Dead inspiron 1525's

1.So far you checked the second system as I would do it myself except for the fact that I would even completely remove all parts that can be removed and turn on the system without any of them connected to the system(hdd,cdrom.memory...)

2.It sounds stupid - I know - but have you ever imagined that the power button itself could be broken? This is indeed a rare situation BUT it had happened in the past.... just saying.....

3.I found some information on the web how somebody was able to fix his screen on an Inspiron 1545.(I've got one and was looking for information about my lappy in advance before disaster strikes ;-)

It might even solve your problem should you have an LED screen(LED do not have inverters).It is about a tiny fuse soldered onto the mainboard next to the screen connector - I  have even a picture of it.Usually a fuse blows up when something is seriously wrong,but sometimes they just break (constantly high current can weaken the "fuse wire" for instance)

I guess nobody will have a proper circuit diagram.In fact the guy who located the problem(fuse) just gave it try and was lucky enough to stumble upon the backlight fuse and believe me - the first thing a professional would do is it to check it.The fuse by the way was never replaced - he just bridged it.Let's hope for the best......

Thanks for your reply.

1. Tried now, still not working =(

2. is a possibility, but normally the home button also starts the system and this won't  work  either (at least not anymore)

3. hmm yes did some searching myself, but problem is that it's mostly people who know which actual part of the screen is broken and then fixes that part, but I dunno exactly what is broken and would like to find out...ow and these notebooks don't have LED screens, they are pretty old and have LCD's also tried to look at the inverter already, but noting seems wrong with it from the outside.

They're not free, but if you want a schematic:

www.laptopschematic.com/dell-inspiron-1525-laptop-schematic-diagram-intel

Hey thanks ejn63 !

I never even tried to find one - repairing on chip level is almost impossible.But knowing where fuses  and some other minor parts are located that can be easily replaced is always an advantage.Meanwhile I have  all the information I need in case of a meltdown of my system - the fuse ... ;-)

Nevertheless I am surprised that they actually offer detailed diagrams...

haha tanks to both of you for your help and your fast replies...I think this is a bit to difficult for me, I am not that experienced to try this and I probably don't have the tools necessary, since I only have some simple solder kit which I think is not good enough to work with chips let alone stand my knowledge on the parts.

I only thought that I would maybe just have to replace the charger board or something else attached to the main board, but I guess I will have to just try the charger board of the other notebook see if that fixes it and if it does hey I can buy those for not that much of ebay I think and if it doesn't it will be a complete motherboard swap and maybe buy a new one later on ebay or something if I can find one cheap...

If there is anyone else who thinks of something please say, cause it will still take a while before I will begin this project =P since its hard to find some spare time for this ;-)

Without testing the system properly there is no way to know for sure which part is broken.Imagine you open up the system and can visually see something burned on the mainboard.You happily order a new one only to find out after the replacement that the screen is dark and it's dark because it was damaged when the mainboard failed.Given the fact how expensive laptop parts are you can easily end up - in tears.

Ok I gave up fixing both and took them both apart.

So now the first thing I tried was putting the (good) LCD screen of the notebook with broken motherboard on the notebook which seemed to have backlight/inverter problems...But guess what, it had the same problem (real dark image) so it can't be the inverter nor the backlight since these are in the screen and I really doubt that these are broken in both screens. Does anyone know what it could be then?

Ok have done some more research hooked laptop up to external monitor and run diagnostics....then got:

Error Code 0326

MSG: Error Code 2000-0326

MSG: LCD inverter unable to turn lamp off. Vender: MPS

Revision 3

So hey it says it's the inverter, but can this inverter really be the problem, I mean I hooked up 2 completer different LCD screens (which have of course there own inverters in them) to it and they both give the dimmed backlight problem.

2 Screens with both a broken inverter is that likely?

I have also searched this error code here on this forum and also on google and seems that many people have the same problem (also with other dell laptops)

Changing the inverter doesn't seem to work ( en.community.dell.com/.../19904046.aspx ).

I have even read on some other forum about a dude who hooked a perfectly good working screen (from his own working laptop) to his friends laptop with this same problem and hey the screen stopped working and when he hooked him back to his own laptop it still had the problem even though it was working fine before switching...

Is there anyone that can explain this all? Or at least make a little bit more sense of this?

I am havinng same problem. Dim backlight. I checked the fuse and that is blown. Can we please help me to replace the fuse?

I am havinng same problem. Dim backlight. I checked the fuse and that is blown. Can we please help me to replace the fuse?

It isn't separately replaceable - replace the mainboard.

Replacing just the mainboard might be fatal if the screen was the cause for the blown fuse: in that case he would have to replace two mainboards and one screen (at minimum - if he doesn't break something else)......

"bodhayanc"

check out the link below.Fixing electrical stuff needs some skills on your part.You can try to bridge the fuse with a wire for a VERY(!) short moment to see if the backlight is working again.If it doesn't then either mainboard,screen or BOTH of them are broken !

en.community.dell.com/.../19949692.aspx

Like any other fuse, removing it could easily cause a safety problem.  I would not run the system without it  -- it is there for a reason, and you may risk a fire or personal injury by defeating it.