How to Replace the Screen on an Acre Aspire 5336

I am writing this instructable as a promise to one of the community team members. It has proven to be quite time consuming. It is my first ever instructable and where the spelling may not be perfect, a bit sad really considering my wife is a great English teacher and is also a filipino ... shame on me, however the detail is good and the information is from lots of experience. You may need to zoom the images as I only realized how small the arrows are after uploading. The begining is a bit boring as there are 6 steps to cover before actually getting the tools out and starting work. I recommend reading through every step before using this instructable, to make sure you feel happy you know what you are doing. There are a few places where the photos may be rather excesive 1. sticking the tape back down after refitting the screen plug 2. disposing of the screen cover after keeping it attached to screen for so long to keep it clean. 3. clipping back the screen but this is to demonstrate the best way to do it in order. Most of the other picture are quite important if you want to follow this instructable so please click where it says see all other pictures at the bottom of the picture group or you will definately miss soomething important! I have my own laptop repair business and you can check that out on the last picture of step 13 if you so wish. Good luck!

Well knifes should be handled with care and rubbing alcohol is not for drinking because it metabolises into acetone, these are the two most dangerous things in this instructable. Clutter can be dangerous so try and have a clean work area with only the tools you need and free from young children. It is easy to damage your new screen and or laptop so a wrist strap is advisable.

This instructable is for the Acer Aspire 5336 but many machines are similar especially if they use an l.e.d. lit screen (commonly called led screen) ... florescent lit screens (commonly know as lcd) use an inverter and are slightly more complicated (both types of screen are actualy lcd technology), also some screens need to be removed from the machine before disassembly you would know this if the screen surround is traped when you try to remove it.The laptop in the picture is a customers and they have added a sticker of a very red indian to the outer screen cover but it is still an acer aspire 5336. You can see this in the other picture.

Usually a broken screen is a cracked screen which will be obvious when you turn the machine on. You see a mixture of colours where the liquid crystal has made its own soup and cracks where the glass under the plastic coating has broken. This is also visible when the machine is off by darker patches surounding crack lines. In the highly unusual event that the led back light has gone you will not see anything but if you turn on and you see a very faint display this could be the led lighting in the screen. Most laptop includding the one we are working on have an external screen connector socket known as a 15 pin d type socket or vga out. If you plug an external monitor here and it works there is a good chance your screen is broken.

For the aspire 5336 you need to order screen model B156xt No2 or ver2 you can order from ebay or most laptop or screen supplies. Some laptops use a number of different screens and have cable alterations to fit the screen fitted. In the latter case you should take the screen out before ordering. When it arrives it may be worth checking it is correct before complettely unpacking and trying to fit.

1. Obviously you will need a broken screen and laptop and a new screen to fit

2. you will also need a small phillips (star or posidrive) screwdrive size #0 is what I find sutable for all screws.

3. a knife to lift off the screw covers.(see the selection and recomendations in health and safety.)

4. a container or dish to keep the screws in.

not vital but recommended

5. Some rubbing alcohol for cleaning.

6. some small pliers prefferable long nose or tweezers to remove the screws if my tecnique does not work or your nails are too short.

7. Some plastic safe adhesive incase the screw covers lose thier stick.

8. some tape incase the tape you remove loses stick.

We remove the battery before starting any work to avoid shorts and accidental turn on of machine. When release catch is slid the battery lifts up from the inner edge then the lugs on the outer edge can be freed, but it goes back in in reverse outter edge lugs inserted then inner edge clipped in.

In this step we remove the two screw cap/covers that hide the screws on the screen surround and remove the screws without losing them. It is easy to scratch the surround or or even screen in this step (although the screen is not so important if we are replacing it) the caps are also easy damaged so I find the finer the blade the better. Just point it right in between the screen suround and the cap and gently slide the knife under the cap with your thunb on top lift the cap off and place it sticky side up in your keep safe dish. Now take your #0 philips screwdriver and undo the two screws that were hidden under the two caps.

