LCD CCFL Backlight Repair/GPU Rework - I'll fix it for you!

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#61 Post by **Harryc** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:18 pm

Best of luck with the new website and business James.

ajkula66 · #62 Post by **ajkula66** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 9:55 pm

Best of luck...you deserve it for your hard work and positive attitude...

You should really create a spot on the website where satisfied customers would post their opinions...and drop me a line when you get that done...Iwant to get my place in line on time...

jamiphar · #63 Post by **jamiphar** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:03 pm

ajkula66 wrote:Best of luck...you deserve it for your hard work and positive attitude...

You should really create a spot on the website where satisfied customers would post their opinions...and drop me a line when you get that done...Iwant to get my place in line on time...

Actually, I'm working on doing just that. If you e-mail me what you want posted, I can put it up there.

Website · #64 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:38 pm

Congrats and Good Luck with the business!

ajkula66 · #65 Post by **ajkula66** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:17 am

James,

Feel free to use whatever you're up to from my previous post in this very thread...

jamiphar · #66 Post by **jamiphar** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:01 pm

Brad wrote:Congratulations!

Continued success in your new venture young men!

Brad

mgo wrote:Hey, gentlemen, best of luck. I enjoyed my visit to your friendly website. Of course, I'm already a satisfied customer, you brightened up my R50p screen a couple weeks ago!

Harryc wrote:Best of luck with the new website and business James.

tfflivemb2 wrote:Congrats and Good Luck with the business!

Thanks, guys, I appreciate it!

ajkula66 wrote:James,

Feel free to use whatever you're up to from my previous post in this very thread...

Thanks, George. It's up on the site now.

jamiphar · #67 Post by **jamiphar** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:20 pm

If anyone has any questions, feel free to shoot me an e-mail at james@arndtcomputer.com.

Mtrack · #68 Post by **Mtrack** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:52 am

Just received my T42 after a back light failure and mouse button fix. My left mouse button broke with one too many pushes. Now my T42 is fully functional once again thanks to James.

It's been great working with James. There was constant communication throughout the entire process and I would highly recommend his service to anyone.

I'm a long time user of IBM Thinkpads and will definitely be contacting James in the future if I run into any problems with them.

Good luck James on the website and feel free to post my comments on there as well. Thanks again!

-Michael

mgo · #69 Post by **mgo** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:39 am

Mtrack wrote:Just received my T42 after a back light failure and mouse button fix. My left mouse button broke with one too many pushes. Now my T42 is fully functional once again thanks to James.

It's been great working with James. There was constant communication throughout the entire process and I would highly recommend his service to anyone.

I'm a long time user of IBM Thinkpads and will definitely be contacting James in the future if I run into any problems with them.

Good luck James on the website and feel free to post my comments on there as well. Thanks again!

-Michael

I second the endorsement of his work. My R50p screen is nice and bright. The machine was obviously handled with care during the job.

jamiphar · #70 Post by **jamiphar** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:52 am

Thanks for the nice comments, guys! I'm glad to hear that you're happy with the results.

jamiphar · #71 Post by **jamiphar** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 1:44 pm

:BUMP:

beeblebrox · #72 Post by **beeblebrox** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 1:43 pm

jamiphar wrote:Thanks for the nice comments, guys! I'm glad to hear that you're happy with the results.

James, I just replaced a few backlights myself, which leads to a question for you.

Do you replace the polarizers as well?
I mean, after a few years they turn yellowish due to the increased UV light from the dying CCFLs. Plastic just dies in UV light.

After the CCFL exchanges I experience a lot of bright but discolored screens, yellowish to greenish.
I could not find a source of new polarizers.

Anyway, I assume for $150 that you charge, it would only make sense for a rather new display which was dropped or for a rare IPS.

For the rest, I would rather buy a new screen. Doesn't cost much more...

jamiphar · #73 Post by **jamiphar** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:03 pm

beeblebrox wrote:
jamiphar wrote:Thanks for the nice comments, guys! I'm glad to hear that you're happy with the results.
James, I just replaced a few backlights myself, which leads to a question for you.

Do you replace the polarizers as well?
I mean, after a few years they turn yellowish due to the increased UV light from the dying CCFLs. Plastic just dies in UV light.

After the CCFL exchanges I experience a lot of bright but discolored screens, yellowish to greenish.
I could not find a source of new polarizers.

Anyway, I assume for $150 that you charge, it would only make sense for a rather new display which was dropped or for a rare IPS.

For the rest, I would rather buy a new screen. Doesn't cost much more...

I don't replace the polarizers. Actually, I don't think any of the screens I've serviced would have benefited from a new one. The only yellowish screens I've seen are from much older laptops that have seen a lot of use. It's quite possible that there were used in direct sunlight a lot, too.

The repair definitely has to be worth it to the person. But it'd also be pretty hard to find a screen with a new backlight and a 1-year warranty for less than $150. In most cases, the new backlight is brighter than one from a brand new screen would be, so that alone might make this a preferred option.

jamiphar · #74 Post by **jamiphar** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 10:29 pm

I've had a few people asking me about international repairs, so I wanted to mention it here.

I have no problem with doing repairs from international customers. As long as he/she is willing to cope with the long transit times and will cover all extra costs, I would treat it like any other repair.

