Yesterday my in-laws were watching tv like they do most mornings. However this morning I heard the tv stop and then cursing at the TV. It looked like the TV just shut itself off. Attempting to turn it back on, the red indicator light on the tv just fades in and out.
Curious, I had to investigate.
I searched the internet and I found a lot of people having the same issue with TVs going dark. I found videos of people diagnosing and repairing the tv using various methods.
The problem: after a few years of use the CPU processor develops stress fractures in its solder joints. There are many many small joints under the processor and the solution is to reflow those solder joints which essentially re connects the pins.
You can get a professional to do this, or attempt to do it yourself.
I’ve tried something similar when my PS3 stopped working properly and online threads said to “Bake the PS3” in the oven to re-flow the joints. That’s a story for later but as you can see. There is some truth to the process.
You can attempt this method with: Heat Gun, Blow Dryer, Or Oven.
I tried the heat gun.
First I had to prep everything. This included removing the back aluminum panel, bunch of screws, no problem, no forcing anything.
Second I had to unscrew the screws holding the circuit board down.
Third I gently lifted the circuit board and pinched the pins holding the heat sink against the processor. This was a bit tricky. The pins required a bit of pinching with needle nose pliers and pushing once the progs were pinched.
After the 4 pins were removed I propped up the card to make sure only the card would be heated from the heat gun,
I warmed up the gun away from the area first, then once warmed up a bit then I heated the area about an inch off the processor, circling motion, for about 25 seconds, being careful not to make any plastic blister or smoke.
That was it. I partially secured the board and plugged it in, then clicked the power. To my surprise the LCD turned on!!!
Online says that a crude repair can (not work at all, or potentially fix the issue for a few months to a few years).
I’ll be happy to try it again when it fails again.
Thanks for reading this far.
Luke
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