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.
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November 18th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Hello,
great instructions, but was this for Dell E1705 or 9400? the screen wiring/areas looks the same. I have a E1705 with backlights going bad, I read on line saying for this type of screen it contains two CCFLs, so I bought two of them, but has not yet taken it apart to replace them as I have not seen anywhere how to replace both bulbs. Any help is appreciated.
November 16th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Hi. Very good explanation on how to replace de CCFL backlight.
BUT … I broke the panel.
WARNING !!!. This is a very difficult procedure. When you reassemble the panel, the pieces will not fit easily.
My suggestion: practice with a broken panel first.
If you are not very skilled (you need excellent eyesight too) consider buying a refurbished panel.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:16 am
I have replaced the inverter on my Tecra A1. Twice. The screen is still dark. Where is the switch located? Sorry for the dumb question. Your website has been very helpful in the repair of this laptop. Thanks.
November 12th, 2008 at 4:14 am
I have an IBM ThinkPag T40. The backlight went off about 3 seconds after boot. Using a flashlight I could see the dark screen content. I logged in. Using a Linux command I turned the LCD screen off (like screen off on idle). Then moving the mouse the screen became alive again, just for a few seconds before the screen went dark again. I can repeatedly “activate” the backlight for a few seconds by turning it off and then on again. But it always stays on only for a few seconds. If I reduce my screen backlight intensity (reduce brightness of screen), then the screen stays on longer.
I wanted to determine if it is the inverter or the CCFL backlight that is bad. I open my ThinkPad and a second laptop I have at home. Then I connected the ThinkPad inverter to the CCFL cable of my other laptop. The CCFL backlight stayed on on my other laptop indefinitely, i.e. for ever. I thereby determined that the broken part is the CCFL lamp, and that the inverter is good.
I hope this comment helps someone else with the same problem who wants to determine if the inverter or the CCFL backlight bulp is bad.
November 10th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Hello I am Brazilian know little English but always seek the information which emerged in informatics and with that you solved my problem. thank you so
October 9th, 2008 at 10:19 am
i got all the part how to replace the backlight. However i forgot the type of tape that use for my Dell Inspiron laptop. Is it a copper tape or a normal tape ?
September 29th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Thanks for the write ups. My Gateway 7405 GX screen went black. I followed your instructions and got it working again. I was not able to test different parts without buying them but it was a small investment. I started with the inverter, 15.00 off ebay, didn’t fix it. Next I bought a inverter harness, only because it was cheap (4.00 shipped) and I was hopeful, didn’t fix it. So I figured it had to be the ccfl bulb. I didn’t want to tear into it until I had one so I ordered one again from ebay (20.00). I tore into it and when I finally got the bulb out I found one of the wires broken at the solder joint. I fixed it, tested it and it worked. 40.00 is a cheap investment considering what a repair company would have charged me plus the wait and I was still able to use my laptop by just plugging in another monitor. Changing the bulb is not for the faint of heart or unskilled. I consider myself pretty good and it was tedious!
Thanks Again!
August 31st, 2008 at 8:06 am
Jim,
That heat shrink tubing did the trick! Thanks so much for your tip. It enabled me to repair my LCD screen with a new $8.00 back light bulb instead of hundreds of dollars for a new LCD screen.
August 17th, 2008 at 7:38 am
If you are talking about the black rubber booties, that is simply heat shrink tubing which you can buy at an electronics store, or a home improvent store.
August 15th, 2008 at 8:33 am
I have a Toshiba 5205-S503 with a LCD backlight bulb that out. I attempted to replace the BLB but I basically destroyed those little rubber connectors that cover the solder connections. I attempted to cover the solder connections with one wrap of black electrical tape and reinstalled. The monitor worked beautifullly for about 20 seconds, then there was a high pitched sound and the monitor went out again. I figure maybe it the connecting wires got shorted. I have an extra back light bulb. Any suggestions for how to reinstall without those tiny little rubber booties? Thanks!