HPvs19e Monitor Fix

UPDATE: John Doe sent me a link to an excellent video tutorial he put together based on the text instructions below. Thanks a lot John, I greatly appreciate it!

OK guys, my post on fixing the HP vs19d monitor was immensely popular and it looks like it helped a lot of people save some money on buying a new monitor. I’ve had several comments made about people that have successfully applied my fix to the vs19e monitors. To help those of you that may be a little uncertain about applying a fix to a different monitor, I’ve posted images and short instructions for the vs19e below. If you want more explanation, visit the previous post for the vs19d monitor. It goes into a little more depth and detail (vs19d).

So, first things first, here’s the image of the monitor:It’s almost identical in appearance from the outside to the vs19d. There are a few differences on the inside. The dis-assembly is pretty much identical to the vs19d. First, flip the monitor onto it’s front and remove the screw cover at the base. Then remove the three screws holding in the stand:

Next, remove the stand from the monitor, and use a flat head screwdriver to pry the front (light silver) cover from the dark gray main portion of the monitor. See the image below:

When it’s all said and done, you should have two pieces now, the main monitor portion and the monitor face plate:

Now, carefully remove the monitor from its case. The switches will still be attached to the main case via a bundle of wires, so be careful not to damage them as you remove the monitor. They will stay attached, so make sure you have room to fold everything out.
As you can see in the above image, there are, like in the vs19d, two metal enclosures in the monitor. We’re concerned with the larger of the two. Remove any visible screws securing the metal box. Also remove the screws that hold the power port in place. When you remove the box, you should see the board, like below:


The next step is to find your busted caps. In the monitors I’ve repaired, they tend to be in the lower right hand corner (referenced to the above image). Someone had already tried to repair this particular monitor and put the caps in backwards. They should have read this post. Oh well. Busted caps seen below:

As an aside, because the question has come up before, that white goo is nothing to be concerned with. HP likely slops that stuff on components that have bare leads to ensure nothing shorts out. I didn’t spend too much time inspecting it, but that’s my theory. Now you need a way to prop up the board so you can get to the terminals underneath. The board will remained attached via the ribbon cables at the top, so this portion can get a little interesting.
Now heat up your soldering iron, and while melting the solder on the busted caps, pull gently on them to pop them free. Then use some desoldering braid or a desoldering tool to remove the excess solder to make room for the new caps. **I was out of braid, so I used a very small drill bit and very carefully bored out the solder in the holes. Be careful doing this. A dull bit that bites with the torque of a power drill could split the PCB into pieces, then you’re screwed.**

The new caps were 1000 microF, 35V (which is overkill) caps from Radio Shack. I recommend these caps over other brands. Some of the other brands I’ve seen have a different profile and will actually be too tall. Just make sure you get polarity right.

Once everything is soldered in, clip your new caps leads, screw the board back down, screw the metal box back down, reattach the screws at the power port, carefully put the monitor back in the gray case, make sure the switches and speaker wires are all in place (or close to it), reattach the front plate (just press down around the edges, it will snap back together), insert and screw down the stand, and replace the screw cover. Now, hold your breath, plug it in, and hit the power button….


And that’s it! You’ve just fixed your monitor for about $3.00. Also, one more note. It’s always nice to work with someone, they can help hold the board or soldering iron if needed. I’ve included a pic of my work bench buddy below:

UPDATE: I’ve added some info about finding the busted caps and getting polarity correct. Thanks JoAnna!

1. A cap is blown if the ‘X’ shaped vent on the top is busted or bulging. You will likely see some brown paste oozing out, but not always. Sometimes, the ‘X’ vent doesn’t fail and the paste comes out the bottom. They’re usually pretty easy to spot.

2. On the boards I’ve worked on, the polarity is indicated on the PCB where the caps are soldered into place. Look at the capacitor on the right in this image (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fIwSJQ29tYQ/SsEELy86gwI/AAAAAAAAA5w/-QmOoJd1s8c/s1600-h/DSC_0790.JPG). Underneath, you can see that half of the circle is black. This is generally the negative terminal, and you want to line up the negative pin of the new capacitor with the black semi-circle. You’ll also notice the other two caps in the picture are backwards (hence why they exploded and required fixing).

Good luck to everyone. Post questions, comments, successes and failures in the comments below.

If this tutorial saved you lots of money or time, a small donation would be enormously appreciated. This little stream of income allows me to dedicate more time to helping others with their problems. Thanks for stopping by!

