Samsung LCD Televisions Are "Turning Off" Consumers

Samsung LCD TV Repair Issues with Their Power Supply

Ralph Morales
Samsung has had a reputation for making really good televisions but they currently have an issue on their hands with their LCD TV sets. I work on TV sets for a living and lately have run into dozens of Samsung LCD sets,each with the exact same problem, regardless of the model.You may begin to notice your Samsung LCD will start off taking noticeably longer than usual to turn on.Eventually your Samsung LCD will fail to turn on at all and you will hear the set make a clicking noise off and on. The sound is caused by a little relay. The power supplies in these units have components known as electrolytic capacitors which are failing. The capacitors are used to "clean" or filter the DC power. These particular components are breaking down and causing the issue.

The Cause

The Samsung LCD uses the same basic design in many of their power supplies so the same components get used over and over again, which is fine as long as you don't have an issue! I don't recommend anyone opening up or working on their own televisions, you can get hurt or damage the set even more. But if you're the adventurous sort or a do it yourselfer, don't say I didn't warn you! If you remove the back cover the power supply board of course will be the one that has the AC power plug on it or will have wires running to it from the plug. Some models have a metal cover over the boards that would need to be taken off as well. A visual inspection of the board will usually be sufficient to verify the cause of the failure.What you're looking for will be swollen capacitors or caps for short. Normal caps are flat on top, the ones that fail will be rounded on top. This is due to the fact that these caps have a paste inside that expands when the cap is over worked,so the metal jacket swells. In some extreme cases they will literally blow their tops.

The Cure

Scuttlebutt on some TV repair forums are that replacing these swollen caps with ones that have the same value yet have a higher "working voltage" will do the trick. Caps are usually very cheap but you need to know how to handle a soldering iron and know that these caps have polarity (+ and -) like a battery and have to go in the same way as the original or you'll damage it.

If you have a repair tech work on your LCD TV most likely they will NOT replace the caps but will replace the entire power supply instead. Parts and labor can easily exceed $300.00 going this route.Be advised that Samsung to the best of my knowledge has not upgraded their boards. That said,if the power supply is replaced it is possible that you could wind up in the same boat again! As of this writing Samsung is not extending the warranty (although it seems like they should) on this issue.Unfortunately it may take drastic measures,such as a class action lawsuit to make them do the right thing.

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  • GGBuffalo 11/29/2011

    Bought 46" Samsung in 2008 and like soo many others 3 years later the TV just went BLACK with a constant clicking noise. Only way to stop the clicking is to unplug the set. We understand Samsung is not extending the warranty which OK, we can deal with this but what is unacceptable is that the same part is being used for replacement!! So no doubt we will face this same issue again. Note this TV is in constant use by our family..we are ditching Samsung and will never buy their products again.

  • Kerri 10/14/2011

    Yep. Same thing has just happened to my 40"Samsung tv after only 2 years, Samsung admitted the capacitor problem, its gone for repair (FREE) and a very nice lady phoned me back to tell me my tv will be back with me next week. Im worried that if only the capacitors were replaced (or only some of them, as I believe some people have been experiencing) that the issue will arise again in a few months. Im hoping they either replaced all the capacitors or replaced the whole power supply board, maybe I'le know more next week. Im especially nervous because I own 2 other Samsungs! a 22" which is only 1 year old, and another 40" which is used mainly for gaming in a back bedroom and is rarely used but is now 6 years old! (but I did say 'rarely used' so not getting too excited just yet)

  • G D 7/12/2011

    Samsung LCD TV problem #1 of _?:
    ===========================
    The current, active Class Action lawsuit against Samsung's LCD TV power-on/off problem that is caused by a set of bad capacitors can be found here:

    http://chimicles.com/case/samsung-television
    http://chimicles.com/assets/Third%20Amended%20Complaint.pdf

    Samsung LCD TV problem #2 of _?:
    ===========================
    The Samsung LCD TV problems with vertical bands of color distortion is caused by ___??
    Have found no definitive clue nor anyone who is driving this issue into Samsung's lap. TBD...

  • Mark Ferrari 5/2/2011

    My 26 inch Samsung which I purchased less than 2 years ago suddenly sill not turn on. I've tried everything prior to contacting Samsung Tech support. Get this, despite my TV being under warranty, the best they could do was tell me to send the TV to them and if it is a capacitor problem they would fix it at no charge. However, if the problem is not with a capacitor, I would be responsible for all repair charges! This is ridiculous and Samsung to stick their TV's you know where. I will never buy another Samsung TV again. Pathetic customer service to a loyal customer. Guess what Samsung, you LOSE in the end.

  • Bill 3/1/2011

    I called Samsung on my out-of-warranty 46 inch lcd tv which had been taking up to 10 minutes to turn on. When I gave them the serial number, they said they would send a tech for a one time fix free of charge. He replaced the whole power supply board and it now works fine.

  • Ren 2/22/2011

    Samsung have hardly sorted the problem - our 46" LED Samsung bought less than 6 months has the same problem. Week 2 of waiting for them to fix it. Complained to their customer services who fully expect us to wait 28 days before they will take any steps to fixing it any sooner. ITS A KNOWN ISSUE! Very disappointed - never bought Samsung before and this hardly inspires brand loyalty!

  • Tom 2/14/2011

    I have a 46 inch LNT4669F LCD that is 3 years old. Delay in powering up reached 40 minutes. The TV qualified for the out of warranty "Cap program" and an in-home replacement of power supply board with 25V caps was done today. Good to go again.

  • Mark 1/19/2011

    Samsung Customer Service was nice to me and arranged for a local TV repair shop to send a guy who was nice and replaced the two capacitors and that fixed my Samsung 46″ LCD of this "clicking" and "power up" issue.

    The two caps that were removed were “bulged”. This is a symptom of the “Capacitor Plague”:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague


    Many consumer electronics are at risk of early failure from these “Bad Caps”. This includes SONY and many others.

    Case closed, I am still a happy Samsung customer.

  • Never Again 1/13/2011

    Samsung did replace capacitors for free about 6 months ago, but now the screen is black and they will not cover the repairs. I will never by another Samsung product, and I will tell the world Samsung products are expensiver JUNK!

  • ole 1/2/2011

    We have a 40" Samsung LCD flatscreen ...got it from Fred Myers about 2 1/2 years ago. Of course I got an extended warranty for it; but the clicking noise everyone is complaining about started after the extended warranty expired. Two days ago it took 2 minutes of clicking to power up, the next day was 3 minutes and 30 seconds...wont be long now and it will be toast. Going to call Samsung on Monday; but sounds like I should be prepared to fix it myself. Last Samsung for us...going to look for a product made in the USA..is there such a thing? th

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