U2410- looking for a replacement diffuser sheet from a broken U2410

[Salisen]

Well, long story short I recently got distilled water in between the diffuser and horizontal polariser sheets inside my U2410. Completely dissembled the thing and got said water removed, but sadly, I managed to scratch the top diffuser layer that goes in front of the backlight through a moment of carelessness.

Unfortunately, it's left a pretty major mark on the backlight that's visible when the monitor is switched on.

There are three layers of thin plastic film on top of the backlight, followed by a thick(er) plastic sheet. I've scratched the top layer of plastic film.

Does anyone have a dead U2410 (e.g. one with a smashed LCD layer) that they could remove the three layers of plastic film from (the thinner ones), and send them to me? I'll be prepared to pay for the shipping and some money for the film and removal time. If you take out the plastic film from an old monitor use latex gloves or equivalent if possible to avoid scratching or oiling up the films. Ship with a piece of cardboard or something behind the films to avoid bending them.

 

[Salisen]

Also, I'd like to note that since dissembling this monitor I've come to the conclusion that a lot of dead monitor troubles are quite likely fixable given some spare parts.

TBH, the only insurmountable problem would be a dead LCD layer.

Ah, and also, if anyone is taking apart a U2410: be very wary of the large capacitor (almost 2 inches long (!!)) you will find on the power supply board. You'll want to discharge it with a resistor, it's charged up to 2V so I guess something like a 1k resistor would do (be insulated from the resistor!). I left it, but I was extremely careful not to touch the capacitor terminals. Yes, it's only 2V, but since capacitors have bugger all internal resistance a charged capacitor is capable of sinking a current limited only by the resistance of your skin (which, if it's sweaty, is pretty low), so best be careful.

 

[Salisen]

There are essentially no complete guides on this anywhere on the net, so I figured I'll write my own. I'll add pictures next time I take this thing apart (once I've got a new diffuser sheet). Couldn't find my camera last time.

First things first, if you're taking apart a monitor that just doesn't turn on or currently works (for instance, for modding purposes, or you're just a very curious human being), you must (MUST (!!)) be grounded. That means have an antistatic wrist strap, and have it attached to ground. In the UK that would mean an antistatic bonding plug or the use of a DC power supply with a ground output (in America, I'm not sure what you would need to use, since if I remember rightly you don't have a ground pin, perhaps you could use a radiator). Also, work on a wooden or plastic surface, something that will not be inclined to keep hold of static electricity (so don't work on a carpet, hah, but also I'm inclined to encourage avoiding protecting the removed LCD using a cotton cloth and such).

Also, it's likely you're going to scratch the plastic case while removing it, or leave some other mark that your monitor has been opened. So don't attempt this within warranty if you don't want to invalidate it. I was out of warranty, and regardless I doubt they would have changed it up for the damage that my monitor had (I also had insurance, but again, I like my dead pixel less monitor, so I figured I'd fix it myself because I'm cheap).

To do this properly you will be needing a selection of thin flathead screwdrivers, a selection of Philips/Posidriv screwdrivers, some credit cards or other small plastic membership cards, distilled water, a couple of lint free cloths, some sort of grounding to get rid of static, and some latex or other plastic gloves to avoid getting body oils on the films and backside of the LCD panel.

Finally, be patient. You don't want to scratch something important, or break a clip.

Step 1: Removing the plastic case.

Right, to begin with you're going to want to remove the stand, and find the 4 large black screws that are underneath where the stand attaches. Remove all of these. Put them in a safe place, like a little plastic box (for that matter stick all screws in the same box).

Next, you're going to want to remove the front bezel. A word of warning, this will be a pain, and it's likely you'll mark the join, much like I did. Firstly, place the monitor on its back with screen facing upwards and the Dell logo towards the front of the table. Find a thin screwdriver, and something even thinner, perhaps a crafting knife or an even thinner screwdriver (I used the latter, since I was worried about a crafting knife breaking off). Look for two small notches at the corners where the front bezel meets the grey plastic ring bit. Now, stick your larger screwdriver in the left one, which should make a tiny gap between the grey and black next to the notch. Stick your smaller screwdriver in there (only a little!), and gradually bring it along the seam while waggling it to release the clips that are holding the bezel and back case together. You can also use your index finger and your thumb to waggle the bezel in order to help get the clips undone. I emphasise, be patient: try waggling it in different places, across from a corner, at a different corner, at the middle, etc. if you have trouble. Eventually you'll have the front bezel detached from the back.

Now, towards the button you'll notice that the bezel is attached by two sets of wires to the buttons. The wires will probably be taped down, so remove this tape to give you a little more breathing room. Remove the plugs where they attach to the button circuitry; use a thin screwdriver to carefully lever them off, or you might just be able to grab hold of the clip and waggle it off.

Once those plugs are off, you'll be able to stick the front bezel to one side. Gently flip the monitor, with your fingers keeping the inner metal bezel in place. If you grab hold of the back plastic case you should be able to gently waggle it off due to the weight of the metal framework inside the monitor. Put this case to one side.

Step 2: Removing the Dell propriety controller stuff, power supply and card reader/USB ports.

Orientate your monitor so that the two USB ports and the card reader are on the right.

Now, you'll see that you have a bunch of protective metal casing sitting in front of you, held in by a bunch of screws. Find an appropriate screwdriver (make sure it's Philips if the screws are Philips screws, and of appropriate size). Undo all the screws you see. If you're unlucky, you might come across a screw or two that will decide to not move at all. With an unmoving screw, don't keep trying to get it moving resulting in cam out all the time. I'm not sure how one should deal with one of these screws, but you might need a special tool to remove it. Sadly I had one of these, and I managed to cam out so much that I ruined the screw head. Fortunately it was not an important screw.

