Sunday, May 15, 2011

Repair LCD monitor (soyo topaz s)

This is going to be a step by step on fixing a Soyo Topaz S lcd monitor. This particular LCD has a bad power supply and is a common problem with many LCD's. This will probably relate to other models but not have the exact same steps.

The first problem that has to be addressed is finding a new PSU. The only source that I have found is through taobao.com and search for m24e14. An easy way to purchase is using the site engtaobao.com, they are somewhat of a "middle man" for taobao.com which is a chinese ebay type of website. If you use google chrome you can have it automatically translate the chinese site for you so you know what you are looking at. You enter the website of the item you want and use the checkout. It is an exact replacement for your bad power supply, the one they shipped me was actually better than the original.
















Once you order and wait a couple of weeks for it to ship from china you are ready for the fun part (taking things apart!). We are going to do this with an eye for detail though, we don't want missing screws and all the headaches that accompany having extra screws at the end. The tools you will need for this are simple tools you should already have.
1. P1 screwdriver "Phillips head"
2. Container for screws
3. Something to pry the panel open, you could use a butter knife/anything that will wedge between the panel
4. Electrical tape to help your prying tool not damage the plastic panel
5. Towel or blanket to lay the screen on
















So after you have all those tools together it is time to take the monitor off the base. It should be about 6 screws. Once you have done that, lay the monitor on its face and start unscrewing the panel back. There are 12 screws that hold the back on, the 4 in the center you can set to the side in your screw container. The others just unscrew and leave them in the wholes so they don't go missing or get mixed up.














Once you have everything unscrewed it is time for you to pry the panel apart, do not be scared of the sounds you will hear as you are doing this. I like to start at the top then work my way around to the bottom. After you get to the bottom pull back and up and you should have the back panel safely removed from the front and if you were careful when prying you did not scar the plastic. Now sit that back panel in a safe place and don't turn it over or you will have a 30min screw hunting exploration.

















You are now staring at the inside of your monitor and the hard part is done my friends. 4 screws, 3 cables and some foil tape are holding back from getting a look at that psu. Once you remove those you can carefully remove the cables. Note that one of them is taped down, I just cut the tape making sure I didn't accidentally mess up a wire. Safely pull the foil tape off and save for reuse. At this point you can slowly turn over the psu housing making sure you do not pull very hard because things are still attached and we want to keep it that way to make it easy on ourselves.



You can see the psu has 2 connector and 4 screws that you need to remove. Once you remove them you can pull the psu out. The trick is to pull on the bottom side and slide out the back, this keeps you from damaging the power socket.



 Now that you have that out you can replace with your new psu from China. Make sure you are as careful putting it back together as you took it apart. It is a good idea to test and see if it works before you put the back of the panel on. You should see light from the screen and you are now home free. Button that sucker back up, grab a beer or soda and enjoy the fruits of your labor! You earned it, because you just saved yourself some serious cash and got the satisfaction of DIY If anyone has anything to add or just wants to say hello, please leave comments!

30 comments:

  1. Thanks for the blog, can u tell me how much was the total cost of the new power supply shipped to u?
    I also have a dead 24" Soyo and want know what is the cost for fixing it versus get a brand new one.

    Thanks, Albert.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your welcome. The total cost ended up being exactly $40.52 after shipping to Raleigh NC. It may be a little less or more depending on your location.

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  3. I did the same thing you did, Mine came with the power connector that I had to solder onto the board, not a big deal, did not fit so great had to bend the three connectors outward alittle and wedged them into the holes and soldered it on. I put it all back together and the put some hot glue around the power connector to hold it in place. work out perfect... works like new. I also had no issues with the two payments and shipping was about a week or two, very fast considering it was from china. just my two cents.

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  4. The hot glue is a great idea Steve. You are right, it is a very tight fit and the power connector needs to be as far back as possible for the casing to be put back on. Thank you for your comment!

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  5. They sent me the incorrect power receptacle for the power board. I got the receptacle that needed to be soldered but the board appears to have a connector where receptacle that would snap on. any advice where I could find the correct power receptacle?

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  6. No it's correct, you need to desolder that three pin connector that is pre-soldered on the board (I think it's there as a place holder) and solder the new power connector in it's place..... Like I said in my previous post, the new power connector pins do not align up very well just do the best you can spreding the connection pins with out breaking the pins and put it all back together ***I even had to file some of the back case down to get the power connector to fit through the back panel of the monitor*** then when you get it all together, just fill in the space around the power connector with hot glue, that will hold everything nice and tight. And just incase your wondering, no the hot glue will not screw anything up.....

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  7. Thank you!!! I ordered 2 so I would have a back up. One came in with the corner broken off, but easily repaired. The other had one of the transformers broken off (YMX-708-036(A1)) that I am going to source a replacement. One hour later I have a working monitor again! Thanks!!!!!

