I have a 42 inch Philips LCD flat screen TV in my office thats worked fine until just recently.
Now when I turn the thing on it snaps right back off again.
Prior to this it would rarely do this but now it appears that this is it's only mode

I suspect it is likely a power supply or maybe an inverter.
I looked online and found the service manual for this critter and it does indeed have both a power supply board and an inverter, both of which look like they simply plug in on the main chassis.

Rather than mess around with this thing I called a couple of local repair businesses and even called Philips and got the local "factroy service" people they recommend.
ALL of the services quoted an Estimate of approx. $400 to repair the damn thing!!
WTF??!!
Checking the ads for Best Buy, H. H. Gregg and Walmart show that I can buy a NEW 42 inch LCD, 720p (or even 1080p depending on brand) unit for approx. $500 - $600
Not Philips brand , but still decent brand names.

So I guess the blasted things are almost disposable now?
They cost nearly as much to repair as buying a new one??!!

Has anyone done any of their own repairs on one of these?
Where would I get parts, (power board and inverter) and how much do THOSE cost??

Silly me, but I'm somehow betting that the big repair cost IS NOT in the parts....but I *can* twist a philips head screw driver and plug in little cables with the best of em'

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 05-28-2011).]

Man TVs have been like that for a long time, over a decade. Cost more to fix than just throw out and buy a new one, and the new ones always have more features.

i would say it is getting to that point, a new one might be more energy efficient, and have a sharper image, better colors, ect...
might be worth it to check in to a new one,
but in all reality it is probably a $0.50 capacitor

quote Originally posted by $Rich$: but in all reality it is probably a $0.50 capacitor

Probably, but in reality I am not about to pay some dude $400 to diagnose and replace a 50-cent capacitor when I can just buy a new TV for $250...............

It is common for the capacitors on the power supply board to expand and leak or in some cases split open completely. Usually you can do a visual of the capacitors. Open the case and just look at the tops of the caps. I have fixed many dead LCD screens like that. I usually go to a higher voltage cap but the farad rating has to be the same.

[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 05-28-2011).]

randye,
I ran into the same issue about a year ago. The parts to repair my 52 inch flat screen were less than a hundred bucks but the repair guy was gonna charge me almost four hundred. Of course, he charged me $75 just to diagnose the problem. I told him he could keep it. I would not be surprised to find my former flat screen in his shop with a forsale sign on it. Mean while, I'm enjoying my new flat screen. Sure wish I knew how to work all of it's functions.

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Ron

quote Originally posted by IMSA GT: It is common for the capacitors on the power supply board to expand and leak or in some cases split open completely. Usually you can do a visual of the capacitors. Open the case and just look at the tops of the caps. I have fixed many dead LCD screens like that. I usually go to a higher voltage cap but the farad rating has to be the same.

THIS ^^^^^

So then these TV repair people are either the worst businessmen EVER, or completely insane, (or both)...

quote Originally posted by randye: So then these TV repair people are either the worst businessmen EVER, or completely insane, (or both)...

Yes.

When you consider that the repairman is in America,and charges <$100 an hour, and the guys who built it are in China or wherever , and get paid $2-3 a DAY...you can see why repairs are so expensive in relation to the construction.
I was stunned, when I returned my watch phone to China to be repaired!! They quoted me $5...and FREE return shipping Of course I accpeted that, and the watch was there and back in 15 days, and yes..it cost me $10 to ship, and $5 for repair and shipping I was MIGHTY happy with that, and the watch phone still works perfectly, nearly a year later
I have repaired 3 LCD flatscreen TV's, with the help of an old friend (74), in the UK via internet,who used to run his own TV repair service. His advice was to NEVER leave the TV on standby, because it causes a build-up of current at the 'dam'...the power circuit board. So, I turn it RIGHT off every night, and it is fine (the one I kept ) ever since. He says he still has maybe 20 LCD's he has repaired over the years, and the client simply didn't bother to collect it, didn't pay the bill, and bought a new TV instead
Nick
PS...how is the new venture going Randy? Hope you are having success with it
Nick

[This message has been edited by fierofetish (edited 05-28-2011).]