The surround will now unclip from the rest of the screen. It can be quite tricky to remove but does have a small amount of flexability but do break if forced. If it won't unclip try lifting a different area. There really is no secret here i broke a few getting the feel for it. Maybe i should say at this point that if you have baught a screen and feel you can't fit it I will do it for you for a basic charge of £35 + postage costs .. need I say this does not work out economical if you are outside uk. See last picture in step 13 for info. Otherwise study the pictures in this step to see how its done. Some people can do this but just prefer to pay someone who does them all the time to save time!

The pictures in this step pretty much cover everything, but incase you are skipping them .. Remove the top 2 screws that hold the screen brackets to the top cover then keeping the screen from moving and damaging the cables behind, remove the three small screws from each bracket these are all that holds the screen in place. The camera cable is attached to the back of the screen at the top middle left and bottom middle left with adhesive so this needs gently peeled away before laying the screen flat face down on keyboard to remove the main screen connector. This is where most care is needed especialy when replacing so you could experiment with old screen on how to reconnect connector without touching the board as this has highly sensitive componects and micro fine tracks and wires integrated with the screen. When the tape or myler has been peeled back from the screen and board but left still stuck to the plug, you can pull the plug out very gently and carefully towards the bottom edge of the screen. Ok take a deep breath and maybe have some fun with leds cos you need to be even more careful fitting the new screen in step 12.

There are usualy about 40 high luminance leds in the edge of the screen I am not sure exactly what voltage they opperate on but it is les than 5v so if you put a 1k resistor in series with anything less than 9v you can experiment with these daylight bright leds and make low power flash lights or string a few up to some crystel cells for a few years of free light. The board they are on is marked + for each led. There is an instructable for how to make crystal cells on this site and I may even make one myself to answer a few questions about them although I have seen them working and saving money.

Sorry for the clutter in the pictures especially picture No 1 which is only showing what I use to clean the screen connection plug, although a clean cloth or tissue may be better as the fibers may be less likely to come of and defeat the whole purpose. I use an eye dropper to put the alcohol on to the cotton bud or cutip (am British so not sure how to spell cute tip) ...got to be carefull I don't get off on wrong cue! been cueing for ages on that one. Anyway enough hole digging. Americans are great, the hospitality in Texas was like scatland err scotland that should be. North Dakota was a bit less welcoming but we won't go there, or at least not uninvited. Maybe that is why they were unwelcoming.

Ok so we clean up the connecter the best we can being gentle all the way and avoiding any fibers sticking to or damaging the plug. A usb microscope can be used for these very fine jobs, a farely powerful one can be bought on ebay for way under 100 £'s or $'s but you can get by with a pair of 3.5 x magnification glasses from the dollar store or poundland.

You can see from the last picture in this step how fine and delicate the connector is taken through the lens of my 3.5 x glasses. Ok we need to get serious again for next step (putting the screen back).

Ok you are ready to fit your new screen if you followed steps 1 through to 11 successfully. I like to keep the screen protection on the screen untill the screws are all in this makes things a little more difficult but its better than having a customer asking for a new screen because there are scratches. So place your new screen face down on the keyboard as in picture 1 you can even put more protection between screen and computer if you wish. You should take great care with this step right up untill all your 6 screws holding the screen in the brackets, and 2 screws holding the brackets to the back cover are all back in place. The connector is the hardest part as it is so easy to damage the screen, screen connector socket, or screen connector plug, but at least you experienced how delicate everything is when you removed it. The main secrets to doing this successfully is to keep the screen as far back (near the screen cover) as possible so as not to pull the cable it may even help to slide it to the left a little to give more cable slack untill you are ready to screw it back. The 3 things that almost make this impossible is

1. Do Not touch the board (green strip that the socket is on) especially do not press on it anywhere.

2. When connecting plug to socket keep it straight to socket at all times if it is not straight do not try to push it in.

