# What's wrong with this monitor?



## Toothless (Jun 16, 2017)

Let's play a game fellas.

So I got this Dell S2316m monitor, it's beautiful, it was _cheap _and it fits perfectly cept' for one issue.

It has issues, and not with tissues.










This only happens when there is a lot of white on the screen, and after turning down the brightness a lot it does this.











There is damage to the panel itself but it seems like a pressure/pressed down on crack.










So is it the panel? The board? Already tried different cables and different outputs so those are ruled out. I'm willing to spend a few bucks on repairing if we know FOR SURE what the issue is.


I got it for $13, can't complain.


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## qubit (Jun 16, 2017)

I think we know why it was only $13...

Sounds like there's a fault with the electronics. Whether it's worth paying for a repair depends on how much a new monitor is worth and how much you wanna spend.


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## Toothless (Jun 16, 2017)

qubit said:


> I think we know why it was only $13...
> 
> Sounds like there's a fault with the electronics. Whether it's worth paying for a repair depends on how much a new monitor is worth and how much you wanna spend.


New is north of $100 and replacement board is $20. 

Here is the weird thing: it's running perfectly fine now after a while on both inputs. Possibly a temperature issue?


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## qubit (Jun 16, 2017)

Sounds like a dry joint that makes better contact when the monitor warms up, so might be quite fixable. Depending on your soldering skills and if you've got a soldering iron, you may want to have a go at fixing it yourself. Use a magnifying glass and a bright light to look carefully at the solder joints.

And of course, for safety, watch out for high voltages around the PSU area, depending on the design. Unplug it from the mains first.

Might be worth Googling for a video on fixing dry joints.


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## EarthDog (Jun 16, 2017)

Oven trick!


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## infrared (Jun 16, 2017)

I wonder if caps are going bad in it.. Do you feel up to taking the back off and checking for bulged caps? Could be a simple fix if you're okay at soldering.


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## Frick (Jun 16, 2017)

infrared said:


> I wonder if caps are going bad in it.. Do you feel up to taking the back off and checking for bulged caps? Could be a simple fix if you're okay at soldering.



Aye caps is the first thing to look at, always. I can't see the videos (limited data) but from the description it doesn't sound like bad caps though.


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## Bill_Bright (Jun 16, 2017)

Toothless said:


> I got it for $13, can't complain.
> and different outputs so those are ruled out.


Not really. You need to try that monitor on a different computer just to make sure it is the monitor, and not the card.
I say, clearly, the problem is triskaidekaphobia.


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## therealmeep (Jun 16, 2017)

Gotta say it's probably caps, I've had the same issue under reverse circumstances under load and overheating with probably 3 now Westinghouse panels all from around the same time (pretty crap panels).


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## silentbogo (Jun 16, 2017)

Toothless said:


> New is north of $100 and replacement board is $20.
> 
> Here is the weird thing: it's running perfectly fine now after a while on both inputs. Possibly a temperature issue?


It can be. If you haven't disassembled it yet, then do so, clean up the inisdes and install a heatsink on a scaler IC (preferrably with sticky two-sided polymer tape or thermoconductive glue, and not just a thermal paste). Also, check the integrity of the LVDS cable.

If this won't help - just get a new scaler board. You can even try and stick a universal $5 chinese scaler in there, if you can find an LVDS pinout for your panel. I'm pretty sure that this is not an LCD panel problem, since the image is OK between glitches.


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## a111087 (Jun 16, 2017)

Toothless said:


> This only happens when there is a lot of white on the screen, and after turning down the brightness a lot it does this.



white color uses more power, so i would guess that something isn't right with monitors power supply
i would take it apart and check for visible damage to the components.


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## Toothless (Jun 16, 2017)

Okay so I left it on overnight and over DVI which had the most issues and over pure white it isn't having issues, so I'm thinking the dry thingy is really the issue.


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## Caring1 (Jun 17, 2017)

It should have a separate power board internally, most likely has dry solder joints, you could try baking it


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## eidairaman1 (Jun 17, 2017)

With that crack it could be the display matrix itself.


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## Toothless (Jun 17, 2017)

I'm really not sure what to think at this point, I'll check when I get home because if it's constantly on it's perfect, but if it's off at any time it'll spazz but fix itself.

EDIT: So I tried a video on it, like this.








During the really really bright scenes it would spazz but otherwise it was perfectly fine. Again I'm willing to put money in but I want to make 110% sure what is wrong with it. I'll probably open it up in a few days when I get time.