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28 Comments

  1. Anonymous

    Reply

    Thanks for the repair information. I replaced the 3 caps as suggested on this and a similar blog. Only 2 of 3 appeared bad, but went for all 3 hoping to avoid future problem. Unit powers up OK now, but screen starts out fuzzy green/blue with windows logo barely visible, and then brightens with no info, then fades to black.

  2. Anonymous

    Reply

    Dear MD
    thank you so much for a great post!
    Thanks to your instructions, I was able to repair my HP vs19e. I replaced the 3 capacitors with Radio Shack (1000 uf 35V) units and it works great again!
    I did however have to remove the entire board, which required removing the ribbon cable and some other white connectors mentioned in previous posts. For others, the ribbon cable came out by "flipping up" 90 degrees the thin black retaining strip.
    Thanks again MD!!
    David

  3. ~Mary

    Reply

    I'm in the middle of repairing my HPvs19e (THANK YOU for this tutorial!), and i've come across a problem… the soldering iron and braid wont melt the existing solder to remove the capacitors! I'm using a 30w iron, which has worked for all other projects up until now. Even purchased a new tip for this project.

    Any ideas/tricks?

    Thanks!

  4. MD Schmidt

    Reply

    Hey Mary, glad you are finding it useful! Sometimes, especially on manufactured boards, the solder is really hard to re-melt. I'm not sure if sometimes a paste is applied to keep the components from being de-soldered or not.

    You've probably already tried it, but try just using the iron (without the braid) to get the solder started melting. Obviously, more heat gets to the solder, since none is dissipated by the braid.

    But, assuming you've already tried that, AND you're using a new tip, it might be that the actual element in the iron has gone bad. What kind of iron is it? If the solder isn't melting at all, might be time for a new iron. Weller makes some really good ones for under $100 if you do a lot of soldering work. If not, one of the cheapo Radio Shack ones, while not particularly awesome, should get the job done. Let me know what you try.

  5. tdmcmillen

    Reply

    I'm another satisfied "customer". It's amazing what Googling something will bring up – who knew there were so many others with the exact same problem?

    I ended up with 1000uF 35v caps (Radio Shack) that were larger than the 10v stock, but they fit just fine.

    REMEMBER, IF THIS BLOG SAVED YOU MONEY, DONATE TO SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION! I DID!

    (Disclaimer: Every word of this post was written independently from and with no prior knowledge of MD Schmidt and I am receiving no remuneration, financial, physical or otherwise for this or any other post.)

  6. ~Mary

    Reply

    update on the soldering iron issue….picked up a new one at radio shack (40w just in case), and it worked perfectly…i'm thinking the other was just too old!

    In any case, my monitor is back up and running, and it thanks you profusely for this tutorial so that it didn't get kicked to the curb! =)

  7. MD Schmidt

    Reply

    Good Mary! I'm glad you got the issue worked out. Soldering irons can be finicky. Good luck with everything.

  8. Anonymous

    Reply

    Thank you for your fix. It repaired a dead monitor. My HP vs19d only has one circuit board but it only had 3 1000 capacitors and they were bulged on the end. I also used this experience to find a similar repair on a Gateway monitor.

  9. DarknessBlaze

    Reply

    So I have a vs19e that has a backlight issue. It turns on for 10+ seconds (up to 4 hours once), then goes off. I tried replacing a few capacitors, as they seemed off, almost bulging around the edges on the top, with the top piece dipping downwards slightly into the center. It appears to have had no effect, although I can hear (slightly more noticably) a humming sound coming from the monitor. Any ideas?

  10. Andrew

    Reply

    Hi, I'm new to this whole solder business, could you explain what solder I would be looking for, what a braid is, and more thoroughly explain all the steps involving soldering in more detail? ;D thanks, Andrew.

  11. MD Schmidt

    Reply

    Andrew,

    For this type of project, you'll want some pretty small diameter solder. Best bet is radio shack, something like .032" diameter rosin core standard solder would do the trick. Desoldering braid allows you to remove solder that's already in place. You just press the braid against the solder joint, and apply the soldering iron heat from the other side. The solder melts and is absorbed by the braid.

    I suggest you search google for soldering/desoldering tutorials. There are several execllent one's on youtube. As for the specific steps involved in my process, it will vary slightly from user to user, and based on what tools you have available. If you have more specific questions once you dive in, I can try to help there as well.