LED has gone and obsoleted LCD far superior pic quality/reliability/ i got a 20in for my truck.

Are LCD Flatscreen TVs considered DISPOSABLE now??
Heh ... this is not exclusive to flat screen TV's. Things today, are built to be replaced. It keeps the money flowing.
Me ... old CRT tv's. Just recently got a flat screen monitor because the old CRT got funky. The TV's are great. Heh, they are almost free now, used.

Much like Pex and Sharkbites made the plumber

Considering the job market.. might almost bill myself out as a plumber..

quote Originally posted by randye: I have a 42 inch Philips LCD flat screen TV in my office thats worked fine until just recently. Now when I turn the thing on it snaps right back off again. Prior to this it would rarely do this but now it appears that this is it's only mode I suspect it is likely a power supply or maybe an inverter. I looked online and found the service manual for this critter and it does indeed have both a power supply board and an inverter, both of which look like they simply plug in on the main chassis. Rather than mess around with this thing I called a couple of local repair businesses and even called Philips and got the local "factroy service" people they recommend. ALL of the services quoted an Estimate of approx. $400 to repair the damn thing!! WTF??!! Checking the ads for Best Buy, H. H. Gregg and Walmart show that I can buy a NEW 42 inch LCD, 720p (or even 1080p depending on brand) unit for approx. $500 - $600 Not Philips brand , but still decent brand names. So I guess the blasted things are almost disposable now? They cost nearly as much to repair as buying a new one??!! Has anyone done any of their own repairs on one of these? Where would I get parts, (power board and inverter) and how much do THOSE cost?? Silly me, but I'm somehow betting that the big repair cost IS NOT in the parts....but I *can* twist a philips head screw driver and plug in little cables with the best of em'

Changing inverters and capacitors is a snap. Finding the information seems to be the biggest issue. Take it apart and visually inspect it, something should look "awry"

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: LED has gone and obsoleted LCD far superior pic quality/reliability/ i got a 20in for my truck.

This is not even remotely true. Also they are still LCD, they are just LED backlit. They do make an LED TV, but I can assure you, that isn't what you bought. LED isn't going to be around long anyway. OLED will replace it shortly. Much like the CFL it was merely a stop-gap.


I just bought a 32" 1080P LCD for $270 shipped and taxed. Last month I bought 2 42" 1080P LCDs for $400 shipped and taxed. I would NEVER pay a repairman more than half the cost of a new one to fix a broken item. It just doesn't make sense.

------------------
If 1 vest is thin, then rock 2 vest.

quote Originally posted by fierofetish: When you consider that the repairman is in America,and charges <$100 an hour, and the guys who built it are in China or wherever , and get paid $2-3 a DAY...you can see why repairs are so expensive in relation to the construction. ... Nick

^^^ This.

American service technicians have to pay rent/mortgage, taxes, gas, food - all the same things that you do. If they have their own shop, which they often rent, they need to pay its expenses, too.

I've heard it said that, if you were to build a $30K Buick from parts ordered, it would cost you over $100K.

It was less than 10 years that I would sell a 720P 50" Plasma for $10,000. The 42" was $5,000. In a couple of years, the 42" was $3,500, then $2,000, then $1,000, and now $599 for a name brand and less for a "who?" In fact, I'm selling a 42" 1080P LG LCD TV for $599, new in a box. At first, it was simple supply and demand - the lower the price got, the more people could afford them. Then the big box stores started to beat each other up, and Nobody Beats the Wiz, Circuit City and Ultimate Electronics go under. Price erosion rules the day - FPTVs have become a commodity. It's too bad, really. No more Pioneer Elite, no more Fujitsu, there's talk that Mitsubishi will stop production (possibly sticking with big DLPs) and I haven't heard much from Hitachi.

