Distinguishing between inverter problem and LCD cable problem

"Hi Andrew, welcome to iFixit Answers.

The difference between the video cable (LVDS cable) and the inverter cable :

The LVDS cable brings the video to your LCD display from the graphic card located on your logic board. The cable and the LVDS socket are located at the right side of the logic board.

The inverter cable brings the electrical power from the logic board (upper left side) to the inverter board in the display assembly and this board powers up the backlight bulb so you can see the video onscreen.

Your problem is a lightning one and the inverter cable is often the culprit in this kind of failure. From the symptoms described in your question it seems that the inverter cable is cut out somewhere in the hinge and only makes contact when the display is open at a certain angle or the cable is not well seated in the inverted board socket losing/getting contact when you're moving the display.

You'll have to carefully verify your inverter cable connections and visually check the cable for any damage where it goes inside the hinge."

Sounds to me like the cable gets pinched and shorts out at certain angles. I would replace the cable before the inverter in this situation. If the inverter is bad, then the backlight usually stays out no matter what angle the display is at.

"For anyone out there, I found a supplier on eBay who is the front man for a Hong Kong parts supplier from whom I got my inverter cable for $18 (US suppliers take note, none of that $105 crap from you please.) Very important that you get the right cable for your MacBook.

When you come to take your machine apart, one thing that is not mentioned in the guides is that the hinge bar of the screen rests in a plastic seating that's in two parts. The top part is a very small shaped plastic piece that sprung out of the seating as I manipulated the screen and disappeared for quite some time before I found it.

Screws to the hinge are not the same on either side so make sure you have a system of matching screw to place when you come to put it together again.

This system must be foolproof in case you are interrupted - as I was - and you are away from the project for enough time to forget where everything goes."

"Hi,

My macbook air has a similar problem. Take a look at this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMaxUqs5...

On hotter days, after a while it becomes working OK.

Regards

Joao"