Why does my Samsung LCD TV suck?

[Pwnin O'Brien]

I have a 40" Samsung LCD TV which is a bedroom television. It's only about three years old (out of warranty, of course) and it gets barely any use, maybe an hour or two a night. It recently started doing this thing where when I go to turn it on it will just click like it's turning on but it never turns on and it just keeps clicking. It started doing this about a month or two ago and it would do this for about five minutes before the TV would actually turn on. Now it's taking the TV anywhere from 30-60min to turn on and half of the time it doesn't have sound. Apparently I need to replace a group of capacitors in the power supply to fix the problem. This is bullsh*t because Samsung is aware of the problem (it's fairly common with their larger LCD's from this model) but they still won't cover it out of warranty. The Samsung authorized TV repair shop wants $200 plus replacement hardware to repair it.

/rant

[Jesda]

That's unfortunate. Meanwhile, my Sony Trinitron from 1991 is alive and kicking, and far more pleasant to look at than the cheaper LCDs on the market despite being SDTV. It makes a loud squeal when you turn it on though, likely a similar capacitor issue.

[marlin29311]

Sucks to hear. See if you can buy the parts online and do it yourself. Not to difficult.

[RCA]

I have a 40" Samsung LCD TV which is a bedroom television. It's only about three years old (out of warranty, of course) and it gets barely any use, maybe an hour or two a night. It recently started doing this thing where when I go to turn it on it will just click like it's turning on but it never turns on and it just keeps clicking. It started doing this about a month or two ago and it would do this for about five minutes before the TV would actually turn on. Now it's taking the TV anywhere from 30-60min to turn on and half of the time it doesn't have sound. Apparently I need to replace a group of capacitors in the power supply to fix the problem. This is bullsh*t because Samsung is aware of the problem (it's fairly common with their larger LCD's from this model) but they still won't cover it out of warranty. The Samsung authorized TV repair shop wants $200 plus replacement hardware to repair it.

/rant

Exact same issue my brother had when his 32" stop turning on. It was some where around $150-$200...
My 42" Vizio is still kicking after 4 times more usage than my brother's Samsung...

[JLAUDIO85]

realllly?? i have 3-4 samsung tvs at my rents house and no issues whatsoever.
Sansung LCD > Sony IMO

[Pwnin O'Brien]

The culprit, some crappy capacitors on the power supply board...

[Pwnin O'Brien]

Yeah, I'll probably never buy a Sony LCD. My friend bought a brand new 40in. Sony LCD TV and left in on one night. The next morning an entire row of pixels were burnt out. Luckily he could return it for a replacement.

[Empty V]

I bet you could buy the part direct for pretty cheap. I deal with a lot of LCD screens (Planar) and all of their power supplies and VIM's (video input modules) are swappable. Those are also industrial displays. Personally I'm not a fan of Sony, AT ALL. I've had good luck with all 4 of my Sharp Aquos screens but will most likely go for a Toshiba next due to the low profile.

[snwbrdr435]

No complaints on any of the Samsung LCD tvs i have or friends have know of 3 Vizios that have had major problems.

[Pwnin O'Brien]

I think the issue is that Samsung used 10V capacitors where they should have used 25V. Looks like I get to take a trip to Radio Shack this evening.

[RCA]

That Samsung issue was across most of their line-up during that particular generation.
They quickly fixed that.

[Jesda]

Remember when TVs were robust? You could turn them on and leave them running all day and night, using it to babysit the child while you snort a few lines.

[DrifterXRPS13]

Remember when TVs were robust? You could turn them on and leave them running all day and night, using it to babysit the child while you snort a few lines.

ahh, the good ole days.

[Looneybomber]

I think the issue is that Samsung used 10V capacitors where they should have used 25V. Looks like I get to take a trip to Radio Shack this evening.

I would say ditch those electrolytic caps for some polypro caps, but they're polarized and I don't know if switching to a non-polarized cap will cause any issues. It seems odd that heavier duty caps weren't used; say 50v, 63v, 100v etc... Hell, I have 400v polypro caps in my speaker crossovers!

So are you good at soldering?

*edit*
Ok, I just noticed some of those cap values.
The price difference between a light duty electrolytic and a heavy duty polypro is a lot! Replacing that 1000uf 10v electrolytic with a 1000uf (actually 10, 100uf) of the caps I use would be $223.20 and would take up about as much room as a 750ml bottle.

[Empty V]

Remember when TVs were robust? You could turn them on and leave them running all day and night, using it to babysit the child while you snort a few lines.

About 6 years ago I bought my parents a 73" Mitsubishi rear projection set. Since then the optical engine and color wheel have both gone out 6 times. Finally Mitsubishi decided that it was cheaper for them to replace it with their newest model opposed to sending out a contracted service tech.

[Jesda]

My 1999 Proscan 55" rear projection TV is now in my brother's apartment. It was cool for a while but I hated how it consumed my living room like a big black hole. Plus, I rarely use the living room.

[plalm]

Got My 42" Panasonic Viera almost 4 years ago and not a single issue. It's plasma, not LCD, but it's left on pretty often and not a single pixel or image burn and the dark colors are deep wjhile the brights are BRIGHT. Contrast Ratio ftw. it was $2200 retial at the time and i got it new for $1400 because i got it in korea lol. My roomie is using a nice 40" samsung and hasn't had any issues. My opinion is that samsung and LG make the best TV's, and a lot of professional reviews say teh same, it really comes down to what you like and how much you are willing to pay.

[Pwnin O'Brien]

Now that I think about it, I haven't really had the best luck with Samsung flat panels. My 42" Samsung plasma needed a new processing board days before the two year mark (thank god it was covered by the the two year warranty). Radio Shack didn't have any 1000uF capacitors so I'm gonna have to order from Digikey. Does anybody know a quality cap manufacturer?

One of the longest running televisions I ever owned was a 65" Toshiba TheaterView projection television. It was massive and it needed way too much space, but that television lasted ten years until the sound stopped working after moving. We gave it to a friend and it still works and the picture still looks really good.

[asoomal]

Got My 42" Panasonic Viera almost 4 years ago and not a single issue. It's plasma, not LCD, but it's left on pretty often and not a single pixel or image burn and the dark colors are deep wjhile the brights are BRIGHT. Contrast Ratio ftw. it was $2200 retial at the time and i got it new for $1400 because i got it in korea lol. My roomie is using a nice 40" samsung and hasn't had any issues. My opinion is that samsung and LG make the best TV's, and a lot of professional reviews say teh same, it really comes down to what you like and how much you are willing to pay.

I also have a 42" Panasonic Viera and I LOVE IT. The colours are very lifelike and it doesn't seem to burn in easily.

[PoorManQ45]

Now that I think about it, I haven't really had the best luck with Samsung flat panels. My 42" Samsung plasma needed a new processing board days before the two year mark (thank god it was covered by the the two year warranty). Radio Shack didn't have any 1000uF capacitors so I'm gonna have to order from Digikey. Does anybody know a quality cap manufacturer?

Check http://www.partsexpress.com also.

Not sure on manufacturers. You probably want <5% caps