  12. Seth

    Reply

    Hey-
    I followed your instructions in hopes of fixing me HP vs19e. After following the first few steps and getting the LCD off, I realized that there was only ONE circuit board present on mine compared to the two in your pictures. I decided to take things into my own hands and began to dissemble it but the really tricky part is moving the monitor cable port (with the blue pinholes) to budge so that the board can be accessed. Otherwise, the huge metal casing over the board won't move. I've removed the 7 screws (2 on the side, 5 on the top) but thats the last thing that preventing me from accessing the board. I can even see the capacitors and everything (with the white goo oozed out) so I know I have the same problem and am dying to fix it. I was only going to post after being successful but unfortunately, I need help already.

    If you've ever dealt with a monitor where there was only one circuit board, could you PLEASE help me out here? I can't access the board properly because of this.

    p.s. (To clarify, the "blue pinhole outlet" im talking about is where you attach the monitor cable when connecting it to the CPU).

    I hope you'll be able to help. Will definitely make a donation. Thanks so much already for the tips.

  13. MD Schmidt

    Reply

    @Seth,

    The VGA port (the blue pinhole port you are referring to) is usually attached to the metal casing by the threaded inserts where your VGA cable actually screws into the port. You can use some needle nose pliers to gently unscrew these threaded inserts from the case. That SHOULD dislodge the metal case from the port.

    Good Luck!

  14. OneExtremeHiker

    Reply

    It worked for me! I am grateful for your help. The two capacitors, that I purchased from Radio Shack were somewhat different in size and terminals (wires). First the capacitors were longer, and instead of having the two wires coming out from one end, these had one wire each, coming out from the ends. I just made certain that there was clearance between the housing and any bare wires on the circuit board. One advice to others, please take note of the currents direction, which should be in a form of an arrow on the capacitor(s), before removing the burnt ones. The new ones will need to be mounted the same direction.

  15. Pingback: HP vs19d Fix | Schmidt Creative Design Studio

  16. jim

    Reply

    Thanks for coming up with this fix. Very clear instructions and useful pics. I’m new to the DIY computer repair stuff, I’m a welder by trade. I’m using the HP vs17e I just repaired with your help with some recycled capacitors from an older Gateway and some power supply’s I had waiting for the buzzard wagon. I only had to buy one from Radio Shack, 35v 1000uf (272-1032) for $1.39 to replace the 25V 680uf (These are not in stores but seem to be available online.) I read in some other posts that moving up a bit in volts or uf should not be an issue. So far the monitor is working fine and the wifey is happy to have the larger screen again. So thanks again, and a small token of appreciation is on the way via paypal. Jim

  17. Bronzen

    Reply

    Where is the “fuse” in this monitor? I have one that I bought brand new, unpacked. 2006 model. It does not power up at all. Any suggestions? It was in a warehouse, I believe.

  18. paul

    Reply

    thank you very much for your article on the repair of the HP vs19 monitor. After coming home of a trip of three months abroad I experienced that my HP vs19b monitor did not work anymore, that is: no video but the power led was blinking constantly. First I thought that the monitor was in a sleep mode. But after some hours of trials I guessed there was something wrong with the monitor. When googling for help I came across your article. I decided to do an investigation and opened the monitor, following the steps described in your blog article. After I had the circuit board free I saw that 2 electrolytic capacitors of 1000 uF 10V shown the same dried dieletric spots and also the tops of them where blowed upwards, like in your example. It were C822 and C82Quickly went to an electonics shop and replaced the faulty elco´s, re-assembled the monitor and plugged it in the mains and connected the videocable. The monitor worked again !!! Your article saved me a lot of money!
    Paul, The Netherlands, september 17, 2011.

  19. RCA

    Reply

    hi thanks for the detailed repair post. I have a HP vs17x that would not turn on and I used your instructions to replace the blown CAPs with the Radio Shack 35v ones. Now it powers on but the screen is extremely faint and dark. I have to shine a flashlight on it to see the display. I can see the images are correctly rendered though.

    Could it because I only replaced 3 of 5 capacitors near the power supply ? My board is this one : http://lcdalternatives.auctivacommerce.com/Repair-Kit-HP-VS17X-LCD-Monitor-Capacitors-P2070298.aspx

    Out of the 5 CAPs that were highlighted in the repair kit, I only saw the 3 small ones bulging so I only replaced those but not the 2 big ones – they seem normal. My question is – could not enough good capacitors still power the monitor but with the really dark screen ?

    Or is it something else – In your post somewhere you mentioned we should not pull the LCD video cable apart from the socket on the board. I did pull it out in order to separate the screen with the board for easy handling. I did insert it back into the socket and clipped it securely with the black thingy. Could it be the problem that I pulled it out and it may not insert deep enough(even though I pushed it back as far as I can) ?