3. When inserting it you will notice a dimple on each side of the plug and the socket. The plug dimples lock under the socket dimples, so make sure it is going in below the sockets upper thin plate ... reminder this plate is very thin very easy bent and damaged as is the whole connector, just take your time to get this bit right! I can not fix it if you break it, not without getting a new screen cable and new screen this would mean you could have been cheaper getting ripped of by the guys who charge £200 be warned! I have seen it too often and maybe if the persons involved had read this instructable they could have saved themself the heartache. But I had not wrote it at that point. So we can thank kiteman (one of the community team on this site) for winding me up enough to make me write this instructabubble. A dear friend of mine always says read the destructions first. He is almost right.

You ok Alan?

So when you get the plug in without damage you need to lift the screen back into place leaving just enough room to gently stick the camera cable back (using plastic safe adhesive or tape if need be), making sure the screen cable is under the screen as it was when you took the old screen out, thats why I say at the begining to read through the whole instructable before going ahead. As long as the cable is not trapped behind the screen or in the way of the screen surround or its clips you will be ok. Do not let the screen slip while you are putting the screws in because needless to say you can damage the cables or connectors or both and then some. It may be worth getting a hand from someone trustworthy, although I find this just more plain awkward. The screws for securing the screen are very small so don't work over a carpet! and make sure they go in straight and not cross threaded again this bit is quite tricky. once the 6 side screws are in its starts to get easier again put your last 2 silver bracket retaining screws in. Now you can test your work before putting the screen surround back. Making sure everything is clear you can insert the psu plug (plug in the power supply) and turn on the machine just long enough to see the acer logo show up ... then turn it off quick before it starts to boot by just holding down the power button again til it turns off (about 5 -6 seconds). So you seen the acer logo again? it feels good right? unplug the power supply and put the surround back or have a coffee if you need it! then put the surround back.according to photo instructions starting at the top after aligning it correctly pressing as evenly as you can with fingers behind and infront of the screen casing working your way round to the bottom till it all pops back in place. Put your two black larger screws back carefully, put the covers or caps back, glue them if needed, again plastic safe glue! and move on to final step 13 lucky for some!

Ok most of you will know how to put the Battery back so you can skip to photo 4 if you get that issue and a word of advice, that I should have put at the begining but was not aware of. The new screen I mention in photo 5 is not in transition the company I bought it from have a policy where they do not replace screens unless they have more than 5 dead or stuck pixels. It says dead pixels in the policy, the difference is a dead pixel does not light up and is not so noticable. A stuck pixel stays lit in one colour all the time the screen is on, seen clearer in photo 6. Acer india also have the same policy am not sure about acer uk and acer us they sent me this link http://www.acer.co.in/ac/en/IN/content/dead-pixel but its a british based company. They also told me "this is a standard dead pixel warranty that you will find with any screen". Not true!, of all the many screens I have replaced, luckily this is only the second to have a stuck pixel. The previous one was replaced quite happily, so if this issue is not settled and I have to pay out for another screen, I will name of the company involed on here and will also try and find the one that replaced my last faulty pixel screen too and put that on here aslo, so you can then decide who you want to buy from. There are many suppliers of screens, and if I was getting enough work I would buy bulk from a supplier that is always emailing me, but I don't ussually get more than two screens a week if that. Of coarse that could all change with this instructable, surely not everyone that reads this will want to change thier own screen. Having seen whats involved. By all means buy off ebay but check the policy first and the feedback scoring.

If you want to contact me go to the contact page of my site here http://www.mklaptoprepair.com/mklaptoprepair_contact.htm

Or email the email address in the last picture.

I had to replace the keyboard on this machine aswell there is a video on this in my second intructable.

You can always check the keyboard on an external monitor before you fit the screen so you know when ordering if you need both or just a screen!

Thats it for now, this is going live! i'll check for errors later.