My son accidentally shot an airsoft pellet into the center of the TV. There is a white “dot” where it hit and vertical colored bars about an inch wide that run from top to bottom. I can email a photo if that is helpful. I’m wondering what you think the problem is, the fix, and repair cost associated with this lovely situation Thank you!

Date: 03/13/2013

IHTS Reply:  Alison, you are describing a cracked LCD panel which Samsung charges $750 just for the part.  Labor would be an additional $140 to perform the repair in your home so in these situations we recommend that you replace the TV and recycle the old one properly.   You can drop off any LCD or Plasma TV at our shop and it will be recycled properly.

I was wondering if you guys could help with a question on a 73 inch Mitsubishi DLP TV. We have one that we have owned now for almost 7 years and it’s been working great and never had any issues, Recently we started having issues with color loss and a jumpy picture. My wife Googled this and found a fix where you have to take out the color wheel clean it and then it works fine again. We tried this last week and now when you plugin and power on the light won’t turn on and it’s got a red light which says bulb is bad. We swapped out bulbs with a brand new one and still get the same thing. We took appart again and examined things and everything looks find and still no go. Any other suggestions on what we can try to get this fixed? Someone said the control boardmight be having issues, but again other than the the jumping around its been fine. Also heard these tvs had major issues with capacitors and mitsubishi used to send out new baords to fix? Any idea if it’s even worth trying to fix or should it be junked.

Date: 03/18/2013

IHTS Reply:  My guess is a defective color wheel as the lamp will not light if the color wheel doesn’t spin.  The capacitor issue does not apply to this model.  For this repair we typically charge around $260 for onsite repair.  A new 73″ TV goes for $1000 + so I would repair it if it were my TV.

Hey!
My Samsung TV turns on, and then automatically turns off after about 30 seconds. Once it turns off the Standbye, Lamp, and Timer light all blink.

Suggestions? Estimates?

Thanks
Andy

Date: 01/16/2013

IHTS Reply:  Andy, I would start by replacing the lamp as that is the easiest and most common failure.  If the set still shuts down we would replace the ballast and possibly the power supply if necessary.  Both the ballast and power supply have been improved for increased reliability so even if they are not defective it would be a good idea to upgrade to the latest version.

We have 7 blinking lights and have gone through all the trouble shooting. What would it cost to have someone make a home visit to get this repaired? This thing weighs a ton. It will try to power on but then just turns off. We never get a picture.

Date: 03/21/2013

IHTS Reply:

Bonnie, there is an IC chip in the TV we replace by soldering a new one in.  Our onsite charge including parts is around $220.

Hi! Samsung 43 inch plasma clicked 3 times Sunday night and the picture went out never to return. I unplugged the tv a coupe times. It clicked a few more times and never turned on.

Tv is about 3 years old. Thanks for your help!!!

Jeff in New Hope, mn

Tv-less in New Hope that is!

Date: 03/21/2013

IHTS Reply:

Jeffrey,  usually this is due to a defective board in the TV.  We will replace the XSUS board and upgrade the firmware in the TV to prevent it from happening again.  If you drop it off at our shop this repair usually runs less than $200 and if we come to your home its an additional $50 trip charge.

The tv just turned off by it self so I checked the fuse on the power supply board which was blown.
I replaced it with the same, Now when I turn it on I here a clicking sound coming from the power supply board and also get 10 flashing lights when I turn it on. The fuse hasn’t blow.
Power supply?

Date: 01/10/2013

IHTS:  That usually is the power supply, however 10 blinks can mean ss board, sc board, sd board, or su board and in rare cases the A board.  Troubleshooting these boards goes beyond the scope of this Q and A.  We could repair it for about $240

Software Version T-CHEAUSC-1017.2

Over the last week – my 58″ Samsung Plasma TV is heating up – to the point where you can smell the electrical heat in the air. The picture is still AOK. The back left towards the top is extremely hot – almost hot to the touch after a two hour movie. The right back is warm, but, not hot.

What sort of repair is involved – a simple power supply replacement, something simpler?

Date: 11/23/2012

IHTS:  This model does run a little hotter than most plasmas but rest assured that there is a temp sensor on the panel and if it gets too hot the TV will turn off to protect itself.  You can adjust settings in the TV to help it run cooler.  The first thing I would do is turn off the VIVID mode in picture settings.  Set it to standard or movie and turn down the Cell light and contrast settings.  This will also prolong the life of the panel and your TV.

I have a Panasonic Viera model TC-P42S2 and it doen’t turn on, but the power light blinks 10 consecutive times to indicate something. Is there something easy I can try to fix the problem before I bring it in for repair? I’ve already tried other power outlets, unplugged it for a few minutes, held down the power button down for 20 seconds, but nothing has managedto get it turned on. Thanks for your thoughts/recommendations.

Date: 11/23/2012

IHTS:  That symptom usually will require circuit board replacement and a firmware upgrade to the logic pcb.  Have you contacted Panasonic?  Sometimes manufacturers will cover certain repairs even if the TV is out of warranty.  It never hurts to ask.

Hi! I was wondering if you had a replacement lcd Panel for a LG 32 inch HDTV model:32LG30, P/N:LC320WXN-SAA1, EAJ41825601 (I think?). Or would you know where I could get one possibly?

Date: 11/29/2012

IHTS:  That panel goes for $520 and is available from LG.  Most panels are not cost effective to replace and here is why:

Manufacturer supplied parts usually have an additional charge called a core charge attached to the part.  This guarantees that the defective part gets returned to the manufacturer.  The charge can be anything from $50-$1000 and we get that “core” charge back after the defective part gets returned.  They do not give credit for cracked or physically damaged parts so unless you are willing to pay upfront for the panel and the core we are not able to supply parts directly to the customer.

We were away for 2 weeks and upon returning the TV would not power on at all.
The stand by light does come on.
Is it worth trying to repair?

Thanks very much.

Mike

Date: 12/02/2012

IHTS:  Mike,  Power problems usually cost less than $150 if you were to drop the TV off at our shop in Plymouth.  Otherwise, we can do the work onsite for an additional $50.