How to fix clicking samsung tv (wont turn on)

EDIT: 03/09/12 (09/03/12 for you silly ol 'murricans, teehee) So this is the first time I've checked up on the instructable in over a year, honestly you'd think it wouldn't take me this long to realise Gmail was filtering out the notification emails as spam.
Anyhow; At the time of writing here in the UK I was told that this was not covered under warranty and that I would have to pay £150 to have the board replaced. It seem in other countries samsung are somewhat more benevolent and that since the time of writing some sort of legal action has occurred regarding the subtle design flaws that have a tendency to show themselves just after your warranty expires. So should you be in some kind of mental debate over the options available to you DO NOT open up your TV first. Phone Samsung, see if your model is on this list, read up on the legal situation wherever you live.
It seems I was also borderline illiterate at the time of writing so at some point I will be re writing this in a comprehensible manner.

if your looking at this then you probably have a samsung tv thats broken. This instructable is for how to fix one of the most common faults in samsung LCD tvs. This applies to pretty wide range of models, but in short the ones with the piano black bezel are all affected (That is those with the problem are all fixable in this way). when you turn the tv on it should click once. this problem is that it clicks more than once. first twice, then 5 times then ten then 50 and so on, until eventually it takes about 10 minutes to turn on. Here is how you can fix that problem

Step 1: What you need

     

to do this you need a few things

1)a soldering iron (30 watts or over)
2)solder
3)some sidecutters
4)some needlenose pliers
and 5) 2 screwdrivers (a big one and a smaller one)
       

Comments

[sstiefel]

I called Samsung. There is some settlement on some brands of Samsung LCD TV's sold before 2008. I spoke to a nice lady at 888-899-7602 who asked for my model number and serial number, then took my info to arrange for a local repairman to come by within 1-2 days to check the capacitor and replace the power components at no charge. SO glad I read this page and called Samsung before having it shipped off and spending a lot of money. Hopefully I will get extended life from this TV set with this servicing.

[hamsammy]

Thank you so much for that number! I called and a technician is coming out in the next couple days! I had already bought the capacitor kit, but oh well, maybe I'll need them in the future.

[bulldogpcs]

That number is 100% legit
http://www.samsung.com/us/capacitorsettlement/

Thanks you so much sstiefel. The lady was great and as long as your model is on that chart I posted then it's 100% free. My tv is a LN46A550 and on the list she said within 2 days the service center will call to come to my home. It will cover Power Supply and capacitor repair. I am very good with a solder iron so I was totally willing to do the repair but, I'll let them.


What sux for me I bought my tv 3yrs and 7 months ago and bought the 3 yr replacement plan I could have gotten a brand new tv if this happened a little sooner.

[shawhey]

Thank you for posting this! I called Samsung and they sent out a repairman at no cost to me (Canadians have to call Samsung Canada). My TV is working fine now but the repair guy said the capacitors will blow out again after a few years.

[cnctech73]

As an FYI to Americans reading this, there are several online electronic component retailers available. I've used these, Allied electronics (http://www.alliedelec.com/), Newark (http://www.newark.com/), and Mouser (http://www.mouser.com/). The capacitors in question average $10 U.S., shipped for 5 units.

[Teealeesa]

@ azprincess - I have this exact problem and my TV is not on the list - please help! Thank you!

[gilbertxyz]

call them back and tell them you are a super Samsung product fan.....they may make an exception!......stay calm and sincere without sounding like a whining get something for nothing consumer!

[gilbertxyz]

just yesterday 4-7-13 my Samsung 52" 630 series started freaking out when I turned it on. I bought this tv on 12-31-08 so I've had it awhile now and has been trouble free until yesterday. today I figured i'd go online to see if I can find a common solution to the start up glitch and I stumble upon this site and learn there was a class action suit and a manufacturing problem and it so happens I purchased my tv at the cutoff point of the recall. I call Samsung and gave my info and they are sending out a repair tech on the 10th, no charge!.....now that's cool! my wife says "wow, what a stroke of luck"....uh huh! just thought i'd post my experience to let the doubting Thomas' know that this is legit but your fix time is running out! anyway thx a million guys, probably saved me a couple of hundred $$$! gil h

[Bons]

Thanks so much for this information. I've been googling this issue and found many people with the same problem. I came across this site, and found the info regarding the Samsung settlement. My model is on the list, I called the number below, and was given a Repair contact. He came out this morning and replaced the board with the bad capacitor (he could see immediately it was bad), and just like that my TV is working.

