iBook Backlight Replacement Journal

I decided to do this repair on my machine after seeing how dim my iBook's backlight was compared to an iBook that hasn't been used every day for the past two and half years. Figured someone had some data on replacing the CCFL and I found this page (use a translation site) and was inspired to spend my own $12 to restore my iBook. I bought two tubes in case one broke in transit or I messed up.

Part

CCFL digi-key part No. 289-1056-ND (A part on the order of ~260mm probably wouldn't leave slightly darker corners but I choose to go with a part that someone else had determined worked.)

or
On 10-22-2003 I received email from another successful replacement that used a larger part: "258mm/2.2mm light from JKL (BF22258-25B), ordered through Mouser Electronics (560-BF22258-25B), $10.29. No dark corners!"

Tools

Torx T8 screw driver
Set of jewler's phillips screw drivers
Copper foil
Tweezers
Knife
Soldering iron
Quarter
Flux and solder

	Removed the battery so I don't fry anything... (Really need to buy myself one of those anti-static mats with grounding strap. [knock on metal] If this rough outline inspires you to do a similar CCFL replacement and you fry your machine because you didn't follow propper anti-static precautions don't say you weren't warned.)
	Two torx (T8) screws in the front of the screen...
	...and two in the back.
	Gently persuade the plastic cover off and place something soft on the keyboard so I don't scratch the screen. More screws, one under the tape near "A" and a plastic connector for the power to the CCFL at "A" as well.
	Two sets of phillips head screws to remove at "A" and "B".
	Now we get to how I could have done things better. Following this page I thought I'd be able to pull the CCFL out from the right side. Doing so I broke the old CCFL (as shown in the next photo) and broke the solder joint on the black wire. I believe I could have removed the left rubber piece "A" and worked the the tube over far enough to un-solder the black wire "C", then un-solder the white wire on the right side (see next photo) and removed the tube without undoing the copper foil "D".
	Broken tube "A", sure hope I didn't get any shards between the backlight panel and the display. Copper foil "B" that is pretty unusable once you peel it up. Glad I had some lying around to replace it with.
	Soldered one side of the tube to the black wire and inserting it back into the channel before soldering the white wire. Put the black wire back in place, fussed with the rubber tube bushings and applied new copper foil. Pop the battery back in and pray to the anti-static gods.

On October 22, 2003 Greg Cost writes:

[With a] 258mm/2.2mm light from JKL (BF22258-25B), ordered through Mouser Electronics (560-BF22258-25B), $10.29. No dark corners!

[...]The replacement went pretty smoothly: the only "problem" I had was that the top two (l and r, smaller) Phillips-head screws holding the copper bracket down were completely frozen. I ended up taking a razor blade and very carefully sawing through the (softer) 0.5 cm copper piece above the screws on both sides. Amazingly, I managed not to destroy anything in the process. The CCFL I used seems to be the same diameter as the original- and you get 37K brightness units instead of 30K with the 2.6mm diameter light. Other than that, the only real suggestion I have is to tell people to very slowly remove the rubber pieces on both ends- it was a pain to get the CCFL out. I'm not sure how the Japanese guy took it out the right without removing the tape, as the transverse black wire is outside of the channel and makes a 180deg turn at the left side. Seems to me that it would be hard to pull out without breaking, and almost impossible to reinstall correctly (the black wire outside of the CCFL channel). I ended up taking the light out of the left side so the black wire wouldn't exert force on the light during extraction.

created Feb 23, 2002
last modified Oct 22, 2003