Author Topic: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?  (Read 3067 times)

BobTheBuilder

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TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« on: December 28, 2019, 05:17:35 AM »
Hi fellow mustachians,

our 42" 2013 Samsung TV (FullHD, not "smart") won't turn on since yesterday evening. I tested the power supply board, which seems to be fine. Disconnecting the logic-/mainboard fires up the backlight correctly (apparently a common test scenario, thanks youtube) .

There are replacement logic boards on ebay, for 30€ plus shipping, but used only. If the logic boards tend to fail before power supply boards, one might assume a used board would work for another year or so, if one is lucky.

So my question number 1 is:

Did anybody repair a Samsung TV before? Is it worth the effort?

Are there "late model used" TVs you might recommend?

The market for new TVs goes nuts on the size of those things, and the cheaper ones nowadays apparently come with either

Bad backlight uniformity
No analog sound / headphone connector (which I would like to have, since there are good analog stereo speakers in the room) EDIT: I just found out optical to analog adapters are 12€ a piece
50/60HZ panels only.

Even my old, now broken, TV has a headphone jack, 100 HZ and decent image quality.

I don't care about "smart home", 4K or quantum dots... If they come with a new TV without additional cost thats fine. Just don't want to take a step back in quality over a 6 years old item.


« Last Edit: December 28, 2019, 05:25:55 AM by BobTheBuilder »

RWTL

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2019, 05:31:47 AM »
Around 20 years ago I bought a large rear projection TV for several thousand dollars.  When it broke down 10 years ago, I paid someone to come fix it.  He ended up replacing a bunch of capacitors and various circuits.  In the end it cost several hundred dollars to fix.

I'm a big fan of fixing things, but with the cost of TVs coming down, I don't know that it makes sense to try to repair them unless you do that kind of thing for a living.

My Samsung shuts off routinely as we are watching it.  I'm not sure if it is indicative of the brand, but I wouldn't buy another.

BFive55

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2019, 05:47:09 AM »
New 42" TV's with more capabilities like smart features are around $200. TV's have reached the point where after like 5-7 years if it breaks it's pretty much easier/cheaper in the long run to replace than repair. Unless you can find a cheap part and DIY it.

Cranky

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2019, 06:14:17 AM »
TVs are crazy cheap these days. I bought a 55" smart tv for around $350 last spring. Picture looks great to me.

In the US, TVs are often a sale item in January.

honeybbq

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #4 on: December 31, 2019, 12:13:27 PM »
Agree with the others.... The bulbs for our old 20 year TV cost almost as much as a new TV.

vector

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #5 on: December 31, 2019, 07:00:56 PM »
It depends how much you want to keep it. I tried this with my previous Samsung tv. Replaced the board that seemed defective, but it still didn't work. Replaced the capacitors on the power supply board, still not better. Called a techician, and he was honest and told me it's probably not worth repairing it. Went to a repair place, they asked for $300 to repair it. Wth???

I ended up selling it for parts for roughly what it cost me the board I replaced, and bought a new on-sale Sharp for $400 or so.

If the part is only 30 eur, I would still try it first, but I would consider it just an entertainment/learning experience cost .

V

alsoknownasDean

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #6 on: January 01, 2020, 03:56:11 AM »
For 30 euros it's probably worth a shot, but be prepared to replace it if the fix doesn't work.

mrmoonymartian

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #7 on: January 01, 2020, 04:27:16 AM »
Neither. You don't need to watch TV. These aren't the TVs you're looking for. Move along.

Dave1442397

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #8 on: January 01, 2020, 02:17:35 PM »
I paid $330 for a TCL 55" TV just over a year ago. The picture is fine (it actually gets good reviews) and my daughter has hooked up her bluetooth headphones for quiet listening.

I had an old Panasonic 42" plasma from 2006 that died, and, like you, I thought about fixing it. The part that may have been the problem was around $80, and there was a chance it wouldn't fix the issue anyway. I decided that TVs have become disposable commodities at this point, and bought the new one.

Syonyk

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #9 on: January 01, 2020, 02:26:28 PM »
Went to a repair place, they asked for $300 to repair it. Wth???

Technician time costs the same for a $50 screen or a $5000 screen.  Also, if you told them you'd worked on it before, they very likely gave you the "Please, don't bring it here, I don't want your bodge job" price.  Can't tell over the phone if someone who has replaced the caps knows what they're doing or not, and half the time (if not more), that sort of thing creates as many problems as it might have solved.

But to diagnose and repair a TV with unknown issues, $300 doesn't seem at all unreasonable.