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  8. Quick question: The LCD on my Topaz S is blinking on/off crazily. I attributed this initially to the great amount of heat it is generating internally and the poor ventilation of the casing. Is this instead indicative of a bad PSU?

    Thank you for the excellent blog post!

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  9. Is there any idea what components might be bad on the board?

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  10. To Jarrod, I believe so, that is how it all starded for me..... it would stay on less and less then just wouldn't show a picture anymore. I have tried replacing resisters and compassitors with no luck..... so much easire just to get a whole ne power supply and be done with it. also they say the new power supply is redesigned to handle the heat. its been quite awhile since I did mine and no issues thus far. worth the time and money to order it from over seas. I suggest you do it ASAP before they disappear. you never know when they stop offer them the you will be recycling it insted of reusing it.

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  11. Interesting Blog. Seems like the PSU's die after 3 years or so on these monitors.

    Mine died earlier this year. I found a local repair guy in Toronto willing to do the job for $60 cdn (including parts!).

    Anyways, he managed to resurrect the monitor; saving another piece of technology from hitting the landfills.

    Thanks for the post.

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    Replies
    1. That's a good deal. This monitor is just to good to toss when it can be fixed for relatively cheap. I try to save things from being thrown out all the time but im running out of space :o)

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  12. Hi
    My screen went dark this morning and the power button does not even light up (to indicate it is plugged in) Do you think that this part will solve the problem? Also how do you go about trying to pay and fill out the order screen?? Only sections of it will translate for me so I kept getting an error message that I could not read. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

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  13. Its probably the power supply. Try going to taobaogle.com to order the part. All of instructions are in english. Good luck, I hope you are able to get your monitor fixed.

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  14. i happen to have several other lcd' laying around, dont suppose i could get lucky and find one with the same conectors? most are less than 24"though. any idea what the outputs are supposed to be?

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    Replies
    1. I doubt it would be the same but it wouldn't hurt to open them up and take a look. It would probably give you good practice.

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  15. Has anyone lately been successful with finding a PSU at englishtaobao.com? The selelr with the "Rose-1377" mark that the OP ordered from is not on englishtaobao anymore. Really scared to try other sellers. This seller seems to have a correct model but Chrome can't translate words in pictures. :(

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  16. Opps forgot to add a link for the above.
    http://www.englishtaobao.com/Product/18529052577/Maintenance+of+great+wall+%3Cspan+class%3DH%3EM+%3C+span%3E+%3Cspan+class%3DH%3E247+%3C+span%3E+%3Cspan+class%3DH%3EV+%3C+span%3E+%3Cspan+class%3DH%3E247+%3C+span%3E+%3Cspan+class%3DH%3EM+%3C+span%3E+24E+power+supply+Board/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anyone know if taobao english site is still there at all? I can't get either te taobaogle.com or the englishtaobao.com site to come up....and I can't see a part number for this PS anywhere to look elsewhere...

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    2. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Great-wall-m24e14-lcd-power-board-great-wall-m247-power-board-great-wall-v247-lcd-power/1293081346.html

      Delete
  17. Good info! quick question was the LCD panel mfg by Chi Mei if so what is the model no of the MFT Panel? I may want to buy one if it works with another brand

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  18. Blake this guide is really incomplete. I have the power supply pictured, and there's no way to plug the monitor in to power it on.

    There's a molex power interface on the power supply pictured, and not an IEC power interface.

    Any advice?

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  19. Hey everybody! Here is an updated link to a working site to order the psu., This version (according to the images) already has the power cord plug attached to the board.

    http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Great-wall-m24e14-lcd-power-board-great-wall-m247-power-board-great-wall-v247-lcd-power/1293081346.html

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  20. Thanks for this.

    Brought my Soyo back to life. Despite having several newer, in theory better, monitors, this is still one of my favorites and I will miss it when it finally dies.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Switch mode power supplies are very susceptible to inrush voltage .A lot of power companies run their voltages around 123vac to 126vac putting a strain on the filter capacitors and causing excess heat from the power correction circuits and fet's . I would suggest running the pc and monitor thru a small ups to add extra filtering and protection .Been repairing electronics for 30yrs.

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  22. Hey,

    Thanks for a very useful article. My awesome Soyo Topaz S just died. I am unable to source even a rebuilt PSU and I fear something else has failed beyond just the caps as it won't even power on now. Any chance you have a new link? All of the ones here are broken!

    Thanks!

    Josh

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  23. Bump - My M24EL4 died! I haven't soldered anything in a decade and all I can find is "capacitor replacement kits" on eBay for replacing those yourselves, but no power supply board.

    If anyone has a link they can share or a working used one to sell, please email me at e j s @ yahoo dot com (without the spaces). Thanks!

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  24. Mine was sparking when I wiggled the power cable. I opened it and found this poor solder job. I just added some new solder and now it works fine without purchasing any replacement parts.
    http://i.imgur.com/zqQAofK.png

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