This TV had a standby light but wouldn’t turn on. I tried freeze spray on the eeprom (UF1) but it didn’t work. I still suspected eeprom failure however.
The TV uses the same chassis and all-in-one board from many budget TV brands like RCA, Westinghouse, and Emerson. I have also seen this chassis on a newer LG TV.
Shopjimmy indicates there are two different main boards with two incompatible eeproms. One is for serial numbers starting with G1400 and the other is for J1400. I checked ebay and there was a seller selling preprogrammed eeproms for $10 USD vs $15 USD that shopjimmy was charging. I am still waiting for my CH341A programmer so I ordered the cheaper one.
This TV would attempt to turn on but there was no picture or backlights, just a blinking front LED. With the back panel off, I disconnected the cable between the main and power supply boards and the backlights did not come on. Suspecting bad LED backlights, I carefully took the LCD panel off and tested all the LED strips with my LED tester. All the strips tested good. Measuring the PFC voltage across the leads of the big capacitor, I was only getting 270V instead of the expected 390VDC. I stumbled on a post on badcaps indicating a low VCC on ICP801 caused by a high RS802 is a suspect for low PFC voltage. Measuring RS802, it was much higher than the expected 10 ohm value so I replaced it with an 0805 resistor I had. With the new resistor, the TV powered up. However, the top part of the screen was dark and it looked like the top strips weren’t getting any power. I found poor connectivity on the connector from the strips to the main board and had to bypass the connector on several pins. With this last fix, the TV powered up with all the backlights running. I did find the connector on the LED side a bit flakey as well and the backlights went out when I pushed on it.
This TV was dead with no standby light and no power. A service manual is available for download here.
The power supply board has jumpers as test points. I measured 20VDC P-ON+21V and 0V on AMP+13V. AMP+13V provides power to the main board. There is a FET which could short and blow a fuse but the 20VDC reading indicates the fuse is ok. Checking the resistance of AMP+13V to GND with the board alone, I measured a short.
In the service manual, there is a flowchart for this line. AMP+13V is not output. No-> Check D653, D655, C654, C655, C668 and their periphery circuit. Repair it if defective.
Pulled off C654 and C655 and they both tested good. I lifted one leg of both of the diodes and D653 was shorted. The part number is SB3A0BH which is a 100V, 3A Schottky diode. Equivalent substitute at Digikey is SB3100 (641-1418-1-ND).
I replaced both diodes and TV powered up. Luckily, there was no damage to other parts when the diode shorted.
After my battery ran out on my Ryobi drill, I decided I should get a second spare to swap out. I had purchase a kit including drill, circular saw and flashlight many years ago and it has been reliable though not heavily used. When using the saw, I have to constantly swap the single battery with the drill so another reason to get a second one.
Genuine and new batteries are pretty expensive. There are many third party and refurbished batteries available on ebay.
My drill uses battery model P103 (28WH, 1500maH – some are 24WH, 1300mAH). I found a seller selling refurbished P102 (24WH, 1300maH) and P107 on ebay (28WH, 1500maH). I assuming they install new cells into old cases. I ordered a P102 for around $20 USD and will update once I get it in and test it for a bit. Lithium batteries can pose a fire hazard so I am wary with third party versions. They also can only be shipped surface mail.
This fairly new TV had an issue where it wouldn’t turn on. Searching on ebay for this model, I found a preprogrammed eeprom from shopjimmy which suggests this model may suffer from eeprom failures. To test if the eeprom is at fault, I cooled it with a can of inverted duster spray with the tv unplugged. Plugging it in, the tv turned on. The faulty IC is located beside the main processor and placed at an angle (UF1 designator). The part number is 25L3206E. I ordered the part from Shopjimmy on ebay, replaced it and TV is working.
For future repairs, I have ordered a cheap USB eeprom programmer on ebay (search CH341A). This has a DIP socket but surface mount SOP8 adapters are available. They come in two widths – narrow is for 150 mil wide chips and wide is for 200 mil. The IC for this TV is a wide version.
Update: I have encountered a second TV with this model number that didn’t turn on. I changed the eeprom and the TV attempted to turn on but there was no backlight. Checking the backlights, the majority were out so I had to order a full set on Aliexpress. This model uses 4 strips of 11 LEDs wired into two 2-strip sections. Each red/white wire pair powers 22 LEDs which should measure 59-60VDC on an LED tester. The replacement strip part number is HK40D11-ZC14A-01. These TVs could use a variety of panels so you should double check the part number before ordering. There is an energy-saving picture mode which should run the backlights at a lower level. You can go into the service menu (with tv on, menu-8-8-9-3) and change the backlight level in Panel Settings which creates a User picture setting.
If you need a replacement remote for this TV, it appears this model is compatible with LG remote codes.