======

As for the OP, as much as it pains me that we live in this world now, most modern electronics just aren't easy to repair.  They're sold for a year, spare parts aren't available, and they're designed such that most of them will outlive the warranty period, at which point... whatever, not the manufacturer's problem anymore, except that if they last forever you probably won't buy another one.  And if it doesn't last long enough, you probably won't buy that brand again.

You should be able to find a used 42" TV for not that much money locally, and even new, they're just not that expensive.

The question on the used logic boards is essentially, "Was this failure a one-off rare event, or a common failure?"  If the failures of that TV at the 6 year mark are fairly common, you're right in that spending money on a used logic board won't get you much.  On the other hand, if your TV just suffered one of those odd failures that happens, and it's not a common failure issue, then a used logic board should work fine.

However, if you're handy with an iron, I'd definitely suggest replacing any electrolytic capacitors you can find while you're in there.

socaso

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #10 on: January 02, 2020, 11:44:36 AM »
I had a similar situation a couple of years ago and tried to get it repaired but could not find anyone in my area to do it. One person quoted me $150 to visit and diagnose the issue but told me most people ended up buying a new tv because it was cheaper than getting the old ones repaired. That's what I ended up doing. I went from a 42" flat screen to a 60" smart TV with better picture quality. Although I don't remember the exact cost I know it was under $500 for the new TV. I had paid nearly $1000 for the TV that broke down.

kei te pai

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #11 on: January 02, 2020, 12:58:52 PM »
Give yourself a month with no TV, and see if you really miss it, or its just a habit. Coming up 10 years now for me without one. I can stream stuff, but rarely bother.

six-car-habit

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #12 on: January 02, 2020, 02:37:25 PM »
Had a TV years ago that went bad, brought it to a fix-it shop. They required a $150 non refundable deposit just to start looking at it. When i asked why, the owner said many folks would just abandon their TV at his shop after he called them with the parts / fix price, after he diagnosed the issue.
  So he instituted the deposit so his time wasn't wasted.

 Anyhow we paid about $200 total to have a 'color wheel' replaced. Lasted another 3 years, and the same issue happened. It went to the county recycle facility the 2nd time.

YttriumNitrate

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #13 on: January 02, 2020, 04:13:14 PM »
I've replaced the power supply board on my similarly aged 55" Samsung TV, twice. Swapping either the power board or controller board is ridiculously easy, and it sounds like you've already done the hard part: taking the TV down and opening it up.

EDIT: The first time I replaced the power supply board, the TV lasted for about two years before the issue showed up again. The second power board was installed 3.5 years ago and the TV is still going strong.

SECOND EDIT: Rather than limiting yourself to TV's with headphone jacks, you could get a decent receiver (used, of course) for $30-50.
« Last Edit: January 03, 2020, 09:49:00 AM by YttriumNitrate »

robartsd

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #14 on: January 02, 2020, 05:02:36 PM »
You should be able to find a used 42" TV for not that much money locally, and even new, they're just not that expensive.

The question on the used logic boards is essentially, "Was this failure a one-off rare event, or a common failure?"  If the failures of that TV at the 6 year mark are fairly common, you're right in that spending money on a used logic board won't get you much.  On the other hand, if your TV just suffered one of those odd failures that happens, and it's not a common failure issue, then a used logic board should work fine.

However, if you're handy with an iron, I'd definitely suggest replacing any electrolytic capacitors you can find while you're in there.
If you have the skills required to test and replace electronic components you probably wouldn't be asking the question. I don't think TVs are expensive enough to justify trying to fix by swapping in used boards. Plenty of $300-400 TVs in that size range I would be happy with.

Had a TV years ago that went bad, brought it to a fix-it shop. They required a $150 non refundable deposit just to start looking at it. When i asked why, the owner said many folks would just abandon their TV at his shop after he called them with the parts / fix price, after he diagnosed the issue.
  So he instituted the deposit so his time wasn't wasted.

 Anyhow we paid about $200 total to have a 'color wheel' replaced. Lasted another 3 years, and the same issue happened. It went to the county recycle facility the 2nd time.
Color wheel sounds like a projector part - guess that was a rear projection TV.

Syonyk

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #15 on: January 02, 2020, 05:09:07 PM »
I don't think TVs are expensive enough to justify trying to fix by swapping in used boards. Plenty of $300-400 TVs in that size range I would be happy with.

That depends on how much you dislike e-waste.

JimLahey

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #16 on: January 05, 2020, 05:34:57 AM »
Had a perfectly good Samsung TV get fried when our house was hit by lightning a few years ago. Popped the panel off and saw that the power supply board had some melted parts. Replaced it, didn't fix the problem. Replaced the main video board after looking closer at it and seeing that the an HDMI chip was melted. TV powered on $120 later. TVs are cheaper nowadays but you're not finding a quality one that cheap. Found the parts on eBay. They were removed from TVs with broken screens. I say give it a shot.

