Anyone know about repairing plasma TVs?

[Kaiser7 33]

So my summertime job gave me a good chance to make a good bit of money. The building we were using for storage/office space was going to be torn down, and the computer guy who was sharing the space abandoned a lot of computer stuff. Anyway, I got the OK to take whatever I want to resell. (Got a graphics card worth $350, and my gf is helping me price the rest of the stuff, but apparently  I have some good stuff. Printers, motherboards, RAM, routers, etc.)

Well my boss left a 42" panasonic plasma TV there that was damaged in a power surge at his house. It powers on, but won't display anything. My gf says that it should be repairable, it needs some sort of power-supply or something.

Anyway, I don't own an HD TV, and the possibility of getting one for the cost of a repair is intriguing. However, I know little about such things, and figured I'd ask the NJGF community, since it seems like there's an expert on just about everything here.

 

Otherwise, is there any value in a broken TV for sale or something? Also, if anyone needs some computer parts, let me know I'll see what I have lol.

[DirtyDigz 1,812]

Search ebay for panasonic + the model number of the display.  You may find replacement power supplies, screens and/or repair services available.

 

If you have lots of time to blow, it may be worth it to you.  The cost of replacement for something like that is so low that most people would just get a replacement.

[RobertJames 14]

I fixed my sister's LCD TV for $40.  I carefully opened it up, cleaned out a few years worth of dust, and took a real close look at everything.  I found what was obviously burned and distorted, and searched for one online.  I think it was the power supply IIRC.  I found one on Ebay, installed it a few days later, and it is still working, about a year later.  If it hadn't worked, I was out a few bucks but this time the wild assed guess paid off.  

 

I'm not an electrician, btw, everything was plug and play in this instance.  No soldering at all was involved.

[Tack Tickle 0]

When it powers up do you smell a burnt odor coming from the back by where the plug goes in?

 

Usually it will not power up when the power supply is shot.

[Kaiser7 33]

When it powers up do you smell a burnt odor coming from the back by where the plug goes in?

 

Usually it will not power up when the power supply is shot.

Nope, It powers up, just doesn't display anything. we can see light being emitted from the screen, just no picture or anything (tested it with an xbox).

 

Also, I can't remember, but I think it won't turn off through the button.

[Tack Tickle 0]

Plamas are pretty simple. Open up the TV and you will see basically this.

 

You probably blew the YSUS and XSUS boards, or a fuse on them. You usually will replace both. Put the model number in of the TV and YSUS board and see what comes up. Some TV's have more of an issue with that. The boards light up the actual pixels. So if you have light and no picture, that is probably the problem.

 

[ogfarmer 138]

[Kaiser7 33]

Ah, I think the TV I picked up is prone to problems. It's a panasonic th42px80u.

 

Accidentally stripped a screw removing the back, so now I'm trying to figure that out lol.

[45Doll 5,877]

Hey... where's the horizontal damper tube? Maybe it's the flyback?

 

Uh oh.. now I've dated myself. A TV man from the 70's.

[Kaiser7 33]

Plamas are pretty simple. Open up the TV and you will see basically this.

 

You probably blew the YSUS and XSUS boards, or a fuse on them. You usually will replace both. Put the model number in of the TV and YSUS board and see what comes up. Some TV's have more of an issue with that. The boards light up the actual pixels. So if you have light and no picture, that is probably the problem.

 

 

Just checked the diagnostics on my Panasonic th42px80u. Green LED on the SS and SC boards (What you referred to as YSUS and ZSUS). Now I'm going to try and figure out what that means.

[Kaiser7 33]

So it looks like if both the green LEDs in the back are lit up, then that means the A board needs to be replaced ( Which is pretty much the power board.)

[Displaced Texan 11,748]

Kaiser, I have repaired several plasma/led/lcd tv's. I may be able to help, and I'm local to you in Stratford.

[Kaiser7 33]

Kaiser, I have repaired several plasma/led/lcd tv's. I may be able to help, and I'm local to you in Stratford.

