried replacng the LCD still got the dark screen and went ahead replaced inverter itself and the inverter with the cables, still have the dark screen..What is the las step? I have replaced the LCD but did not work..Do you think it is the main signal cable????
May 18th, 2008 at 11:20 am
George,
Check out these instructions for testing laptop inverters.
May 16th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
What is the VOLTAGE GOING to the Pink and White Cables AFTER the Inverter? If I had a power supply to test the bulb directly what would i use?