BobTheBuilder

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #17 on: January 05, 2020, 06:40:50 AM »
Hey, thanks for the input and discussion everyone.

A few days ago my brother visited. Turned out he got some water on his same model TV and fried the power supply board (long story...).

We often buy the same stuff if we need generic items like TVs since we are on the same page on usuability and prices and do so since childhood (back then one item was enought of course). Also keeping in mind that one day we might repair stuff. I swapped the logic board and it worked! So now we have one fully functioning TV and one fully defunct one.

But in the mean time using the small screens on Laptops for occasional streaming was not that great.

robartsd

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #18 on: January 06, 2020, 11:32:49 AM »
I don't think TVs are expensive enough to justify trying to fix by swapping in used boards. Plenty of $300-400 TVs in that size range I would be happy with.

That depends on how much you dislike e-waste.
I just don't want to have more of it (and waste money) swapping out parts that I'm not sure are causing the problem with parts that I'm not sure are working properly. Having some way to test the part make a huge difference.

A few days ago my brother visited. Turned out he got some water on his same model TV and fried the power supply board (long story...).

We often buy the same stuff if we need generic items like TVs since we are on the same page on usuability and prices and do so since childhood (back then one item was enought of course). Also keeping in mind that one day we might repair stuff. I swapped the logic board and it worked! So now we have one fully functioning TV and one fully defunct one.
Having parts readily available to try does change the story quite a bit for me. In this case, I'd probably try the working logic board and power supply with the other TV to help figure out if the defunct TV can be fixed for a reasonable price.

BDWW

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #19 on: January 06, 2020, 11:44:22 AM »
Sounds like you got it sorted.

Just an aside if someone is interested/wants a bit of extra cash.

My coworker repairs TVs as a side hustle. He gets broken TVs from businesses (think Buffalo wild wings, AppleBees) for free for disposal. Then if he can repair them he does. The most common issue is blown caps. So for a $2 dollar part, he'll fix it and sell it on craigslist. Only takes a couple cheap fixes to come out ahead on disposal fees.
The limiting factor is the supply of free broken TVs. Not the most lucrative, but generates a bit of extra cash.

Car Jack

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #20 on: January 06, 2020, 12:05:23 PM »
I'll chime in as above.  Not a friend, though....me.  I take in eScrap, disassemble and sell to an eScrap yard for fun and cash.  Here's the deal.  Used TVs and used flat screen monitors are worthless, even when they work.  Why do I say this?  I've had good, working units that I put on Craigslist for very cheap prices.  Like a 42" TV for $10 or 4 working monitors with DVI and AVI inputs...all of them for $10.  They never get even a single inquiry, so after a month, I pulled them all apart to separate the materials for scrap.  I'd love to be able to sell them because scrap is very little money and there's so much plastic trash left over.

When one of our TVs died, my son was away at college, so we "temporarily" replaced our dead LG with his working Insignia (Best Buy store brand).  Well, 5 years later, we're still using the Insignia.  I do look at prices now and then and they've come down so much, it's not worth trying to fix one of these. 

robartsd

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #21 on: January 06, 2020, 02:46:05 PM »
Used TVs and used flat screen monitors are worthless, even when they work.  Why do I say this?  I've had good, working units that I put on Craigslist for very cheap prices.  Like a 42" TV for $10 or 4 working monitors with DVI and AVI inputs...all of them for $10.  They never get even a single inquiry, so after a month, I pulled them all apart to separate the materials for scrap.  I'd love to be able to sell them because scrap is very little money and there's so much plastic trash left over.
I wonder if people are filtering out your listings by price (too low to expect to find anything that is not junk). I was able to sell a 10 year 50+ inch 720p plasma TV for at least $100 on craigslist a bit over 2 years ago. It did get less attention than I thought it might.

ketchup

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Re: TV broke down: Repair / Replace?
« Reply #22 on: January 06, 2020, 03:36:34 PM »
I'd probably do the swap with the 30EUR used board.  I did that with a 55" Vizio my boss literally was about to throw in the dumpster (was in his house and zapped by a lightning strike, had to replace a board for $60), and now my department has our own TV.

Worst case you're out 30EUR.  If it's anything like the Vizio I worked on, it's pretty simple to swap it out as long as you have the space and a screwdriver.

If that doesn't fix it, as others said, TVs are stupid cheap now.  I scored a 43" 1080p Sharp with built-in Roku for $229 about three years ago, and they're even less now.  I'm pretty sure I saw a 43" 4K for $200 recently.