Smaller stores are making decisions to get out of video, so all you'll have is BestBuy, Wally World and Amazon. If price is the most important factor in buying a TV, then we are reaping what we have sewn. How's that choice working out for you?

quote Originally posted by IMSA GT: It is common for the capacitors on the power supply board to expand and leak or in some cases split open completely. Usually you can do a visual of the capacitors. Open the case and just look at the tops of the caps. I have fixed many dead LCD screens like that. I usually go to a higher voltage cap but the farad rating has to be the same.

X3-that's what got my Samsung after 15 months. It was a $30.00 fix to replace the capacitors and by the soldering iron and materials.

I started a wee bit of research and it does indeed look like it's most frequently an issue with capacitors on a power supply board....
A lot of the comments regard the "instant on" feature of these TVs as being the primary culprit, (long with cheap crap Chinese capacitors), which causes the junk capacitors to meet an early death from having power to the set constantly.

I'm not too cheap to buy a new and probably better TV, (this one was 2 years old), but the idea of something like this becoming essentially disposable from a financial aspect is somehow disquieting to me, plus the idea that repair people cannot grasp the simple concept of being *competetive* to new product sales seems insane to me as well.

quote Originally posted by ls3mach: LED isn't going to be around long anyway. OLED will replace it shortly.

Yup, and it will be AWESOME!

quote Originally posted by Patrick's Dad: American service technicians have to pay rent/mortgage, taxes, gas, food - all the same things that you do. If they have their own shop, which they often rent, they need to pay its expenses, too. I've heard it said that, if you were to build a $30K Buick from parts ordered, it would cost you over $100K.

I understand that and I have ZERO qualms about anyone making a fair and decent profit in any business.
What I cannot comprehend is any business that apparently prices itself out of business.
If you're driving your potential customers to forego your services and simply buy a new product because of your fees,.... well thats just craziness.

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 05-28-2011).]

quote Originally posted by Patrick's Dad: there's talk that Mitsubishi will stop production.....

They have a premium product, but the price is also at a premium.
If price were no object, their product would be my choice.

quote Originally posted by fierofetish: PS...how is the new venture going Randy? Hope you are having success with it Nick

I think I'm going to forget the bother of my new business and go into TV repair Nick.
On the surface of it, it appears as though the vocation is quite lucrative and doesn't require one whit of business sense.

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 05-28-2011).]

Everything is designed to be disposable. If they weren't, they fear going out of business due to people not buying new stuff as often.

I don't think they are "disposable", as they are e-waste and your curbside pickup likely won't collect them.

quote Originally posted by WhiteDevil88: I don't think they are "disposable", as they are e-waste and your curbside pickup likely won't collect them.

Well, you have to pay to have them removed and recycled, but they are still disposable products.

Speaking of e-waste, i shudder to think how many classic devices have been destroyed by those campaigns.

[This message has been edited by User00013170 (edited 05-29-2011).]

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: LED has gone and obsoleted LCD far superior pic quality/reliability/ i got a 20in for my truck.

OOohhh, GREEAAATT.....not only did some fool give you a truck, NOW ya are gonna be busy watching Oprah and not even paying attention to the road !!!

quote Originally posted by IMSA GT: It is common for the capacitors on the power supply board to expand and leak or in some cases split open completely. Usually you can do a visual of the capacitors. Open the case and just look at the tops of the caps. I have fixed many dead LCD screens like that. I usually go to a higher voltage cap but the farad rating has to be the same.

X4?

I repaired my 19" flat screen monitor with less than $10 worth of electrolytic capacitors. And I replaced nearly every one! (Only one was "bloated" but I replaced everything in sight.)

The two big things to remember are that the value (in uF - microfarads) must be the same, and the voltage rating must be the same or higher. (I was going to go to higher voltage caps when I replaced mine, but the guy at the parts house was familiar with what I was doing and told me about the substandard chinese caps that manufacturers were using. Said that high quality caps of the same rating would be acceptable.)
Also pay attention to the polarity of the capacitors. If you install them backwards, they tend to explode.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 05-29-2011).]

quote Originally posted by randye: I understand that and I have ZERO qualms about anyone making a fair and decent profit in any business. What I cannot comprehend is any business that apparently prices itself out of business. If you're driving your potential customers to forego your services and simply buy a new product because of your fees,.... well thats just craziness.

