Geeky type question

[lionkingcmsl]

Does anyone know the voltage need to drive a "cold cathode" fluorescent lamp that is used as the backlight for an IBM Thinkpad laptop?

I have an old TP, of which the LCD screen is cracked and unusable. However, the backlight seems to be okay, and I thought it could be the beginning of a "light table", if I could find the voltage for the lamp.

scifox this should be right up your alley. :=3

Comments

[sci.livejournal.com]

IIRC, I think it's about mains voltage. ~200v
Also, check your inverter, it may actually be marked.

Going to keep the base-unit? They can make handy little blind boxes for firewalls and house network servers.

[makovette.livejournal.com]

Lk,

The part number of the lamp wil be printed on the glass somewhere. You Google up for that information, likely on the mfg's home page from there.

Remember, some of those things run on a pretty high voltage/low current AC power supply, so there can be a shock hazard there.

CYa!
Mako

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

If this is a 760EL through XD, you can just supply the 10V or so from a DC wall wart because the brightness control is a pot on the inverter board. Most newer displays have the intensity adjusted via a data stream from the CPU, which would be much more difficult to make function.

And honestly, I don't think an LCD backlight would be bright enough to form a good light table. A few cheap flourescent lights, some lumber and plexiglass will do far better and cover larger paper sizes.

[kamau-d-lyon.livejournal.com]

Err, sorry this one's out of my league.