It took all of 10 minutes to fix it. Great support, although it was unfortunate that I had to poke around online so much to find out about the Settlement. I'm sure there are many people out there who have no idea.

Bonnie

[mlisa3]

Hey thanks so much for posting this. My TV wasn't on the list for the recall, but the woman at Samsung essentially admitted that maybe only half of the models that should be on the list, are on the list. The repair shop quoted me at least $200. Anyway, my boards looked slightly different than yours, and my underrated caps didn't look totally blown, but they were clearly different from the rest, different brand and at lower rated voltage. So I replaced them with 25-V ones (like all the others) and it works well now. For Americans, get your caps from DigiKey online ($1-2 each.)

Best part of the deal: I did it with my son, who did the actual soldering since he has steadier hands than me. That was his first time soldering. He is quite proud of himself and old Dad seems a bit less the doddering old fool.

Thanks again!

[Rmcminn]

My tv is one of the listed models. I called the number listed in other posts. my call was answered quickly. I was given a service # and the name of a repair shop within a few minutes of my home that would look at the tv and make the repairs free of charge. So far this process has been quick and painless!

[dave905]

Hi Damp,
My Samsung 46" did the same thing, or so I thought. I called Samsung, they said it was the capacitor problem and sent a service guy to fix it. He came, looked at the caps, and said they were perfect and that the caps weren't the problem. He said it was the 'mother board' which wasn't covered by Samsung and would cost approx $300 CDN to fix. Well he got the 'mother' part right.

TV takes about 15 mins to turn on. It cycles thru the power on/off cycle once a minute and at first shows a black screen, then shows some rectangular patches of white in random locations, then starts screeching with green lines all the while cycling on and off every minute. Eventually the picture shows and the TV stays on and works perfectly. I'm tempted just to leave it on.

Once it's working I can usually power it off and on if it's within an hour, otherwise gotta go thru the same process again.

I read somewhere that the capacitors could be 'blown' and still look perfect.

Any suggestions.
Dave.

[ali.khalil]

I have a Samsung Series 5 LCD TV that I picked up about 4 years ago. It went from a 30 second startup time to not turning on at all in a matter of 3 days. Checking the inside for the faulty capacitors I immedately saw the bulging ones. There were 2x'1000uF 25V 105C' and 2x'1000uF 10V 105C' capacitors out of which only the 25V ones were bulging. The 10V capacitors looked just fine. But, I replaced them anyways.

I picked up 4 '1000uF 25V 105C' capacitors from a local electronics store for a whopping total of $5.5. That's BD2 for anybody in Bahrain reading this. Having already had all the tools in my toolbox it took me less than 1 hour to go through the entire process and that's with me taking my sweet time.

End result: YAY! Working TV.

P.S.: It might just be because I fixed it myself, but the picture looks clearer and the colors look brighter.

[Mone202040]

How to fix clicking Samsung tv MODEL CODE: HPT425x/xAA TYPE NO: CA42c9
Serial no. B3373CNP400688k

[azprincess]

I would just like anyone who happens to visit this thread looking for answers to know that, after going through this same disastrous capacitor issue...I called into the Settlement line & was told my certain model was not covered. I explained that regardless that it was not covered, it's the same issue and they knew this, so should still be a respectable business and honor coverage. My TV was purchased in 2008 or 2009 I believe. I was transferred to about 20 different people throughout the Samsung call centers with a total phone time of around 5 or 6 hours, even at one point being put on hold to talk to a supervisor for 1 hour and 26 minutes. CRAZY! They wanted me to back down, I would not! After NO ONE would help me, this is what I did! I emailed the Public Relations Department of Samsung on Thursday, October 11th. I expressed my disbelief that a company that I love could turn me away for a problem they knew was from their manufacturing. I explained how sorry I was to be thinking about never purchasing from Samsung again, which I love. I told them that they knew what was the right thing to do. Today, October 15th, immediately after the weekend, I received an email apologizing & they offered to cover the expenses of my repair. THAT is customer service!! SKIP THE HASSEL of the hours of phone calls, but DO NOT back down or lose hope. They WILL help you! They are a company who because of this has kept my business and guess what...we are buying a new TV today for the kitchen. I'm sticking to Samsung...THANK YOU and if you need help with your issue, let me know! I'd love to help over you going through what I went through or spending another $3000 on a new TV. :)

[ellam07]

Hi azprincess
I have read your post and have decided to do the same thing as you did. my model is not covered. I have plasma 42", surprisingly plasma 50" is covered. My tv just turned off yesterday and now I am without it, I talked to about 6 people but they just say what they are supposed to, the lines they learnt!!! Nobody was able to help me so I tried to find and email to public relations dept of samsung and I was not succesful. I got an email to a president of samsung. shot him and email today and well we'll see. can you please provide me the email to public relations I would really appreciate it.

