Chosen Solution
My sons iPod went through the washer. It still works except for the backlight. It will sync, it will unlock, play sounds, etc just just no backlight. Warranty is useless so I’ve got nothing to lose. I haven’t found a “6R8 coil” like repair for the 4th Gen Touch. If I need to replace an entire board, which one? If there is a component to replace, which one? I have the skills to do the work, just need an idea where to start. Thanks! Update @oldturkey03 Depends on what you mean by the backlight or LCD. I see no backlight at all in this Touch. If I put a flashlight on the screen I can see the icons on the LCD, can navigate through different apps and settings, and verified that the brightness settings are at max with auto brightness both off and on. Any settings here change nothing and seeing what is on the screen is unchanged. I appreciate any ideas you have. Believe me, you aren’t going to hurt my feelings. The IC that you have pointed me to is a good idea, unfortunately the pics point show locations on an iPhone, not the iPod (if it exists). With nothing to lose, I took the unit apart tonight got out the alcohol and cleaned like a mad man. Got it all back together and no change. Unfortunately I failed to see your post until after I got the unit back together. Had I read up beforehand I could have looked for a similar IC. Too bad it’s unmarked. Again, other ideas are appreciated. I wish there was a way to determine if the LCD/LED sandwich was faulty or a component on a board was bad. I have sent this unit into iRESq and they said it wasn’t worth the repair. Had I been smart I would have asked for more details, was it the mainboard or the LCD. I should call them back tomorrow and find out. I’d presume the mainboard. It’s kind of a bummer how little info there is on these units when the iPhones and previous gens of the Touch have tons of info. Thanks again!
Mike Campa, without trying to insult you; Sure it is the backlight and not the LCD? You still have all the icons etc. just very dark? If so there is an IC on the logic board that can be replaced, but I would only do that as a last resort and would make sure it is not the LCD or corrosion/debris on the logic board. Disassemble and clean with isopropyl alcohol (personal preference). Again I hope you do not feel insulted or belittled. Check here for the part. Good Luck
I have done extensive Ipod repairs for the 1st generation through to the 4th. I can tell you from experience that the backlight is not in the LCD. I am also an electrical engineer, so what I am telling you is not b.s. The 2nd and 3rd gen Ipods for the 8gb and 16gb use a JL9 or a 109B/109H backlight. Look that up on ebay, under iphone backlight. cheap part, you need an air knife to replay the IC though because the IC is a surface mount technology (SMD) type and there are two pads under the IC that need to be soldered and cant be reached except by hot air. Now the 32gb and the 64 gb version of the 2nd and 3rd Gen Ipods use a different Backlight ic from the Iphone 4 or 4s. The part number is 1TN. It is slightly smaller than the 109B/109H production line but still functions the same. The 109B/109H are located near the bottom left of the motherboard, and the 1TN is located under the steel casing on the back of the motherboard on the top right hand side. You must pull the steel up in the corner to reveil the IC. Hope this helps and clears up any confusion you may have had in the past.
It may just be the connection between the screen and the board. My son left his iPod Touch 4G outside, in the rain, while we were on vacation. I tried rice and baking it at 220 F, but that didn’t work. I took it apart and put it back together and it worked.
The backlight in all the lcds for ipod touchs and iphones is built into the lCD, lets not talk about them as seperate entities as there’s no way of replacing the backlight without replacing the LCD. Firstly, have you tried a working LCD on the board to confirm the issue is the board and not the LCD or LCD flex? You could even use the orignal cracked one just for testing to see if it lights up. next step would be to scrutinise the connector and surrounding area on the logic board under a microscope to see if any components have been corroded off or there are any shorts being cause from residue. The idea that you “cleaned like a mad man” worries me as you should only be using a light brush after the clean with IA. It’s very easy to scrub off a tiny resistor even with a toothbrush. Beyond this i would also be struggling and if it is an IC that needs replacing could very well be financially unviable. Dave Edit: apologies, there is indeed a sepearate IC and backlight coil that supplies power to the backlight in the LCD, I misunderstood what was being said here. The Backlight itself is indeed within the screens but the power is derived from the IC mentioned and photographed in this thread.
The LCD and Digitizer connectors on the logic board for the iPod Touch 4G are very delicate and difficult to access when attempting to reconnect the replacement Digitizer/LCD. Check carefully for any damaged or missing pins on the logic board and the Digitizer/LCD. If the connector on the logic board turns out to be even slightly damaged, it may be helpful to check out the posts about my experience with this repair.
