Plasma TV Repair

[CaramonLS]

Anyone have a recommendation for a good in home TV repairman? Or an experience using one before? I see some of those guys advertising on kijiji, but not sure what reputable they are...

My Plasma TV is having some issues and would rather see if I can get it repaired instead of buying a new TV. Turns off intermittently and sometimes boot loops.

[Canehdianman]

I'm pretty sure a new TV is the better option.

[PsYcNeT]

Plasmas are really prone to overheating, resulting in caps blowing. If you're comfortable, sometimes the only solution (besides buying a new TV or paying through the nose for repairs) is to open up the back and snip and solder on new caps, or sometimes replace the mainboard (usually ~60$ on ebay).

You have to be comfortable with electronics soldering however.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Plasmas are really prone to overheating, resulting in caps blowing. If you're comfortable, sometimes the only solution (besides buying a new TV or paying through the nose for repairs) is to open up the back and snip and solder on new caps, or sometimes replace the mainboard (usually ~60$ on ebay).

You have to be comfortable with electronics soldering however.

To elaborate on this, I had this happen to my plasma. Didn't want to pay for a new tv (but would have) so I decided to try and fix it myself. Ended up working great. Sold it to a friend who still uses it now (would be about 8 or 9 years old now).

[chemgear]

Still have a Kuro that I'm sorta loathe to replace. But I probably will.

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Plasmas are really prone to overheating, resulting in caps blowing. If you're comfortable, sometimes the only solution (besides buying a new TV or paying through the nose for repairs) is to open up the back and snip and solder on new caps, or sometimes replace the mainboard (usually ~60$ on ebay).

You have to be comfortable with electronics soldering however.

I looked at his post and would have agreed with you until he says it boot loops pointing more towards a system board, however caps could cause reboots also. I fixed a plasma earlier this year by simply touching up all the solder joints on the power board with proper leaded solder as there was a period that companies stopped using lead and became prone to solder joints cracking and failing.

The fact that it turns on at all is worth trying to fix but trying to get someone to your house to fix that will not be worth it at all.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

I'm pretty sure a new TV is the better option.

Probably, but I loathe to give it up. It is a 60 inch Samsung F8500 and the picture quality is pretty amazing. I'd probably have to drop close to 2k to get something really comparable.

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Probably, but I loathe to give it up. It is a 60 inch Samsung F8500 and the picture quality is pretty amazing. I'd probably have to drop close to 2k to get something really comparable.

The model I fixed was a Samsung PN64E550D1F I'd bet on power board and bad solder. Does it cycle more after its on for a bit? Solder heats up and loses connection.

[BloodFetish]

I had a Panasonic plasma fail many years ago. Found a guy on ebay who repairs TV boards and by the symptoms was able to identify what board needed fixing. Shipped it to him, and when I got it back and reassembled the TV it was working again and still going strong in my Mom's house. Point is there are guys out there who can probably fix it.

If all else fails and have nothing to lose, I've fixed the formatter boards in HP printers by heating them in the oven to reflow the solder joints, after which they'd work fine for a year until the joints fail again. This was after they switched to no-lead solder. I forget what temperature and for how long but I'm sure Google has the answers.

[InglewoodFan]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Still have a Kuro that I'm sorta loathe to replace. But I probably will.

If I had a Kuro I'd want to keep it too. My Panasonic plasma is still going strong after 9+ years, the picture is still fantastic.

(I just moved it to a different room and put it on a wall mount. Holy crap is that thing heavy compared to the LCD it replaced)

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Probably, but I loathe to give it up. It is a 60 inch Samsung F8500 and the picture quality is pretty amazing. I'd probably have to drop close to 2k to get something really comparable.

More than that - none of the LEDs are as good in a dark room, you still have to go to OLED. Although the P65C1 is at Costco for 1999 and the P65E1 is only 2299. If you were looking for a TV in that size it's a good time to buy.

But yeah, I wouldn't be in a hurry to throw that in the trash either.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Raekwon

The model I fixed was a Samsung PN64E550D1F I'd bet on power board and bad solder. Does it cycle more after its on for a bit? Solder heats up and loses connection.

Yeah it seems to loop more often after it is on for a while. Usually about 15 mins to an hour it will either turn off or go into a loop. I unplug it and plug it back in to fix temporarily.

Sometimes it just won't start up at all, like if I haven't used it for a few days, pressing the power switch on the remote doesn't do anything. Unplugging for 10 secs usually fixes that issue and I can start it.

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Yeah it seems to loop more often after it is on for a while. Usually about 15 mins to an hour it will either turn off or go into a loop. I unplug it and plug it back in to fix temporarily.

Sometimes it just won't start up at all, like if I haven't used it for a few days, pressing the power switch on the remote doesn't do anything. Unplugging for 10 secs usually fixes that issue and I can start it.

If you can remove the power board I will try and fix it for free. I can always use the practice soldering.

[CaptainCrunch]

TV's and Printers are pretty much the ultimate expression of disposable technology now.

They're even being built to be tossed on failure.

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

TV's and Printers are pretty much the ultimate expression of disposable technology now.

They're even being built to be tossed on failure.

It’s that thinking that gives me free TV’s