To Repair or To Throw Away?

[8Muddypaws]

We have a 60" Samsung HDTV in our family room in out sticks & bricks. It's developing purple blotches in several locations on the screen and they appear to be spreading.

Troubleshooting and online research confirms that this particular model line of TVs is prone to the backlight LEDS wearing out and changing color.

A Samsung service center wouldn't touch it, it's about a year out of warranty at five years old. I guess I expect too much in thinking a $1,000 TV should last more that 5 years!

I tried an independent shop and they told me to throw it away because it would cost more that a new TV to repair it.

I found a source for the LEDs. They run from $49 to $75 plus shipping. But there is one step of the process that's very tricky. In order to get at the LEDs you have to lift the LCD screen away from the light box with suction cups. If you crack the screen you're done. Too expensive to replace.

I repair laptops & things for fun and am used to working with this type of thing, just not so big and fragile.

Anybody here attempted this kind of repair? Successfully?

 

[Oldgator73]

No but one of our TV’s started smoking one night and quit working. it’s sitting in the spare room. My wife wants to see if we can get it fixed but I don’t think it’s worth it. We bought a 65” at Sam’s $600 or so.

 

[SeilerBird]

Not worth the effort to repair. Not only will the new TV be bigger and cheaper it will be better. 4k rocks.

 

[Jim18655]

It's already broken so try getting to the LEDs before you order them. If you can get it apart then you should be OK putting it back.
My 5 year old, 65" Samsung went out last month. I got lucky because it was only a cold solder joint on the power supply board that opened up.

 

[8Muddypaws]

Tom, it is a 4K TV. I should have said UHD OR 4K.

The strips are returnable. If I had to open it up and then wait a week for the parts it would surely get broken by the spousal unit or the dogs. The only place I can work in it is the dining room table.

SHE does not like me tying up HER table for projects.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Look up how many of those LED modules you'll need. The set I messed with I bet had a dozen or so strips at $8 apiece. You have to decide to replace just the bad ones knowing that the adjacent ones are just as old and made the same way, or R&R all. LED's do shift color and brightness as they age so mixing old and new might be noticed during some scenes plus no telling how long the remaining original ones will last. I didn't have any issues handling the screen, I kept the set on edge as much as possible opening the case. Mine was smaller though, 42" or so. Maybe have a 2nd set of hands for that part. Keeping dust out of it is another challenge, which you'll have to take particular care of during assembly. Since you have little to lose by looking, maybe tear into it before you buy any parts, and provided you get it apart intact you can verify the problem and decide from there if you want to follow through or recycle.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[8Muddypaws]

I opted to replace them all. $74 plus tax & shipping.

I took the Samsunk apart this afternoon. It was easier than I expected. The new LEDs won't be here until Friday so I left the panel on. It's ready to lift off. It makes a perfect dust cover.

I warned her I would be messing up her dining room and part of the living room for several days. So far so good.

 

[8Muddypaws]

It's back in service and working well. I changed some of the settings and it's better than ever. The DW says it has dimmed the picture all on it's own a few times. I turned off the ECO function and am hoping that was the cause.