Some weeks ago, my four year old 19" LCD screen started to give me a few problems. The first sign was when booting up in the morning it would run for about 30 seconds or so and then just go blank. I found that if I turned it off and on again, it would restart. This problem gradually got worse and worse over the next two weeks, running for shorter times and requiring more restarts, until finally it just gave up the ghost altogether and refused to fire up.
This was part of the problem that led me to buy a new computer. Now those of you who know me are aware of my unwillingness to part with a quid unless absolutely necessary and also my habit of never tossing things out, they may come in handy one day. The sight of that screen sitting there annoyed me, infact it worried the daylights out of me, I really loved that old 1280 x 1024 pixel screen, as it gave me a much larger working area when working with photos than the newer "letter box" format screens. So, last Sunday week I was bored and decided to see if I could get it to bits and perhaps see some obvious problem that I might be able to fix. Getting the back off without breaking anything was a bit of a challenge, as it was not only screwed in place, but also had about a dozen clips that are not able to be seen. Eventually I got the plastic case apart, carefully placing the screws etc in order in case it ever went back together.
Next came the metal shielding over the two circuit boards and finally I was able to unplug and remove the boards, I removed the board containing the power supply first, as this was where I reasoned the problem might be. Sure enough a cursory look soon uncovered two much swollen and leaking capacitors. I removed them both and after looking over the other components decided that this was where I would start, the photo below shows where they were prior to removal. (Outlined in Red)
I first went and saw Tricky as I knew that he used to keep a supply of parts for TV sets, sure enough after going out to the stock room and climbing up among a pile of boxes long since out of everyday use we found two capacitors of the correct value, although they were about 6 times the size of their modern equivalents. I was doubtful that they would fit under the shielding, never the less Tricky very graciously gave them to me as he had little further use for them. Unfortunately, as it turned out they had no chance whatsoever of fitting in the case, and on further enquiry I was to find out that the proper ones were of a much higher temperature rating, so I ordered two from a company in Adelaide,.... that was a week ago.
I was full of hope that they would arrive today, but no, the postie went straight by, so in my frustration I went up to the shed and dragged down an old CRT screen hoping against hope that there may be something in there that I could use,... and believe it or not, there they were in the power supply, two 1000uF 25V 105 degree electrolytic capacitors. Oh Joy, Oh happy, happy,.... Once again I set about dismantling my LCD screen and although the replacements were about 2 mm larger in diameter I managed to shoehorn them into place and solder the leads. After a very close inspection with a powerful magnifying loupe to make sure that in my haste I had not bridged out any other tracks on the board I was confident enough to replace all of the covers and bring it inside for a test.
And it Worked!!! 
