Laptop screen and timeout switch

[slippyjim20]

Hiya,
I am trying to fix this laptop

The problem is that the screen is always very dark, even though it briefly flashes up ok for about 1 second when it is POST'ing. I thought at first that the screen was dead, so i connected it upto an external monitor which worked fine, then I started to press Fn and F11 to cycle through the available displays and noticed something strange.

With the external monitor connected the laptop screen is very dark but you can just make out a few things, press Fn and F11 and both the laptop screen and extenal monitor go blank, press Fn and F11 again and the picture appears for about 1 second on the laptop OK then goes back to being dark but just making out a few things and the external monitor is OK.

Is the laptop screen completely dead or not? If so why does it briefly display OK?

I have emailed the technical support people and all they said was
“It sounds like the timeout switch is faulty”
Any idea what a timeout switch is and can it be replaced without replacing the screen? I have replied back to them asking them similar questions but I’m think I may get another “detailed” email like the first one.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Baaron01]

you will find that the timeout switch is the switch that turns the screen off when you shut the lid. to replace the switch, you will have to dismantle the laptop so that you can remove the damaged switch and then replace it with the new switch. can you use a soldering iron. most times they are soldered onto the M/B. if you are lucky, it won't be. good luck