PA800 blank screen

johnno · Post by **johnno** » Fri Feb 05, 2016 8:42 am

The screen lights up but shows no data. Other keys are active but I cannot select options with a blank screen. HELP please

musiccankill · Post by **musiccankill** » Fri Feb 05, 2016 10:52 pm

this seems like a problem in the cpu board but open up the keyboard and check all the connections between the cpu board and the display first!

johnno · Post by **johnno** » Sun Feb 07, 2016 12:30 am

Thanks music..... but I have no idea how to open up the keyboard. There are what looks like 3 inspection panels plus a whole heap of screws too.
I did open the small panel which showed a few wires seemingly OK.
The larger panels seemed to be made of stiff cardboard which I failed to prise open without damaging them.
Any clues please?

musiccankill · Post by **musiccankill** » Sun Feb 07, 2016 1:37 am

you have to be really carefull with this!
rescrew the black panels (wooden) they do not need to be unscrewed!
you need to remove all the perimetric silver colored screws, the row of black screws on the front edge (which are smaller too) and the screws in the middle which are inside the holes you can see under the pa800!
you don't need to remove the black wooden panels or the smaller black panel which is a cover to install the hard disk easily without opening up the whole keyboard!
if you need more help, send me a clear picture of the bottom of the pa800 and i will point out the screws that you need to remove!

johnno · Post by **johnno** » Sun Feb 07, 2016 11:07 pm

OK Thanks. I have unscrewed the bottom section & was able to partially separate the 2 halves..... however several wires are attached to both. I'm not a skilled handyman so was reluctant to fiddle with the wires.
I think maybe I should find a techo guy who understands electronics.... I'm just a humble jazz muso.
Any further ideas?
Thanks

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Mon Feb 08, 2016 6:15 am

Make sure you use an anti-static device (strap or similar) before poking any fingers inside!!!

Cheers

Pete

musiccankill · Post by **musiccankill** » Mon Feb 08, 2016 3:09 pm

Well something i just thought...
Is the backlight on?
I mean, i have seen a lot of pa800 with backlight problems and not lcd...
If there is no light in the screen try to see if it displays anything with a torch at different angles..
If the backlight is the case then either the CCFL lamp is faulty or the CCFL inverter..
Wish it is the inverter but i haven't seen one yet in a pa800 to go wrong...
If its the lamp then the easy way it to replace the screen (including the touch panel) but this is not cheap option..
An alternative is to find a 5V led strip and a technician that can do the job and replace the ccfl lamp with the led strip..When i don't have 5v led strip i use 12v one and take power directly from the PSU.This is way cheaper (under 5$ for the parts) but also much harder..
Good luck!