[azprincess]

Also another note....I had an extended warantee through Ultimate Electronics who went out of business. :( I could have skipped the hassel, but they are M.I.A! Samsung should be honoring situations like this as well. I hope they do. I would have went this route of argue if they didn't help me by now.

[deangutierrez]

Easier fix:

There is a quick fix on this that Samsung is paying for the repairs whether 1 month old or 4 years old. Thought I would send this since there are a lot of posts on this issue.

Called Samsung and they took care of the issue (so far) I have a Model LN-T5271F (52" LCD) purchased 1/12/08. It's well out of warranty, but I guess the capacitor issue I've been reading about is covered under a limited warranty/settlement.

Samsung just lost the lawsuit for the 10V rated capacitors they put on 12V power-board. The capacitors ramp up the current to turn on the TV, and rated too low, eventually fail. It's for certain models.

Go to
http://www.samsung.com/us/capacitorsettlement/

or 888-899-7602

You may be able to get the TV repaired for free.

The clicking is the retry on the power board after it fails. It will continually try to turn on, but the capacitors have trouble supplying the required voltage. To check yourself, remove the back, you'll see bad capacitor tops bowed upward, maybe some black tar leaking also. They'll be labeled 10V on a 12V rated board.


A proposed Settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit involving certain Samsung televisions. In cooperation with the District Court of Oklahoma County, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. is offering a settlement for certain Samsung-branded televisions manufactured prior to December 31, 2008. You may be entitled to receive the benefits of this proposed Class Action Settlement if you purchased, acquired or otherwise owned any of the following Samsung-branded televisions, and the television is experiencing or has experienced the "Covered TV Symptom(s)" as described in the proposed Settlement. The class action lawsuit alleges a defect that may cause the television to experience symptoms such as not turning on, experiencing a delay in turning on, making a clicking sound, cycling on and off, or other similar problems. Samsung denies the allegations in the lawsuit, but has agreed to settle the lawsuit to avoid the costs and uncertainty of continued litigation.

Model Number Serial Numbers
LCD TV
LN-T******/XAA; LN**A******XZA; LNS4041DX/XAA; LNS4051DX/XAA; LNS4052DX/XAA; LNS5296DX/XAA

Plasma TV's:
HPT5034X/XAA; HPT5044X/XAA; HPT5054X/XAA; HPT5064X/XAA; PN42A410C1DXZA; PN42A450P1DXZA; PN50A410C1DXZA; PN50A450P1DXZA; PN50A460S4DXZA

DLP TV:
HLT5087SAX/XAA; HLT5087SX/XAA; HLT5089SAX/XAA; HLT5089SX/XAA; HLT5687SAX/XAA; HLT5687SX/XAA; HLT5689SAX/XAA; HLT5689SX/XAA; HLT6187SAX/XAA; HLT6187SX/XAA; HLT6189SAX/XAA; HLT6189SX/XAA

For information on whether you qualify for a free repair, or for reimbursement of a repair you paid for, or for other benefits, as well as how to make a claim, please see the Full Class Action Notice below, or call 1- 888-899-7602.

[tlsurnick]

I just wanted to thank everyone who posted the great info on here. I have a repair person coming out soon. Thanks

Tim

[cathyho]

Thanks for all the advise on here. I called the number listed here, and the girl could not have been nicer. Took my info, the numbers matched a problem and the service guys for this area were out this morning and had it fixed in 10 minutes...amazing. ( these guys were also very nice) I would never have known there was a problem with these models, Thanks again.

[onewfd2]

Good Information...My problem is my Samsung is not covered on class action suit...Model # LS 22 TDN. Gentleman saidmy TV wasnot covered. I would have to either have them set up an appointment for Tech. to estimate repairs and then talk pricing on repairs..or have unit repaired my self.

Does this instructional repair cover my unit? s/n TD 22 HVL Q 500 186R, model LS 22 TDN?

Thanks for info.

[Damp Cuttlefish]

Honestly I don't know. The only way to find out is to take a look really. If its the clicking problem then chances are this is the solution.

[Gary408]

I have a Samsung TV, Model LN46A750R1FXZA. I try to turn it on,it's not turning on . I called samsung they said it free they will fix it. Samsung send send some to fix it .They change the capacitors. Now they are saying i have change the main board. that's not covered. What should i do .plz help..

[Damp Cuttlefish]

Could you clarify the situation a bit more? Do you mean you changed the caps and it wouldn't turn on after that?

