Laptop LCD replacement gone bad

[dotson100]

Okay, first post but long time user, I had a customer come in with a broken/cracked LCD on a Lenovo T460 standard stuff. I had never worked on that specific laptop before but I agreed to order a new screen and repair it for her.

When doing the repair I disconnected the external battery and peeled off the bezel yadda yadda. Plugged the new screen in and there was a spark accompanied by the sweet smell of burning electronics.

Apparently this model has a built in INTERNAL battery I didn't know about, I had the external 3 ft away and on pressing the power button i heard Win7 startup noises. I'm assuming this is what caused the short. Neither the old or the new screen show any display but the laptop works fine connected to an external display.

So my question is what is the problem? LCD cable? Motherboard? Will I need to order a 3rd display? I definitely messed up here and I need to correct the problem for the customer but I am the only technician at my workplace and I'm at a loss as to next steps. Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[jarotech]

Hi, you usually have some protection on the motherboard for such a problem. You should see a burned component near the LCD connector, perhaps a coil.

 

[dotson100]

Hi, you usually have some protection on the motherboard for such a problem. You should see a burned component near the LCD connector, perhaps a coil.

If that is the case, what is needed to fix the problem?

 

[BadAsAl]

Have you now disabled the internal battery? See page 60: https/download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/t460_hmm_en_sp40k04896_01.pdf

I would be carefully inspecting the motherboard for any damaged or fried components. If you find any then at least you know it is the problem and you will likely have to replace it. I doubt it is the LCD cable since the original monitor is also not showing anything.

Sorry this happened to you, it reminds all of us that we can't know everything and some things will still surprise us. It also reminds me to look for a service manual before working on an unknown laptop, it warns you on every page to disable the internal battery. I hope this doesn't end up being an expensive lesson for you.