Repair your own LCD TV for less than a couple of quid and no special skills.

[BigBird]

Haven't repaired any TV's since the days of the Hybrids but repaired a couple of LCD TV's last week for a couple of friends. Thought I would share some info that may be useful to someone:

Unlike the TVs of years ago which used to suffer all sorts of failures, especially with the high voltage circuits, the majority of faults now seem to be failing capacitors. These failed capacitors can usually be spotted just by having a good look. The power supply board will usually be the culprit. To make everything smaller the capacitors selected for the job operate very close to their maximum voltage rating. On a 15 volt line for example they have 16v capacitors fitted. This is probably why they fail so often. Repaired both TV's without switching on my multimeter or capacitance meter. Just a soldering iron, and a pozidrive screwdriver to take the back off and the circuit board out (all cables just unplug).

One of the TV's would not switch on from standby. Sure enough there was one capacitor which was showing signs of failure by the bulging top which should normally be totally flat. Cost of repair 1 capacitor @ 38p



The second TV came on but did not have any display. The fault was two capacitors alongside the transformers supplying the 300 or so volts to the cold cathod backlight tubes. In the past capacitor failure was usually obvious with a ruptured or leaking case. There was only a slight bulge on these but was still noticeable with a close look. Cost of repair Two capacitors @ £75p each




So if you have a non working LCD TV, don't throw it away without first having a good look at the capacitors on the power supply board. The capacitor top should be completely flat. Even the slightest bulge is a sure sign of failure. Don't need any special soldering skills to change them because the solder pads are a decent size and nothing like trying to change a component on something like a mobile phone.

You can even buy capacitor kits for many brands and models of TV on ebay or even Amazon these days, but is cheaper to buy what you need from somewhere like RS components or CPC. (">