So my Vizio TV was flashing on & off rapidly every time I switched it on. I would have to give it a smack at the back to get it to stop. I know it's not a good way to get something to work, but it got things working until I had time to repair it. After some Goggleing it was clear it was most probley some capacitor that where damaged. After opening it i found 4 caps on 2 of the circuit boards blown. I replaced them and now it works great.

1. VIZIO Model VW42L HDTV10A
2. Replacment capacitors 470μF

Step 1: Finding the Problem

1. The first step was to find a safe place to work on the TV. I put a moving blanket on our dinning table and put the TV face down on that.

2. Next I unscrewed all the screw that i could find and removed the stand and back cover.

3. I inspected all the capacitors and found 4 of them were damaged on 2 of the circuit boards on the left and right of the set. You can easily see when they are damaged when the ends are bulged out and/or split open.

4. I unplugged, removed, repaired and replaced one board at a time.

Step 2: Repairing

1. First thing to do is get replacement Capacitors. After a quick look on line I found my local Radio Shack had some in stock. I when and got 4 of the 470μF 35v capacitors the temperature rating was a bit lower than the originals but should work fine.

2. Next I desoldered the old capacitors, cut the mounting silicone with a sharp blade and removed them.

3. After cleaning up the the old solder flunks with an old tooth brush and some WD40. I bent and cut the new capacitor leads to size making sure the polarity was correct.

4. I then soldered them in place and cleaned with WD40 again

5. Then used hot glue to replace the silicon mountings.

6. Finally put the board back and plugged back in.

I put the back cover on and put all the screws back, plugged it all in and it worked great with no problems and is still working now.