Sony SDM-M51 LCD Computer Monitor

(it's main failure problem and cure)

(Note: Related version SDM-S51 does not have internal speakers and uncertain if the below info will be of use ?)
(It may take a bit for all pictures to load here)

OK, I'm sure Sony would rather not have me spill the beans on this, but lets face it...they will not admit that a major problem even exists with this monitor. If one does a search around the internet, you will find so many pepole with failures on this monitor it will make your head spin.

My problems started with the screen just "fuzzing" out, but in time went go into a weird vertical striped "pink-white" mode. At first I just shut it off and came back an hour later and it worked for even 2 weeks before it did it again. Well that worked for awhile, and got worse.

Then I found that squeezing (pinching) the lower left end of the cabinet....boom..it would come back, and it might stay this way for days without another twitch.

After reading the horror stories here on the internet that Sony is doing nothing to correct the problem (sending refurbs that are worse than the one sent in..so the warranty is pretty much worthless), I decided to take a shot to perhaps fix it. Well it's still ok well over a year after the fix, so I think we have really found the problem. As you can figure, doing this will indeed void the "so-called" warranty. It will not be for the faint of heart however.

Below is what I did to take it apart and what I think is the problem here. Other problems may exist, and the one below may only cover one of many ?

Taking It Apart

First, I found a good large clean area and a nice soft large towel to set it on (remember it will be face down). I removed the 4 screws on the rear corners. Then the 4 screws that holds the stand (under that little cover). Now it gets intresting. We have 4 (one on each side in the middle) of those wonderful plastic catches that snaps the halves together. If not removed carefully, you will indeed crack the case. I took a small plastic pry tool that I just sliped inbewteen the 2 halves, slid it along the crack and it poped open (whew !).

I then was able to remove the REAR cover at this point. Picture below is what the innards look like. All screws we are dealing with are of a standard phillips type, no "torx" type thank goodness.

The part that that has the problem is with the section marked as "Video Electronics". Below is what it looks like after you remove the connectors and metal cover. Taking care so I could resuse the copper tape.

We have a "piggy back" connector on the bottom of this board that mates with the LCD directly and area is marked in red. Once I got it down to this level, removed the screws holding this board, and then "carefully" lifited the BOTTOM connector up .

Bad Connection ??

Ok, now what ?? Well that is an intresting one too and I don't have a 100 % solid reason as of yet to really cure the problem. Anyway my idea's...(as of me writting this).

First this board has a bit of a "fudge" factor when screwing it down. That is if you try and line the holes up for a better screw alignment, you are going to stress this above connector (that I can say for sure). The holes do not line up as perfect as it should without "twisting" this connector a bit. I also noticed on my sample, as you can see on the above picture, there is a thick plastic sheet under the board. The middle screw hole on this plastic sheet with my sample was not punched all the way so this screw was not tightned and the board was never seated down all the way in this spot. A paper punch fixed that.

Another one I noticed too, most of the screws were not very tight. Some being hardly tight at all.

I put a very small amount of "Deoxit D-5" from Caig Labs on this connector, but what I did too was to plug it in back into its socket and then unplugging again it a number of times to reseat it and clean it off. Then properly reseating it down solid and most importanly, taking time to be sure the screws holding the board did not put a twist on this connector. It did screw down OK even if it the holes did not quite line up 100% right .

Also I took time to be sure that all screws were tight inside the entire monitor. You would be amazed how many were very loose. Many were ground screws.

Putting it Back Together . . The Right Way. Take your time.

This was a chore, and if not lined up right the front panel buttons will not punch right after you pop the rear cover back on. I had to try it 3 times, and then I got it (try "hooking the side with the pushbuttons first). Be sure the headphone jack is lined up right as it can move around fairly easy (not found with "SDM-S51" model). There should not be ANY mushy feeling at all if you squeeze it in the middle of the top or sides of the cabinet (bottom side near the headphone jack might still, which I think is normal ?). If it does, nope not back together right, or the cables are sticking out too far in the rear or are over the edge of the can. Try again and if needed flatten the cable mess out (again) at so it does not bind on the rear cover. Actually Sony did not have my samples cabinet on right from the factory...ugh !!

A tip is to keep all cables on TOP of the metal "can" and also any from dropping down along the left side. Also make sure all of these stay flat , don't stack one on top another. It will never go back together if you do. Have a good look at the picture above.

Perhaps Not all Of the Story ??

Not saying that I have all of the answers here, but I hope this info was of use and the best of luck.

Sorry Sony, but you have done it again.......

Dave N9EWO

© 2008 N9EWO
ver 8.0

Comments and Info From Others

I own a computer repair shop and typically we don't repair monitors. However, when the customer brought this in I thought I would check the web.  I did a seach on yahoo for the monitor model and your page came up.  Sure enough, her symptoms were there.  I tried the 'squeeze' test and it worked!  I ended up repairing her monitor per your instructions and I now repair Sony LCD Monitors.  AWESOME tech tip.  Sony go pound sand.

Marcus Standifer

Dave,

I don't know how long ago you created your page relating to the Sony SDM-M51, but I'd like to thank you for looking into this problem and coming up with a 'fix'.

I took mine apart as you suggested, and trimmed down the said plastic sheet - even around the problem connector I felt the plastic was too enclosing thus cut it back as well as made a hole bigger for a misaligned screw! Everything you wrote about faulty aligned screws etc was correct. Very poor design.(fortunately I'm use to taking my PC/laptops to pieces!)

I'll keep my fingers crossed the fade to black to white wont return for a good while.

Regards,
Brian UK

I had the same exact problem you mentioned about the Sony LCD monitor(SDM-M51). I wouldn't dare opening it. I just "squeezed" the lower left hand corner and IT WORKED !!!!!!!

Let me add that I own this monitor since 15 months and twice I took it to repair to Sony Authorized Labs in Rome (Italy) and they always gave it back saying that thay did not find any problem. What really got me confused (until I read your page) was that going back home it just worked fine. I didn't know what to think.

Anyway, thanks again. God bless you.

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