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## opojare (Jun 17, 2017)

Looks like dead capacitors


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 18, 2017)

What happens if you turn dynamic contrast off, turn contrast and brightness all the way up?


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## Toothless (Jun 18, 2017)

FordGT90Concept said:


> What happens if you turn dynamic contrast off, turn contrast and brightness all the way up?


If you're still up we can troubleshoot more tonight


EDIT:
The power adapter I'm using is only 2.4 amp and the monitor needs 3.33, so I'm grabbing the correct power stuff here within a week and hopefully that fixes it.


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## Toothless (Jun 30, 2017)

So the new power supply cable for the monitor finally got ordered today. Amazon says between July 3-9 so I'll keep y'all updated on how it comes.


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## Toothless (Jul 4, 2017)

Okay, new power supply cable for it and issue is still there even with the correct specs. Again it's only white pictures that are effected.


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## R-T-B (Jul 4, 2017)

@Toothless

I know you like monitors, so forgive this shameless plug, I see you are having trouble with this one and maybe I can help out.

If you want a big, cheap, 28" monitor, I have one just sitting.  I'm sure we could work something out.  Big really pretty VA-panel.  I'd probably want $30.00 if you could pick it up or we could meet somehow.  Shipping would be more, but could be done.

Only problem is its refresh is kinda shitty.  60Hz like 10ms refresh (they advertise 6ms but its worse, trust me).  Let me know.

Model:

http://www.viewsonic.com/us/va2855smh.html


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## Toothless (Jul 4, 2017)

R-T-B said:


> @Toothless
> 
> I know you like monitors, so forgive this shameless plug, I see you are having trouble with this one and maybe I can help out.
> 
> ...


Oh you gave me a good laugh when I read the "shameless plug" part. (Remember our chat?)


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## AsRock (Jul 5, 2017)

Wouldn't a white screen make the run hotter ?, if that is the case take the back off and point a fan towards it and see if the white screen happens still.

Maybe try turning down the contrast and brightness see if that stops it from happening.


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## Toothless (Jul 5, 2017)

Well so far using a tweaked Dark Mode in Chrome has been working perfectly, and yeah it's ONLY with too many brighter/white colors/shades.


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## DeathtoGnomes (Jul 5, 2017)

good now you know its the board inside doing that.


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## Bill_Bright (Jul 5, 2017)

AsRock said:


> Wouldn't a white screen make the run hotter ?


Yes.


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## cornemuse (Jul 5, 2017)

Toothless said:


> I got it for $13, can't complain.



Worth every penny??


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## jaggerwild (Jul 5, 2017)

A dying power supply, out of spec's.


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## Toothless (Jul 6, 2017)

jaggerwild said:


> A dying power supply, out of spec's.


I JUST bought the power supply. It's an external supply and it's all within spec.\



EDIT: I pushed something on the back and now it's like brand new. No issues, no screen bzzzts, no artifacts, no glitches, nothing. I even put TPU in it's white glory over and WCG on it, fullscreened with no issues.


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## Toothless (Jul 9, 2017)

RIP monitor. Decided to die while in use and I'm convinced it's heat related because this thing was pretty warm. 

If anyone knows how to open this dumb thing up please let me know.


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## DeathtoGnomes (Jul 9, 2017)

Toothless said:


> RIP monitor. Decided to die while in use and I'm convinced it's heat related because this thing was pretty warm.
> 
> If anyone knows how to open this dumb thing up please let me know.


did anyone suggest ghetto mod it by drilling some holes and duct tape a fan  to the back of it?

AFIAK they glue the back and front together. Find the seam and use a dremel?


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## Toothless (Jul 9, 2017)

DeathtoGnomes said:


> did anyone suggest ghetto mod it by drilling some holes and duct tape a fan  to the back of it?
> 
> AFIAK they glue the back and front together. Find the seam and use a dremel?


I was seriously considering the fan idea that someone posted but this thing is like, all glue/hidden screws which is a pain, and more so there are no teardown guides.


EDIT: gonna be a good dwagon and not double post.


The conclusion of this monitor; dead.

We took it apart which resulted in two deep fractures in the screen and destroyed any image that might have been and after an hour of fighting it, we got the back panel off.






A tiny board taped onto a giant screen.





You can easily see the issue here. That's what was on the back of the board. The solder points look melted and 2-3 are issue. (Thanks to @DeathtoGnomes for pointing these out)


RIP Dell S2340mc, you will be missed in all your IPS glory.

if anyone wants this thing for parts PM me and we can work out stuff.


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