The backlight ic ic located under the EMI shield, where the Cpu and power IC are located. In order to replace a backlight IC for ipod touch 4th gen u have to take off the entire emi shield and also the metal piece under it. You have to carefully break it off, i have done this many times but it takes patience. Once you do that, its located on very top right hand corner near the PMIC Thanks
The iphone 4 backlight IC is the same used for the 4th gen Ipod Touchs and is the same one also used for the 32gb and 64gb 3rd generation Ipod Touches as well. Be carefull when you take the EMI shielding up on the circuit board because Apple uses independent grounding system and uses the EMI shield to connect the grounding nodes around the edges of the circuit board together. It may run without it on, but now your in violation of FCC regulations and if there is a static discharge internally in the ipod the circuit board is at risk because it is not properly grounded. My suggestion is using a Soldering Iron and Chemi-wik to remove the solder that attaches the EMI shield to the circuit board. This way when you are down removing the old IC and replacing it you can re-secure the shield back to the circuit board. Just an idea of correct tools if you do this a lot. I use a Hakko FX-951 and FM202 soldering station with controlled heat and interchangeable tips for different applications. Resin Solder and water-soluble solder are in common use but with the correct techniques. All of these can be found on eBay. -Adam
@dbcamaro69 I am very interested in the location of the Backlight coil and display driver IC on the ipod touches. I have many ipods that have touch screen issues and backlight failures and these two locations could bring these back to life. Can you tell me where i can find these components, I have an idea from your above post but a picture would be brilliant for a lot of us. Thanks
Hello, I took a picture of a broken one I am using for parts. The IC is removed but you can see where the solder pads are. There are six small pads and two larger pads between them. They are located just below the circular pad trace. Hope this helps.
So it’s been a while… and I’ve noticed that there have been some posts as of late. I still have the iPod in question, on the shelf and I really haven’t done much to attempt to fix it. I’m reading through these posts and while I may have the ability, I’m running low on time. Is there someone that just fix this? Is there anyone that you would recommend?
You can now get both backlight Coil and IC for less than 5$ each here Ipod touch backlight solution good luck
yes it is possible to repair ipod touch 4g no light. i have repair same problem many times. mostly water damage. it is 100% hardware problem. the line from the lcd connector to the light circuit has been cut so all you need to do is to make jumper to it and your problem will be solve. done that many times!
I got water damage on my ipod touch 4th gen and after days of rice my backlight wouldnt turn on either. researching online, i found a quick fix video on youtube that was so ridiculous i was sure it was a troll. the guy recommended dipping a q-tip in nail polish remover and shoving it in the headphone jack to vigorously clean it. i had nothing to lose, so i tried it. 30 min later the backlight turned on and i had a working touch again. but then 2 days later the backlight died again. i q-tipped the headphone jack again and the backlight returned randomly the following day… only to die again 2 hours later. for people with backlight issues, try this ridiculous method out, it might surprise you. i was blown away when it worked for me, however briefly. i was wondering if anyone knows what could possibly be near the headphone jack hole that can effect the backlight just by cleaning it? a part of me believes that if i could just reach in and clean that surrounding area throughly my backlight issues would be fixed. i managed to pop the screen off but i still cant get to whatevers surrounding the headphone jack. any insight or advice on what could have caused this phenomenon would be greatly appreciated.
I had this problem on an iPod touch 4 where the screen would remain dark intermittently. The fix I had for it was to place liquid flux to the LCD connector and re-run the solder. Cleaned up the connection with isopropyl alcohol. Fixed it and it works like a charm!! I hope this helps! Here’s our site too if anyone’s interested :) http://www.a4service.co.uk
The pinouts dont matter the back light just needs power if you can hook power to the two silver solder points on top of the lcd connector it will light.
My guess would be the lcd digitizer board. It probably shorted out where it connects onto the logic board. It has 2 connections and you have to be careful on how you disconnect them and visa versa. I ruined a plug while trying to replace a new screen. Your problem is the lcd backlight which is part of the sandwich as you call it. I hope this info isn’t too late.
Hi I actually accidentally broke my Ipod TOUCH 4 and then it has a cracked a minimal of cracks on its scrreen and I cant open it, I cant also type on the lower right part of the scrreen to type my password and even the slide to unlock bottom I sad of this because ; this is really broken ? it could be under go on repairation answer please ASAP . THANKS A LOT