[brijab]

another happy viewer! called samsung and they're coming out in 48 hours. I still will purchase the kit so im prepared for next time. I was so looking forward to spending another $3500 on another tv! Thanks again

[Cassio1107]

This is a great Instructable, but before you try this, call Samsung! My tv is about two and a half years old, out of warranty, and I'm not even the original owner. However, after I told Samsung customer service about the problem, they arranged for a repairman to come to my house and fix it. No charge and no questions asked.

[onewfd2]

What is the model # of your TV? Makes a difference, so I am told.

[Cassio1107]

I don't know, but there was a class action lawsuit about some models made in 2008 or so. In fact, I think I could have gotten some money out of it, but I didn't pursue the matter because they'd already fixed my TV, so what more do I need?

[onewfd2]

Here is the link to Samsung's web site explaning the TV's covered in Class action suit.

http://www.samsung.com/us/capacitorsettlement/

Here is a link to the Class Action Legal Description of such.

http://www.samsung.com/us/capacitorsettlement/documents/20120214%20Full%20Class%20Notice.pdf

Looks like if you paid out of pocket to have TV repaired prior to settlement you could be reimbursed for such.

My TV was made in 2008. But my Model is not listed for FREE repairs.

[Damp Cuttlefish]

really? i was told it'd cost me £150 by samsung customer service, where do you live?

[Alvin87]

I WOULD LIKE TO LET U KNOW SAMSUNG HAS TO FIX UR TV IF THEY DONT U CAN SUE THEM BECAUSE SOME ONE DID ALREADY AND IM HAVING SOME ONE CCOME OUT AND FIX ARE TV FOR FREE THAY HAVE TO.

[Alvin87]

Just let u guys know some one sued samsung company because of that problem i have that proble with my tv so i called the company they said they can fix for free no charge at what so ever there coming out to day to fix it why waist ur time call the company. ITS FREE

[rescuedparts]

If you can't fix the boards yourself, we sell used boards on our ebay store's website.

http://stores.ebay.com/Rescued-Parts

If we don't have the part, message us because we might have a t.v. laying around and can pull the part out for you.

[kpiascik]

Thank you!! I purchased the capacitors, solder and solder wick for less than $10, borrowed a friends soldering iron and fixed my TV in less than 30 minutes. This is a very well put together instructable.

[bigomoe]

Just wanted to drop a comment/correction your way since you asked. Concerning the statement about radio shack being the equivalent of maplins in the U.S.A., Radio Shack is more less a cell phone store these days over here and has maybe one isle dedicated to circuitry. Also, about these capacitors...it is increasingly harder to find shops that carry these or a suitable replacement because of the recall on them and the subsequent discontinue all together. Your best bet is to get them online. The cheapest i could find that matched the specs used above were about $1-2$ each plus $3 shipping from ebay. I also found out when learning of the recall that there is a class-action lawsuit against samsung for this specific issue on their flat panel units from plasma to 3d led so if you're interested just search for it and you'll come up with plenty of links.
-Thanks for the very informative and excellently documented guide as it looks like you've helped a lot of good people fix a bad problem. good job!

[ennisfargis]

Thanks Heaps for your instructable.
I managed to replace my capacitors without blowing myself up. :-)
It has fixed the on/off problem but now a new problem has developed.
I now get red pixels showing in black areas & blue/green pixels showing in white areas.
I have read around & apparently this is caused by an incorrect voltage.
Could this be caused by the higher voltage on the new capacitors?
Apparently it is adjustable but I have no idea where to find it or how to safely adjust it.
If any one has some advice i would love to hear it.

Cheers

[KillerClyde]

Thank you.. Thank you... Thank you....

This worked like a charm... I had a different version of the Samsung TV 55 incher the electronics looked different and I only had two capacitors that were dead. I learned how to solder as of 45 minutes ago and replaced the dead capacitors with new ones and everything worked like a charm.

On a side note soldering is much harder than it seems. I made a mess of things and its not the best looking solder job but at least it works.

Thanks again...

[houliman]

Thank you very much for you instructions. 2 of our capacitors went but we changed all 4. Now working perfectly. Your instructions were spot on, clear and understandable. Thank you very, very much.

[JordanR76]

Worked perfectly, thank you so much for these instructions!

[gshimun]

You, Sir, are a rock star, because now my wife thinks I'm a rock star! Instead of throwing out a $3200 television, I fixed it for about $20. The capacitors were buldged, and one had a little bit of black coming out of it, just like you said.

I can't thank you enough!

Gary