Now, remove the protective cover on the card reader. You just need to slide it right and lift to get it straight off.

Next, lift off the metal casing in the middle of the monitor that protects the power supply circuitry. Notice the massive capacitor in the middle of the board. Be wary of this thing. Ideally you'll want to get a resistor and discharge it (insulate yourself from the resistor), but you could go down my route and just be extremely careful not to touch the terminals.

If you haven't ruined one of the screws on the piece of metal casing on the left, you can also remove this, though it's not essential.

You'll see several ribbon cables dotted around and about. Fortunately, many of them you won't need to touch.

Firstly, remove that multicoloured ribbon cable by the huge capacitor. If you press in the clips to the left and right side of it, it will slide straight off.

Secondly, remove the ribbon cable to the bottom left of the board responsible for the monitor inputs. It has a little tab, so lift that up with a thin screwdriver. It should then slide off with some waggling.

Now you've dealt with the ribbon cables, look at the sides of the monitor. You'll find two screws on either side. Remove these (if I remember correctly they are of a slightly smaller size than the top screws).

Now hold the monitor by its sides, and gently waggle off the Dell circuitry. You will almost certainly have to bend the multicoloured ribbon cable to get it through the gap, and you'll probably need to unstick the input circuitry ribbon cable from the underside of the Dell section.

Still, with any luck you'll now be able to place the Dell circuitry to one side, leaving you with just the LG panel.

Step 3: Removing the outer metal bezel.

Now, if your monitor is like mine you'll see a large sticker towards the top. Gently remove this sticker from the top of the ribbon cable (leave it on the metal bezel if possible).

This next step is an utter pain. You're going to remove that metal bezel, and, I'd just like to note, don't press down on the LCD panel, since you could crack it. Firstly, grab that thin screwdriver. Look along the sides and the front of the bezel, and you'll find some plastic tabs holding in the metal front. Insert in your screwdriver at one of the corner tabs, and gently bend the bezel outwards to release it from a tab. You might crack it. Now grab a credit card or other small piece of thin plastic, and place it in the gap you've made between the bezel and the LCD panel in the corner (so underneath the bezel). This will stop the bezel from becoming clipped again at that point.

Do the same for the other corners. With lots of waggling you'll eventually manage to get the bezel unclipped, at which point it should with any luck pretty much slide off.

Step 4: Removing the LG LCD panel

Grab those latex gloves. Put a pair on. You don't want to contaminate the optics.

I'd also just like to reiterate my note on grounding. The LCD panel is extremely sensitive to static, so you want to be pretty damned careful removing it, and careful where you place it. An antistatic mat is ideal, but I used a wooden table and that was fine.

Gently turn the monitor over so that the LCD panel is facing the floor. Be careful to hold the panel in since only a tiny bit of tape is keeping it in place now.

Undo the three screws that are holding in that metal plate you see in the middle below the ribbon cable. The PCB beneath will then come straight off. Don't bother removing that ribbon cable. I tried, and I couldn't do it. There's no need to remove it anyway.

Turn the monitor back over so that the panel is facing upwards, and have the PCB you just removed above the monitor (not floating above, because that would be weird, but in a position where the monitor isn't sitting on it).

There should be a little piece of tape on the right hand side. Pull it off the LCD panel with a credit card or something.

Now, prepare a space for your LG panel to sit. Make sure it's not going to fry it, because this is certainly possible. Put your credit card underneath the bottom right corner of the panel to lift it up, and get your fingers on the edge of the panel. Gently lift it up holding as much of the panel sides as possible (it's essentially a pane of glass), and with care you'll be able to lift off the circuitry on the top edge (it's only held in by a tiny black tab). Place your panel down on the space you've prepared for it.

Step 5: Stripping down to the cold cathode tubes.

You'll probably want to change your latex gloves at this point, they feel horrible.

Now, you'll see that the LCD panel was kept above the backlight by an outer black plastic frame. There are a number of clips about the sides of the monitor. Using your screwdriver, pop these off the metal nibs, working round with one side/corner at a time. One of the sides (top I think) is held in place by a little metal overlap bit, so you'll need to slip that side off that.

With some trouble, you should have that frame off and to one side, leaving you with just the backlight and the inverter for it (on the back).

Look to the right and left edges of the backlight. You'll see a little plastic nib on each side. These hold loosely in place three 24" diagonal pieces of plastic film (they arn't stuck down). If I have identified them correctly, from top to bottom they are a diffuser layer, a horizontal polariser and a second diffuser layer. Underneath these three plastic films is a thicker plastic sheet which I can only assume is used as a diffuser.

Underneath that, is the cathode tubes themselves that are used to light the panel.

Congrats! You have now disassembled your U2410.

Step 6: Sticking everything back together

The reverse of the above, with a few important points.

The three plastic films look like they can go in two orientations. You need to place them down so they rest directly on top of the thicker plastic sheet. If they're slightly rotated, you've placed them upside down.

Don't worry much about slight marks on the plastic film due to dried water or such. You won't notice them once the panel is back on and lit. Large scratches WILL show up however, as I unfortunately found out.

When putting screws back, be careful not to over-tighten them. You don't want to tighten something so much that a piece of metal presses onto a PCB copper line; this is potentially very, very bad. It's nice to be potentially able to take it apart again too.