CCFL replacement?
 

Hello everyone. I have a RCA L32HD32D tv that has sound, but no picture. The tv will power up and a message "Please Wait" will appear for a few seconds, then the screen goes dark. I still have sound, but no picture.
Thought I had a bad video board, so I replaced that and still had the same problem.

I noticed that with the tv turned on, I noticed there was no "glow" from the backlight. It would only come on long enought to display the "Please Wait" message then shut off. I could take a bright flashlight and put it up to the screen and make out a faint picture. So I replaced the power/inverter board, and still had the same problem.

Apon further inspection, I realized one of the CCFL tubes was not working properly. It looks as thought the CCFL's are installed in what appears to be a "loop", kinda like a string of Christmas lights.

So, would 1 of the CCFL's cause my problem? If so..what size are they? I can get new ones and replace them, but do not know what size to get.

...

I see bad CCFL tubes all the time. Sometimes they just clip in, sometimes they solder in. Take your time, do the swap in a clean area so you don't get dirt in there. Just measure the length. Even if you get one a little too short, it's OK, I've soldered jumpers to make up for short tubes. The diffuser plastic is so thick you won't see a dead spot or anything. Just don't get them too long, heh, there's nothing you can do to fix that ;)

Well, there is but you shouldn't.......I had a 37" sharp with a couple bad tubes. I gutted a 37" Vizio to get some replacements. Worked great except the tubes were an inch too long. No problem, I just drilled holes in the side of the panel, then in the side of the TV case, hoooked up everything, blobed it with a ton of RTV, and said a prayer. Still works a year later but the Vizio tubes are brighter so there is a strip of picture that looks better than the rest. And you really can't touch that side of the TV safely.

It's also possible you have a bad transformer. Also very common. Do a continuity check on each one.

I'd thought of taking some of the tubes out of another broken set, just don't have any close to this size. Closest size I have is a 57", and I do believe those tubes would be just a touch too big. My main concern is the diameter of the tubes. Want to make sure I get the right size that will fit the clips in this set. I'd love to be able to replace the CCFL's with some LED's, just not sure how big of a headache it would be, or if it's possable.

*Update* I finally got the CCFl problem fixed in my RCA L32HD32D. I found replacement bulbs online for around $20 a piece. So since I needed 4, would have run me $80. I even found some LED replacement kits for $15 a piece. But they were half the length and replacing all 14 CCFL's would have run me between $105 and $210. I just didn't want to sink that much money into a set that was given to me because it wasn't working in the first place. (yes, I'm a cheap bastich. haha) So I found the entire backlight panel from a RCA L32HD31L on ebay for $31.50. I figured since both sets were from the same manufacturer and they were the same size, the CCFL's would be the same. You guessed it, they were not.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...Y/IMG_1319.jpg is the image of the bulbs in my set, the L32HD32D
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...Y/IMG_1316.jpg is the image of the bulbs in the L32HD31L.
Needless to say, I was bummed and a little disappointed. But I figured, "What the hell. It could work." So after some soldering and fair bit of cussing, I got it to work. *pats self on the back*
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...Y/IMG_1320.jpg It's not perfect, but it works! Sort of...
Seems that while I got it to finally work with a picture and everything, I damaged the small ribbon cable while assembling the set back together. When I saw the damaged cable and realized what I had done, let's just say I cussed so much, my dog won't come near me anymore.:gigglemad Anyone know where I can order one?