I think that you missed the point.

If the tech priced by ratio of the new machine, he would be out of business because he couldn't make enough money to keep his doors open. The market (business that don't do repairs to begin with and the consumers that buy there) did that to him.

Hypothetically, PD's TV Repair is open for business:

I pay $1000/month rent, $3500/month salary, $1500/month benefits (Government mandated health insurance, etc), $150/month business insurance (?), $300/month utilities, $500/month marketing, $1200/month taxes, then I have to take in over $8000/month, and I probably missed a bunch of things that go into running a business. So, how many $30 capacitor repairs will I have to do - even charging $129 (to make it "fair") - to make the nearly $100,000/year that I need just to keep the doors open? And then, how do I save for my retirement?

Maybe I can repair DVD players. BD players. Wii, XBOX and PS3.

Looks like I'll have to go and add small engine repair. It's not like lawnmowers are commodities.... Oh, wait.... Um, digital cameras?


Unhypothetically, the service department sucks money from our store, but the owner is so dead set on us being the ones to take care of customers from when they walk in the store (or call us on the phone) until the machine's last breath, that we do employ a TV tech (who does know about the cap issue) and ten appliance techs to do so. Is he wrong? No. We've prospered over the last several years and watched as several much larger companies have failed.

Why pay a repair shop to do it? Do some online searching and find the part number for the power supply or inverter. The do some searching and find a vendor selling them. Order one, pop the case apart unplug the old one plug in new one and pop the case back together. That's what I did for our 32" LCD and the power supply was $59.00 plus shipping. /shrug, Maybe I'm just not afraid to fix things myself? I mean I order broken amplifiers off of E-bay from time to time and repair them. Most of the time either the power supply rail or output pairs are blown.

Oh...and...Happy birthday on the 1st, Randy

i own a 56"dlp tv and have had to change the light bulb in it, the tv tells you when it is getting weak. ordered a new one and changed it my self.one never knows what he can do untill he tries.

What brand is yours?


I've had my LG brand 42 LCD for 4 years since 2007 the year it came out and its still running awesome and people still compliment the picture (they obviously havent seen newer HDTVs) but hey its better than a square box. Or a cheapo brand

BTW

I use my tv HEAVILY so for 4 years of constant use its a bad ass tv

[This message has been edited by ShadowHawk (edited 05-29-2011).]

quote Originally posted by randye: I started a wee bit of research and it does indeed look like it's most frequently an issue with capacitors on a power supply board.... A lot of the comments regard the "instant on" feature of these TVs as being the primary culprit, (long with cheap crap Chinese capacitors), which causes the junk capacitors to meet an early death from having power to the set constantly. I'm not too cheap to buy a new and probably better TV, (this one was 2 years old), but the idea of something like this becoming essentially disposable from a financial aspect is somehow disquieting to me, plus the idea that repair people cannot grasp the simple concept of being *competetive* to new product sales seems insane to me as well.

What do you mean? That they should also work for $2-3 dollars a day? Plus, say $0.50 cents to make up the lack of shipping costs?
THIS is why China is winning a War we cannot compete with!! The guy in Hongkong from whom I get most of my electrical goods....LIVES IN AN APARTMENT IN the factory block!! This is considered to be the rest of his salary, along with food from the canteen there. He lives there with his wife and baby...and just imagine what would happen should he be fired OUT on the STREET, wife, baby and all!! He is a prisoner within his employment. Simple as that. No need to travel to work, because he lives there.No need to shop for much, because it is provided by his job. Free electrical goods from the factory... he says he NEEDS nothing more, and is content.
Now, just imagine an American living in at his work
It wouldn't happen, as far as HE is concerned. BUT, in order to compete with China, HE MIGHT WELL HAVE TO, in the not too distant future