 

 

Really? Let me know, I want a second opinion on the part before I go spending money, maybe sometime soon I can have you over, take a look, talk some guns and such.

 

I live in Stratford actually. So you probably live REALLY close.

[Kingsoverqueens 10]

With the help of google, youtube and ebay there isn't anything that can't be fixed.

 

My Samsung HD TV stopped working last Saturday.  Just crapped out.

 

No power, no red light...nada..zippo.

 

Google found me the problem.

 

Youtube showed me how to fix it.

 

Ebay got me the part.

 

Wednesday night inside of 15 mintues the TV was fixed.  

 

$75 power board.

[Displaced Texan 11,748]

Really? Let me know, I want a second opinion on the part before I go spending money, maybe sometime soon I can have you over, take a look, talk some guns and such.

 

I live in Stratford actually. So you probably live REALLY close.

I'm happy to help. A bit tied up util next weekend but glad to have a look.

[Displaced Texan 11,748]

With the help of google, youtube and ebay there isn't anything that can't be fixed.

 

My Samsung HD TV stopped working last Saturday. Just crapped out.

 

No power, no red light...nada..zippo.

 

Google found me the problem.

 

Youtube showed me how to fix it.

 

Ebay got me the part.

 

Wednesday night inside of 15 mintues the TV was fixed.

 

$75 power board.

Common failure on Samsung TV's. I've replaced the capacitors on the power supply board on several of these tv's. Easy fix, took longer for the soldering iron to heat up than it did to change the caps. About an $11 fix.

[Kaiser7 33]

I've thought about just replacing capacitors, but to be honest, I'm nervous about it, since I dpn't have much experience with soldering.

[Displaced Texan 11,748]

Soldering is easy. I can show you how to replace the caps if that's what it is.

 

Pics of my TV boards, also a Panasonic.

[Kingsoverqueens 10]

$75 bucks in my case, 10 minute fix.

 

I could have bought the "repair kit" with the transistors and fuses, but not being sure which ones needed to be replaced, it was worth the extra coin to swap out the entire part.

 

I know only enough about this stuff to make me dangerous.

 

And while 75 is more than 11, or the 26 they wanted for the repair kit, I still managed to repair my TV, saving me the couple of hundred that just about everyone else would have spent just buying a new TV.

 

I also repaired my dryer myself (idler pulley and belt) for $35.  Google, youtube, and in this case the local store. 

 

It's nice that some stuff can still be repaired instead of trashed for new stuff. 

[Displaced Texan 11,748]

I'm old enough to remember when we as a society fixed things when they broke. We used to call a TV repair man when the TV went tango uniform. Now we throw it away, and buy a new one.

 

I'm an engineer, and have a very curious mind. I work field service in a high tech industry. There isn't much I won't attempt to repair myself. I've done TV's, radios (I restore antique radios for a hobby), I do my all own auto repair and maintenance, appliances, HVAC systems, ect. Not much I won't try to fix, I figure it's already broken, how much more can I screw it up?

[TonyS. 12]

I'm old enough to remember when we as a society fixed things when they broke. We used to call a TV repair man when the TV went tango uniform. Now we throw it away, and buy a new one.

 

I'm an engineer, and have a very curious mind. I work field service in a high tech industry. There isn't much I won't attempt to repair myself. I've done TV's, radios (I restore antique radios for a hobby), I do my all own auto repair and maintenance, appliances, HVAC systems, ect. Not much I won't try to fix, I figure it's already broken, how much more can I screw it up?

 

Great minds think alike. Sometimes you get lucky and it's something easy like a broke or cold solder joint. Sometimes it's not worth fixing. You never know until you try.

[H.M. Murdock 0]

I didn't read past the first post but if it's a Samsung its probably a capacitor or two on the power supply, they skimped on part quality.

 

I've changed a bunch, it's usually the bigger 1000uF's that go (i.e. http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ECA-1EHG102/P5544-ND/245143 $0.76).

 

Blown electrolytic caps are usually very easy to identify, use Google Image Search to get an idea.  Any bursting at the top seams is bad.