DIY Plasma or LCD TV Repair

DIY television  repair is not often something many people contemplate. It may be simpler than you think.

Repairing your own Plasma or LCD TV: Many people think “Oh my god! I couldn’t do that”, well think again; TV’s are made a lot simpler than they were 20 years ago. And now, rather than having one big main board, they have several.

Let’s break these down, for LCD TV’s we have 5 boards maximum:

• 1. POWER SUPPLY
• 2. MAIN AV BOARD
• 3. T.CON (SCREEN CONTROL)
• 4. INVERTER BOARD/BOARDS (SOMETIMES SINGLE OR TWO)

All the boards in TV’s have part numbers on them if you look closely. They can be bought cheaply on the net; the cheapest I have found, that deliver pretty quickly and offer good service is these guys: Plasma LCD TV Spares

Let’s talk about some common faults with LCD TV’s.

There are many offered for “spares or repairs” on various auction websites that can be picked up very cheaply. Today, many TV repair companies want big money just to take the back off. But, if you are handy with a screwdriver, then you can save yourself a fortune and also start making some money repairing them yourself.

The most common faults we come across are sound but no picture, this is 99% of the time down to the inverter board that has failed. This board powers the strip lamps in your screen to light it up, and can be found on the far left or right hand side of your screen. It is easily replaced with just a few screws and one or two plugs.

Stand-by faults are also very common. This is always down to the power supply in your TV. Before changing the power supply, always look for bulged and leaky capacitors near the heat sinks (they are tall circular shaped). Capacitors will nearly always be the fault when it comes to your TV having issues starting etc.

Sometimes you might have a rainbow of lines right across your screen or down just the left or right side. These type of faults are almost always down to your T.CON screen controller board. This board is found at the top of your TV in the middle under a steel plate (be cautious when removing this as it is connected to the screen via a ribbon cable). Part numbers always on the board.

Other faults like the inputs not working and the unit switching off by itself will be down to the Main AV board. This is the one housing the scart connectors and the  HDMI sockets.

Sometimes boards are just too badly damaged to be repaired, and this is when you will need the part number from the board to replace it. Rather than auction sites where the seller will not test the board and just take it from a broken TV thinking “it’s OK”.

I would always use a specialist Television spares business like the one I recommended earlier.

Always remember to make sure everything is switched off. If you are not comfortable with electronics, then please do not attempt to repair anything without supervision from a qualified professional.

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