quote Originally posted by fierofetish: THIS is why China is winning a War we cannot compete with!! The guy in Hongkong from whom I get most of my electrical goods....LIVES IN AN APARTMENT IN the factory block!! This is considered to be the rest of his salary, along with food from the canteen there. He lives there with his wife and baby...and just imagine what would happen should he be fired OUT on the STREET, wife, baby and all!! He is a prisoner within his employment. Simple as that. No need to travel to work, because he lives there.No need to shop for much, because it is provided by his job. Free electrical goods from the factory... he says he NEEDS nothing more, and is content. Now, just imagine an American living in at his work It wouldn't happen, as far as HE is concerned. BUT, in order to compete with China, HE MIGHT WELL HAVE TO, in the not too distant future

Bullseye.

quote Originally posted by IMSA GT: It is common for the capacitors on the power supply board to expand and leak or in some cases split open completely. Usually you can do a visual of the capacitors. Open the case and just look at the tops of the caps. I have fixed many dead LCD screens like that. I usually go to a higher voltage cap but the farad rating has to be the same.

quoted for truth.
all my lcd monitors i own are curbside pickups that ive repaired. my 32 inch tv in the bedroom is a freebee from craigslist, all of them had cheap caps that went bad. the tv took the longest to repair witch was mostly taking the damn thing apart. buck 50 worth of parts and i got myself a new tv. to replace the power board was gonna run me 250 bucks and for sears to do it 550.

I just rummaged through my discs of photos, and found this, which is the starter board on my LCD TV that I repaired with the help of an old friend I mentioned above :

The capacitor I changed out is the big 400v one which was the bad one, but I think I changed the ones by my finger too, but can't remember.
If you have Skype, and want to take the TV apart, I asked my friend Alex, and he said he would be happy to tell you what needs doing, if you can take a xouple of pics for him to see
Nick

Best to change out all the caps on the power supply, especially if the tv was built in the early to mid 2000's - the problem comes from a bit of industrial theft in which company b stole capacitor formula from cmpany a, but didn't get all the info and made cheap knock caps with this missing info. Needless to say that those caps are all starting to fail (affects everything built in that time frame using the cheap caps - including Apple computers).

The caps that are causing the problem are easy to see visually as they usually have the top of the 'can' pushed out (not flat anymore, but has expanded - sometime it happens onthe bottom and not as obvious). See here for some info/pictures: http://www.mikerepairscompu...itors-your-computer/

AS for the comment made about LED being dead - got your facts mixed up, LCD (CFL backlit) was first, then LCD (LED backlit) and now true LED tv's. The market is still dominated by LCD as they are cheaper. And, yes, OLED is coming...

[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 05-30-2011).]

Simple answer is yes. TVs, vcr and disc players are all throw away.

Why would you spend $250 to fix a 4 year old tv you could replace for $350. DVD players are $30, any repair is going to be $75. VCRS even bettter. I bought 3 new ones for $25 in the box. Once in a great while, there is a cheap repair like I guess Samsung had a resistor pack that went bad you can replace yourself if your a little tech savey for a few dollars.

quote Originally posted by Mickey_Moose: AS for the comment made about LED being dead - got your facts mixed up, LCD (CFL backlit) was first, then LCD (LED backlit) and now true LED tv's. The market is still dominated by LCD as they are cheaper. And, yes, OLED is coming...

Where you referring to me or Rick? I am very aware of how the technology progressed. As stated LED backlit is a mere stopgap. It won't be a standard OLED will run it out in no time. OLED is already common in phones. It is thinner, less energy and in some cases flexible.

quote Originally posted by carnut122: X3-that's what got my Samsung after 15 months. It was a $30.00 fix to replace the capacitors and by the soldering iron and materials.

Ive heard this about Samsung. I have 2 of them. One is about 5 years old and other is 3. There on nearly 24/7. Even when not home, I leave one on for the kitty. Usually fall asleep with them on.

Some LCD (maybe earlier ones) are 12 volt and they have a built in power inverter. I ran a 'home' JVC television in one car off just a custom made lighter cord. You have to read the specs on the tv back panel.