Hi, the failed lamp is visibly darker on the end and does not strike at
all. The inverter is on the power supply, 4 outputs (2 transformers). I
haven't separated the diffuser sheets from each other in an effort to
prevent contamination and to avoid incorrect orientation on reassembly,
and have partially reassembled the screen to keep everything together
while I try and locate a tube.
With another tube connected, plus the 3 good ones in the screen, the LCD
works fine and displays a good image. With the bad tube in place the
inverter will shut off a few seconds after power up. Initally before
this diagnosis we had tried patching in a seperate inverter but the
symptoms were identical.
Since it's only a cheap unit we have decided to take this approach
rather than scrap the unit, since it would not be worthwhile to replace
the whole LCD. Owner intends to use it as a bedroom set if we can get it
functional.