Gateway 20" LCD Monitor 900G
I was on my way home, driving through a small rural town, when I noticed a computer store that I previously had not seen. I could not fight the urge to check it out. They didn't seem to have anything that I wanted (besides I was just browsing anyway). From the corner of my eye I saw a sign that stated "Everything $1.00". It was a series of bins with various scrap computer parts and a table with three LCD monitors. I searched throught the bins and then asked the owner if the monitors were included. He confirmed and I asked what was wrong with them. He told me that they were broken and he simply had not the time to check them out. I purchased all three.
Later when I arived at home, I imediately tested them (all hosed) and began dismanteling the Gateway. It was a nice looking screen and my hopes were up. After opening the shell and looking at the power circuit board, I noticed that several of the capacitors were bulging at the tops. This is a sure sign of capacitor failure. After a quick Google, it was confirmed that this model had documented issues with the capacitors. They generally went after the warranty expired and Gateway declined requests to warranty them. The problem stemmed from exessive heat. No problem... I purchased HI-Temp capacitors from Amazon.com for a total of $8.00 after shipping.
Case open, circuit board shell shown
Opening the case was rather simple. There were a couple of tricky manuvers to open without pulling wires. Click on a picture to see a larger image.
Back of power supply circuit board
Before disconnecting any wires, use a red marker to mare one of each set. That way you will know if the wire goes to the connector on the right or the left.
The capacitors replace are circled in red
There are five 470uf and four 220uf capacitors on the board. Only four total were bad, but I replaced them all as the price was cheap. There was also a very small capacitor hidden between other parts and unreachable for specs. I left this one as it was still good and in a difficult place to work. The bright green caps are the replacements (I was working on it at time of picture).
Bulging Cap
You could easily see the discoloration on the board from the blown capacitors. Looking closely, the top of the circled cap is bulging.
Powered on and working
It took me less than fifteen minutes to remove and replace the caps. Assembly of the monitor was just a quick, taking roughly twenty minutes.
This product has been FrankenMod'ed !
Wow! What a bright and sharp picture.
Cost of monitor = $1.00
Cost of parts = $8.00
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Total investment = $9.00 for a monitor worth around $250 (at the time of repair).