vB Easy Archive - e815 w/ no backlight.

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e815 w/ no backlight.
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Posted by: lamakachop

Greetings HFers!

i've been browsing this site for sometime now and just registered. my friend told me about this site and i must say there's so much to find out about HF. I come to you now w/ a problem though (1st post is a problem? of course!) well, i have an e815 for verizon and my backlight doesn't light up anymore. The screen still shows numbers and menus, etc but it doesn't light up so it's very difficult to see who i'm calling, what numbers i'm dialing, etc.

What was i doing w/ my phone? Well, i'm in the mountains and it's pretty cold so thought, why not go snowboarding?! i put it in my jacket pocket and connected it to my helmet's handsfree device. I was riding hard and it was cold but i was sweating, so maybe moisture has to do something w/ it? Throughout the day, it was working fine but then at the end of the day, the screen wasn't lit. Is there anything i can do to remedy this problem? Please let me know! Thanks HFers!

Sincerely,
Man w/ broken phone Lam

Posted by: hannahbelle

hey! i have an alltel razr and my backlight doesnt work either! and i dont know what to do! did u find anything out??

Posted by: Black Cat

Both issues e815 and RAZR might be bad LCD modules or defective / damaged flex PCBs as well as a number of other issues. The problem with simply posting a solution is we have seen both issues caused and solved by a variety of things. when we actually see a phone and dismantle it, it is easy to locate a problem.

Has either phone gotten wet (sorry, have to ask since it is always step one for in house troubleshooting).

On the E815, is there any play or looseness at the left side where the 2 halves meet?

On the RAZR, do the keypad backlights work?

Posted by: lamakachop

Hey blackcat, thanks for the response!

Well, it did get slightly wet but what was weird was when it was wet, it was still working (the backlight, that is). It wasn't until the end of the day i looked at it, it wasn't on. I could try to open it to see if the problem is what you said it could be if there's a thread that explains how to take the e815 apart. As for play, there is none. Thanks black cat.

Lam

Posted by: Tyler Durden

I have seen this problem arise due to three things, 1- Bad flex cable, 2- Bad lcd, 3- Water got in and burn out the light bulbs. You can try taking it apart and checking the flex cable first to see if there are any corrosion building up, if so, brush it using an old toothbrush being carefull not to put too much pressure causing the flex cable to tear. You will also have to do this on the motherboard end as well. While you're checking the flex cable on the motherboard's end, check the motherboard itself as well. If this doesn't work, I would bet that you will have to replace the lcd. This goes for both E815 and RazR phones.

Posted by: Black Cat

...I would bet that you will have to replace the lcd. This goes for both E815 and RazR phones.

Once wet, this unfortunately tends to be the case.

Posted by: Tyler Durden

Not all the time. It all depends on how badly the phone got wet. I have fixed alot and some of the customers would have to endure is a water stain on the lcd that I couldn't dry completely.

Posted by: satguy84

Examine the connectors for the flex at the main pcbd. When a phone gets wet, many times corrosion will collect at the connector and can be removed with a toothbrush and alcohol. More than likely, though it's the display or the flex as previously mentioned.

Posted by: cmasportshgp

I am having a similar problem however, i know for a fact my phone has not been exposed to water. I fell asleep one night and the next morning when i woke up the phone simply did not have a properly functioning backlight. I did notice that when my phone is held up to a light i can see what the screen is displaying.

That was about two weeks ago and last night i was fooling around with the phone and i got the screen to work normally again. Except for one problem the back light now does not go off!!!, and it takes only a short time to run down the battery. If it helps the camera gives a message saying it is busy that does not allow it to take pictures. Is there anything that can be done to fix it, if you have any tips please share

thanks

Posted by: satguy84

Sounds like you have a bad flip/flex cable. Buy one AND a main display lens, since it's easy for a noob to damage when you change the flip flex. And get the part from an OEM Moto place NOT EBAY! Moto pulled some older cables for quality problems awhile back and they are showing up on Ebay. If you don't mind replacing the cable more them once, go ahead and buy the Ebay crap.

Posted by: zfemto

I have similar problem. I got the backlight back by taking out the camera. New camera did not solve the problem so no camera for me now.

Posted by: Matt2351

i have the exact same problem...I took my phone skiiing and it got very slightly wet. It worked all day when i was skiing but when I got home the backlight seems to be dead. Then the next day, poof, the back light came back on but then it wouldn't go back off. So now sometimes it comes on and stays on, or doesn't come on at all.

Anyway...all the responses in the thread have been very helpful, but is there some place with a guide on how to take the e815 apart, and if it is a bad flex cable that is causing my problem, where can I get a new one? Thanks!!

Posted by: magic507

My problem is also very similar..... I dropped my phone (it didn't hit the floor very hard) and when I picked it up the backlight did not work. I pulled the battery and turned it back on and the backlight was lit, but only to half the brightness. I tried this again and the backlight didn't work anymore (although the display is fine -- if held in the light at the right angle, everything can barely be seen).

After messing with my phone for a while, the backlight started working again (full brightness), but two things are different:

1) When I close my phone, the mini LCD DOES NOT dim - - the background picture goes away (so the background looks black when looking directly at the screen), and the time stays. If you look at the mini LCD at an angle, it looks white (like it is fully illuminated).

2) When I try to use my camera, all I see is what looks like interference (green lines pulsating on the screen).

ANY suggestions would be highly appreciated.

I found a guide with pictures for disassembling the phone http://home.earthlink.net/~teknogroover/v710face.html. At what step in the process can you see the flex cable?

Posted by: Gintoki

I'm having the same problem...
It got a bit wet so I let it sit to dry for at least 20 hours, and for a while it was saying 'invalid battery'. It no longer says that, but the backlight just.. would not work. So I just turned it off for the night, around.. maybe 10 or 11? until about 1 in the afternoon today. When I turned it on, the backlight worked again, it just wouldn't shut off.
A few hours later I decided to try taking a picture, and it wouldn't let me. It just.. wouldn't. So I tried turning it off and back on again, and then the backlight wouldn't work again. It hasn't, and I've tried turning it off, taking the battery out, etc. many times. Still nothing.

Oh... this thread is pretty old. Eheh. Oops.