Headsup on Samsung LCD TV screens

[ranchhand]

There is an ongoing problem with some Samsung TV LCDs; bad caps for the most part, but this is slowly developing into something big. I have this same problem with my Sammy 40" that I bought in 2009, same identical pixelations and slow startup. These problems go back to 2007 and Samsung is ducking the issue.
Link: http://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=62360&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&sid=28021364c67...d179&start=570

[edDV]

Interesting forum. I've now collected two dead LCD computer monitors and a laptop (Samsung, Sony and Viewsonic) all with power/inverter problems. Replacement modules cost more than a new monitor. I wish there was a site for board level repair for common failures.

[V Bot]

Samsung ducking a defective product? Funny, I have 3 dead pixels on my PN50A550 Plasma and have called them after two pixels showed up and then was told it has to be 3 to warrant a repair. Well I called them after the third showed up and then was told it must be more than three. It was still under warranty at the time. Nice TV, but terrible customer service/policies. I paid $1400.00 for the TV with a $200.00 rebate from NFL Shop and could be out of a TV at anytime. So be warned folks. Samsung doesn't give a _______ about their customers. I still haven't let this issue die, so I need to send them another e-mail. I still prefer Plasma to LCD. Just need to find another electronics company/brand.

[edDV]

The worse problem is once the warranty is out, replacement modules are so expensive it is about the same cost to buy a new TV or monitor on sale.

[Anonymous4]

12

[ranchhand]

As far as repairs... that site I linked to is posted with a lot of folks that have repaired their own TVs. I think I will give it a go, I have seen our techs open these things up at work and do minor repairs. How hard can it be to resolder four capacitors? It's not rocket science.

[MJA]

not really that hard to replace caps.The guys at badcaps.net helped a a lot when my samsung tuner( DTB-H260F)box stopped working.saved me a good $200

bought the caps from http://www.digikey.com/. the whole thing cost me less than $10

http://www.badcaps.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=31

[nic2k4]

... I wish there was a site for board level repair for common failures.

I'm amazed at how many different types of electronic devices I've repaired simply by re-soldering a few pins. Most everything is soldered with the reflow method and works just fine with SMD components. Until they find the perfect temp and duration combination components with (relatively) large pins, tend to have cold solder joints. Over time the joint becomes resistive or just breaks and problems appear.

... How hard can it be to resolder four capacitors? It's not rocket science.

The hard part is not re-soldering, it's de-soldering. You got to use the right tools, either a de-soldering iron or a soldering iron and a vacuum pump, never mind wick on pins. When re-soldering use a low power iron (around 25W) or an adjustable one, you don't want to overheat the traces on a PCB. Nothing worse than a copper trace peeling off and then melting on your iron. If you're just fixing cold joints, your goal is to put as little extra solder as you can; avoid big blobs. Worse is putting so much solder that it overflows on the other side of the board.

Edit: Should add, use fine solder like .032", the heavy stuff makes it hard to control the amount you're using.

[aedipuss]

As far as repairs... that site I linked to is posted with a lot of folks that have repaired their own TVs. I think I will give it a go, I have seen our techs open these things up at work and do minor repairs. How hard can it be to resolder four capacitors? It's not rocket science.

depends. do you have the tools and expertise to do board level repair? it's not as easy as it appears. the soldier pads on boards are delicate and easily destroyed.

without milspec assemblers there would be no "rocket science".

[ranchhand]

Thanks Nic, I appreciate the input. Actually, I have done a fair amount of solding on various things through the years. I will let you guys know how it goes. Whats the difference? It will soon fail anyway. But.... I stopped in at the link I posted earlier again after 2 weeks and there are are a dozen more pages added since then. There is an increasing number of unhappy consumers out there, and those are just the ones that discovered the website. There are probably thousands more who don't have a clue this is an increasingly common problem with Samsungs.

[MOVIEGEEK]

As with all electronics the weakest link is electrolytic caps, they are susceptable to overheating and leaking.

The Samsung power board problems have been known for several years now, there have been discussions on www.avsforum.com and other websites.

On a personal note I will never buy a Samsung product because of poor quality control with their tv's and Blu-ray players.

[ranchhand]

Well, not trying to beat a dead horse, but I told you all that I would get back with the results of my home repair: Piece of cake to do, and TV's back to normal. 16 small screws to hold the back on, and the power supply panel was right in front of me. These are 10Volt, 1000 mf (don't know the correct suffix, microfarad), so I went to Radio Shack and bought 1 roll of copper braid and 4 caps. I went with 35 Volt, 1000mf caps. The circuit board had 4 screws, removed it and de-soldered the old caps and resoldered the new. Hooked it up and it started on the first click. All is well. Total cost for repair: $8 and an hour of time.

[bendixG15]

.................... and de-soldered the old caps .............................

What tools did you use for the de-soldering ????

[oldfart13]

Thanks for the links! Started out with this fix for Samsungs and ended up on Youtube where I found a vid on how to fix my ailing Sony SLHFR70 Betamax. That just saved a ton of money as I was considering buying a replacement deck (though I got one from a friend that is better than the old SL2710 or the SLHFR70). Simple $2.00 fix too...

[ranchhand]

Hi Bendix.... I already had a fine-tip soldering gun (so that saved some $), so I just used copper braid and it worked like a charm.

[bendixG15]

Hi Bendix.... I already had a fine-tip soldering gun (so that saved some $), so I just used copper braid and it worked like a charm.

Thanks, I'll look into that.........