    Thanks again

    • Reply

      Hey RCA,

      Sounds to me like your backlight isn’t working. This problem wouldn’t be because something is “underpowered”. If you can see the screen while shining a light on it, the LCD part is working fine, but the backlight isn’t providing illumination behind the LCD, so you won’t be able to see it. Check out this wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backlight.

      It’s possible that you pulled out something that provides power/control to the backlight. I haven’t personally run across this issue, but if you’ve still got it apart (or don’t mind taking it apart again), I’d go back through and double check all the connections. If I can emulate this behavior in the future, I’ll try to remember to add it to the post for you and others that run into this issue.

      MDS

  20. nandan

    Reply

    hi i m not getting my display cables inside the monitor of HP vs 19e model , so u can help me out of these problem..
    thanx

  21. Mike Knisley

    Reply

    I did a HP VS19B last night.

    The three bad caps were all 1000uF, 10V units.

    Before I even opened it up, I had already picked up 2 of 1000uF, 35V units and 1 of a 680uF, 35V unit on the way home from work.

    After I opened it up, I discovered that all three were 1000uF, 10V. Also, I noted that if I were to use any of the 1000uF, 35V caps that I had picked up, they would be too tall to fit after the board was reinstalled in the metal case, they would be taller than anything on the board.

    So I looked through my stash of stuff and found some new caps I must have bought for something else. I found 2 of 1000 uF, 16V, noted these were exactly the same height as the 10V caps. So I was thinking, damn I need one more to finish the job tonight!

    I studied the board a little and noted that the two caps that are right side by side closest to the heatsink and transistor are actually in parallel making 2000uF, So I looked through my stuff and found a 2200uF, 35V unit. I bent the leads so this cap would lay down on the board with the top just sticking past the edge of the board and the left side closest to the inductor away from the leg of the higher wattage resistor to the right. This cap was soldered into the two holes closest to the heatsink. I put a small drop of crazy glue near the top of the cap to make sure it stayed close to the inductor and away away from the leg of the resistor.

    Then I put one of the 1000uF, 16V caps in the other cap location over to the left.

    Anyway, all three of the caps I replaced had bulged tops, all other caps on the board looked fine. I can see why the two 1000uF ones in parallel would see a lot of heat, not only are they close to the heatsink but they are also connected through a fairly heavy trace to the transistor which would conduct a lot of heat to them via the leads. I hope that the 2200uF unit will work better, I tried to leave as much of the leads sticking up out of the board long as possible. Probably did not have to crazy glue the top edge of the cap to the board, but wanted to make sure it didn’t touch the leg of that resistor and have it melt through the plastic around the cap.

    I also did remove the board completely, disconnected the 4 LCD lamp connectors under one of the pop off tin covers, these were easy, they just pull off.

    Then I opened up the other pop off cover to get at the ribbon cable to the LCD. Now I can see why this is not recommended to remove… If you don’t know how it removes easy! I did it the hard way by prying the black clip away from the connector with a small flat screwdriver. Well it did come off sending the little black clip flying into a case of empty beer bottles, ribbon cable came right out! So when I found the black clip I thought F***K, now I have screwed this up. Looked under the magnifying glass and there were two little tabs of the black clip still with the white connector on the board.
    I realized then the proper way to remove this clip would have been to pry it upward from the ribbon cable at the back and it would have stayed with the white connector. Reinstalling the ribbon cable would have been easy, just push it in as far as possible and then push the black clip down. Oh well would deal with that later. Removed the board screws, DB connector nuts (5mm nut driver) and the power socket screws. Then just unplugged the speaker wires. The board was then free to work on.

    So did the board repair and got it all back into the case (after plugging the speaker wires back in), reconnected the 4 LCD light plugs. Then I fought with the black connector that I had broken, probably dropped it both inside and outside the monitor before I finally got everything in a sweet spot and was able to push it in to where it was when I pried it out. Two drops of the good old Loctite crazy glue on the ends to make up for the broken tabs.

    So take it from me, don’t take this connector of if you don’t know how it works.

    Anyway, put the rest back together and the unit fired up and ran just fine.

    Funny how these monitors all have a similar problem. I fixed my wife’s Samsung monitor back in the fall of 2010. At that time I just replaced 2 of 1000uF caps, I forget the details. It still works great to date.

    I wonder how many of these monitors end up in the dump over less than $3.00 in parts!

    Regards

    Mike

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  23. Daniele Trinca

    Reply

    Thank you for your guide, I’ve just repaired twice my monitor with this technique.

    I resucued some capacitors from an older PC ATX power supply unit, they are often
    usefull to be as spare replacing part for this monitor.

    Dan

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