Model numbers UN40EH5300F UN40EH5300F UN40EH5300FXZC
This TV would reboot on it’s own after a few minutes. Badcaps posts indicate possible failure of the wifi module. When I went into the network settings, it froze the firmware and it could only be reset by unplugging the TV, I had a WIDT20R BN 59-01148B module from a scrapped TV so I replaced it. The TV no longer rebooted but it couldn’t find any wireless networks when I ran the setup. Used modules on ebay are around $50-$60 USD but I was able to find compatible ones on Aliexpress for under $20. My parents UN46ES6100F has the same issue (can’t find networks) so I ordered two.
With a new module installed, the TV was able to find available networks. I did have an issue since it could connect to my router but couldn’t connect to the internet. It appeared that the IP Setting for DNS was set to manual, so once I changed it to automatic, it connected.
Update: The wifi module in my parents TV failed again and it can’t find any networks which was the original problem. Not sure if the fault is in the main board but not likely to replace it again.
Update 2: Had restart problems reported on model UN55F6800 UN55F6800AF and a little online research shows it uses the same wifi module.
My parent’s Samsung smart TV’s built in media player had been pretty impressive. It played avi and mkv files without any issue but lately I saw a format which it could not play. Videos are now being encoded in H.265 HEVC (High Efficiency Video Codec). It is much more efficient than the most common standard H.264 With this newer standard, both TVs and media players won’t have the hardware to support it. Support of H.265 is something you need to look for when buying a new TV, android box or media player.
To get H.265 video to play in older hardware, you can transcode it using a open-source program like Handbrake. Transcoding to H.264 will make it more compatible sacrificing a larger file size.
Update: H.265 is the standard used with 4K video so any 4K smart TV or 4k compatible media player should natively play H.265 encoded video files.
I was having intermittent starting problems with my Acura. Mostly when it was warm but sometimes when it was cold. Starter wouldn’t crank at all but would eventually start if I waited a minute or two. There are three potential failure points: the battery, the clutch switch and the starter itself. Talking to my mechanic, he suspected the starter since my battery is only 2 years old.
The starter on the RSX itself is fairly easy to replace but the problem is getting at it in the cramped engine compartment. With the RSX, the intake manifold needs to be removed and the radiator loosened to get it out.
Starters are electric motors and will have worn out and dirty contacts over time and can be rebuilt by replacing these parts.
In hindsight, I should have purchased a remanufactured starter on ebay from the US and saved over $100. New substitute starters are even cheaper.
If your starter isn’t turning, you can try hitting it with your lug wrench or a hammer from underneath your vehicle to create some contact to get it going.
Other model numbers UN55D6300 UN55D6300SF UN55D6300SFXZC
This model is edge lit and the LED tester indicated one side had open LEDs in the strip. There are a few versions of replacement LED strips but this model used the two pin connector version.
There is a youtube video for a similar model here.
The small screws holding the rear cover and bezel strip very easily and I ended up stripping quite a few despite being careful. I had to drill them out.
There is some double sided tape on the edges holding the panel down which must be carefully be removed to separate the lcd panel from the frame.
The diffusion sheets are placed above the inner bezel and only held down by a bit of tape at the tabs.
Testing the bad strip found multiple open and shorted LEDs on the one side. The other side was fine but I had ordered a full left and right set.
After replacing the strips and putting the TV back together, I noticed some of that double sided tape had slipped into the visible area of the screen. There was also a small area of the panel near the edge that had some damage. Taking the panel apart to move the tape, the damaged area had spread into a large crack when I lifted the panel. I did notice I wasn’t careful enough making sure the panel and diffusion sheets were sitting squarely and flush on the bezel. Pressing down on the metal bezel might have caused the initial damage to the panel.
Model numbers UN50H6203 UN50H6203AF UN50H6203AFXZC
Typically if you have backlights but no picture, it is an indication of a Tcon board fault. Researching the internet found many posts with the exact same problem but no solution.
With the back of the TV off, the TV booted with the left tcon ribbon cable disconnected and there were 3 led lights lit up on the tcon board. With the left tcon connected, only 2 led lights were lit suggesting a problem with the left side of the panel.
A suggestion on badcaps was to try the tape method. I had seen youtube videos where scotch tape was used to block the pin contacts on the ribbon cable.
I initially used about a 5mm strip on the left edge of the connector on the tcon side. Turning the TV on, the right half was working as before with some lines but the third LED remained lit which was an improvement. I narrowed the width of the strip of the tape a bit at a time and eventually the tv powered up with both sides working with 2-3 pins on the left side was blocked.
Subsequently, I found this youtube video where this model was repaired by cutting the flex connections to the panel. Blocking the pins on the tcon ribbon accomplishes the same result and is much easier.
Hard to imagine the number of TVs that have been trashed that could have been fixed with a small piece of tape.
Update: I have seen this failure again with a TV model UN50H6400 UN50H6400AF UN50H6400AFXZC
The TV turns on with backlight and no picture. Tcon only shows 2 LEDs on. Unplugging the left side tcon ribbon cable gets the TV to start up with 3 tcon LEDs lit. I blocked about 4-5 pin on the leftmost part of the ribbon cable to fix it.