If anybody has further questions about this, send them to me at james@arndtcomputer.com.

jamiphar · #75 Post by **jamiphar** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:50 am

:BUMP:

mgo · #76 Post by **mgo** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:53 pm

jamiphar wrote::BUMP:

Prompt and careful work done by these members! My R50p screen is now bright and excellent.

jamiphar · #77 Post by **jamiphar** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:25 pm

mgo wrote:Prompt and careful work done by these members! My R50p screen is now bright and excellent.

Thanks, Mike!

jamiphar · #78 Post by **jamiphar** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:34 pm

:BUMP:

spotter · #79 Post by **spotter** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:19 am

Just want to thank james for fixing my T42p's DC Jack. Quick and easy.

jamiphar · #80 Post by **jamiphar** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:19 pm

spotter wrote:Just want to thank james for fixing my T42p's DC Jack. Quick and easy.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback!

jamiphar · #81 Post by **jamiphar** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:20 pm

I'm pleased to announce that we now offer BGA and GPU reballing. This means that those loose graphics chips in the T4x/R5x ThinkPads can be permanently fixed. This is done using a professional infrared rework station, and an X-ray machine to verify the work. This comes with a one-year warranty, so if the chips fails within that period, I'll take care of it again for free.

The price for for a laptop GPU repair is $150. Like with the backlight repairs, I'll provide a shipping box and prepaid return label at no extra cost.
For questions about this or any other repairs, please contact me at james@arndtcomputer.com.

jamiphar · #82 Post by **jamiphar** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 11:34 am

:BUMP:

#83 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:49 pm

James has done a backlight for me (actually two but I haven't got the second one back yet) and did an excellent job. Now I have a T41P board to try out his reballing service. Awesome!

#84 Post by **underclocker** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:37 pm

James, would you provide a little more detail on your GPU fix solution? What exactly do you do and does your service include removing/reinstalling the mobo from the case? Is it less if we remove and reinstall the mobo? Does the warranty transfer to another owner (like the original ThinkPad warranty)?

Thank you and thank you for offering such a valuable service to the world!

jamiphar · #85 Post by **jamiphar** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 2:43 am

carbon_unit wrote:James has done a backlight for me (actually two but I haven't got the second one back yet) and did an excellent job. Now I have a T41P board to try out his reballing service. Awesome!

Thanks, Tim! You're becoming a regular around here.

underclocker wrote:James, would you provide a little more detail on your GPU fix solution? What exactly do you do and does your service include removing/reinstalling the mobo from the case? Is it less if we remove and reinstall the mobo? Does the warranty transfer to another owner (like the original ThinkPad warranty)?

Thank you and thank you for offering such a valuable service to the world!

Basically, the GPU is taken off the board, cleaned, and reapplied with new balls of solder. After that, I put a bead of epoxy around the chip to keep it from ever coming loose again.

I do remove and reinstall the motherboard in most cases. If someone wants to send only the motherboard, I can take $50 off the price. This price still includes the padded box and shipping costs. I can give further discounts if multiple motherboards are sent.

The warranty is on the laptop. Even if it goes through a dozen owners in that year, it's still covered.

proaudioguy · #86 Post by **proaudioguy** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:14 pm

jamiphar wrote:
Basically, the GPU is taken off the board, cleaned, and reapplied with new balls of solder. After that, I put a bead of epoxy around the chip to keep it from ever coming loose again.

I wish you had been doing this before. In any case I have already replaced the system board. Should I apply some 1 minute or 5 minute epoxy to the GPU?

Robbyrobot · #87 Post by **Robbyrobot** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 6:34 am

Basically, the GPU is taken off the board, cleaned, and reapplied with new balls of solder. After that, I put a bead of epoxy around the chip to keep it from ever coming loose again.

And you can do that, including shipping in CONUS, for $100 on a naked mainboard shipped to you? The price is right, no question, but how do you manage to keep it that low?

jamiphar · #88 Post by **jamiphar** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:42 pm

Robbyrobot wrote:And you can do that, including shipping in CONUS, for $100 on a naked mainboard shipped to you? The price is right, no question, but how do you manage to keep it that low?

Yeah, $100 including shipping (in the US) if you send just the motherboard. When you send it like this, it's not as labor-intensive as disassembling a whole laptop. And with a reflow, there aren't any replacement parts to pay for, so I can offer a lower price and still be making a profit.

#89 Post by **underclocker** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:41 pm

jamiphar wrote:Basically, the GPU is taken off the board, cleaned, and reapplied with new balls of solder. After that, I put a bead of epoxy around the chip to keep it from ever coming loose again.

I do remove and reinstall the motherboard in most cases. If someone wants to send only the motherboard, I can take $50 off the price. This price still includes the padded box and shipping costs. I can give further discounts if multiple motherboards are sent.

The warranty is on the laptop. Even if it goes through a dozen owners in that year, it's still covered.

OK, this is awesome. Two suggestions, 1) update the first posting of this thread with this information, 2) take an ad with Bill to be on the page header. Great service options! Thank you.

Brad · #90 Post by **Brad** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:07 pm

Excellent suggestions.

I thought I saw an ad at the top?

Brad

LCD CCFL Backlight Repair/GPU Rework - I'll fix it for you!

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