LCD tv repair

[mgilde13]

Has anyone here replaced the power capacitors in a LCD tv? I have two tv's that no longer work properly and I was told that it's the capacitors. I'm basically looking for any insite on how to do the job and also a good source to purchase the capacitors from. Any information that you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[NWphotog]

Has anyone here replaced the power capacitors in a LCD tv? I have two tv's that no longer work properly and I was told that it's the capacitors. I'm basically looking for any insite on how to do the job and also a good source to purchase the capacitors from. Any information that you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

Who told you it was the capacitors and why? That is one thing that goes wrong wit LCD TVs but not the only possible problem. Here is a link on cap replacement.

http://www.aplusperfect.com/articles/lcd_capacitor_repair

 

[eric_koski]

U can find anything on You Tube...

 

[slimshady_2469]

i know the capacitors go bad often on the cheaper sets in the area of the power button and wont allow it to turn on/off anymore. 2 dollars in parts and i was set. look at the boards and find any caps that are domed on the top, they should always be flat, if its domed, replace it. good luck, like nwphotog said it could be more than just caps.
jesse

 

[darkk]

I have repaired more lcd monitors than I care to think about. Usually in monitors/TV's, the caps that go bad are in the power supply. There are of course exceptions. Sometimes the cap manufacturer just made inferior parts if you are lucky that's your problem. Moving past that, some of the PCB's are anywhere from 2 to 6 layers depending on the electronic item in question. usually 2 layer low end product, 6 layer high end products...with exceptions. You will need good equipment, not the Radio shack $3.95 soldering iron. If you burn the PCB, just pack it all in a box and chuck it out. No way to work around a damaged board unless you can trace and replace. The Capacitors usually go because of the voltage being to high and overheating for extended periods of time. You can replace them and sometimes get lucky to have it work for a while. Exceptions here also, sometimes they pop immediately. Either way, the best repair is to find out what caused the problem to begin with. You can also replace the caps with an item that is close if you can't find the correct value. Higher voltage within reason, never lower and you can go up to 25% higher uf value if necessary. The electronics in the power supply are not that critical. Good luck....

 

[mgilde13]

Thanks for the information everyone.

The reason that I think that capacitors are bad is in both instances, the tv's stopped working properly after we had severe thunderstorms in the area which I'm assuming may have caused voltage spikes. I've opened one of the tv's up but the capacitors don't appear to have been blown. For the few dollars that it'll cost I figured that I'd try swapping them out. I haven't done this sort of thing before (television repair) so I'm trying to be as prepared ahead of time as possible.

Thanks again,
Mike

 

[Gary S]

Capacitors are less vulnerable to lightning and power surges than solid state devices are. I'd be looking at the diodes, ICs, and other solid state devices first as being damaged from lighting and power surges.
Capacitors tend to die more from age and use.

 

[SuperSocket]

Capacitors are less vulnerable to lightning and power surges than solid state devices are. I'd be looking at the diodes, ICs, and other solid state devices first as being damaged from lighting and power surges.
Capacitors tend to die more from age and use.

Yep. Lightning does some weird things, capacitors are rarely the issue.


TV's are replaceable items... they don't even bother repairing them anymore... just like toasters and microwaves.

 

[mgilde13]

Yep. Lightning does some weird things, capacitors are rarely the issue.


TV's are replaceable items... they don't even bother repairing them anymore... just like toasters and microwaves.

I realize that they're disposable units BUT, if I fix them they'll go in the garage. My wife can't justify spending money on an LCD/LED tv for the garage that she'll never watch. But if I replace the one in the bedroom that isn't working right, I get an up grade for the garage.

 

[wesalexleft]

I replaced them in my Magnavox 42" about a 1.5 years ago and it's been working fine since. When the problem first started I'd notice the power-on LED light would go on and off about 3 times before the set turned on. It continued until the LED light motored on and off non stop. Researched on the internet and found that China had been putting out bad caps that leaked and several manufacturers had gotten them. I bought new ones to replace and the worst part was taking the back off the set. The caps were a 15 minute job and have performed flawlessly since. Like said above, look for domed capacitors. Just a little and it's bad. They're scored at the top to fail there.

 

[red]

Remembering with TV repair a lot of techs would use a spray that would cool the component and allow it to work until it warm up. Just in case it wasn't a cap

 

[darkk]

Remembering with TV repair a lot of techs would use a spray that would cool the component and allow it to work until it warm up. Just in case it wasn't a cap

compressed air in a can is what you are referring to.

 

[wesalexleft]

Here was mine. The power supply board is the one you're looking for.

 

[DoyleDee]

Whatever you do, don't break the screen....if you do- just chuck it in the trash.

 

[On1Wheel]

I realize that they're disposable units BUT, if I fix them they'll go in the garage. My wife can't justify spending money on an LCD/LED tv for the garage that she'll never watch. But if I replace the one in the bedroom that isn't working right, I get an up grade for the garage.

I have an almost three-year-old 51" lcd that will go in my shop or garage once we move. It was replaced with a brand new 55" under warranty and they don't want the old set returned. The issue the tv has is minor enough that I can live with it for what little TV I'll be watching in the shop. It will sure stink when it goes completely out and I'm used to having one that big out there.

 

[Chevron Guy]

If it's a Samsung, then check out the CNET website for more info. I found out that mine were going and Samsung was doing a one time "under warranty" fix. Worked for me. Give 'em a call.

 

[PrecisionTools]

Has anyone here replaced the power capacitors in a LCD tv?

What's the brand & model number of the devices?

compressed air in a can is what you are referring to.

You can actually buy compressed freeze spray. We use it a lot in the industry to thermally cycle suspect components.

Electrolytic capacitors can look OK and still be faulty, even a standard DC capacity check can show them to be fine. To check them under their proper operating conditions you need an ESR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivalent_series_resistance) meter. This checks the resistance of the capacitor under AC conditions which is what they they usually operate under...especially in electronic switching circuits like modern device power supplies.

And as for death of a device after a lightning storm, some times this can be misleading as well. In a lot of switch-mode power supplies, there is a little capacitor on the primary side (mains) that is used to kick the switching circuits into action at power on. If this capacitor fails and dries out (which they do a lot), the supply will work fine until the next power down, or brown out. This makes people think that the storm caused the failure. It did, but indirectly.