My 2011 Panasonic VT30 buzz just started last week

Same thing JUST happened to my 55 inch VT30. I have had it since July 2011. Just today a very loud buzzing could be heard. Sitting 10 feet away, the buzzing was very obvious. I knew something was wrong.

My warranty is up (ended less than one month ago), so I came across your post and decided to go at the TV with a screwdriver. I took the back panel off, and tightened all the screws on the boards as well as any other screw I could spot. One of the screws on a board on the left hand side of the TV (when looking from the back) was quite loose, otherwise the rest of the screws only took about one more turn by hand.

I did also notice this!!!:



Missing screw and rubber bumper on one of the fans!! It was not anywhere in the case of the TV. It must have never been installed. On a good note, it doesn't seem to be the cause of the noise. But if anyone happens to know how I can find a replacement screw and bumper, I would appreciate it because I feel like to should fix it. This is what is missing:



Anyway, thanks for the inspiration. TV is back to normal. Only the normal, baseline buzzing can be heard now when you put your head real close to the TV. Also the knowledge that my TV is lacking a screw!

How much did he charge you for this?

Well, Panasonic was super helpful in finding the part numbers. I went to their parts website, filled out a question form, was quickly sent an email by a rep asking for the pictures, and received a quick reply after I sent them the pictures.

If anyone is interested, the parts are:


Rubber Cushion        TMMJ117    $.95    
Screw                        THEJ039J   $.95  

My 50ST30 buzzes terribly. I can hear it at normal volumes unless there's a black screen showing. It's awfully loud and I haven't said anything to my wife yet, but if I did she would be annoyed too. I bought it in November so I have a few months left on the warranty. When it was new I had to get behind it to hear anything and in about a month I heard it gradually get louder. It comes from the top right as you look from the front. If I put my head behind it, it sounds like it is coming apart. It has no fans so that's not the problem. I checked the screws on the rear cover and they are tight, so I guess it's time to make that call.

I wonder what the best thing is to tell them. That it happened like I described or just play dumb and say it's making a terrible buzzing noise all of a sudden.

My friend's 60ST30 started buzzing after several months of virtually silent operation. The buzz was coming from the same area as yours (upper right area as viewed from behind). He called Panasonic, they sent a local tech over a few days later who replaced the board that's in that corner and the TV is silent again. He said the guy was there about 20 minutes. I would them it started buzzing all of a sudden while you were watching a program.
Edited by RandyWalters - 7/11/12 at 6:27pm

Thanks Randy. Sometimes too much info can get in the way, so I'll take your advise.

That's cheap. But I wouldn't worry about it as long as the other 3 are holding.

Also, if you're going to go back in, think about putting a dab of paint (like model paint) at each screw to hold it. Super Glue might also work but it might run everywhere which would be bad.

That's great. Thanks for the advise. I'll update here when it's fixed.

Let us know what was causing the buzzing, and what the tech does to fix it. Some people have had that upper right board replaced, while others simply had one or more loose screws.

Here's a few interesting buzz links:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1249688/panasonic-42-inch-g25-buzzing-issue/60#post_19730248

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsicYOXVqDA

My st30 did this after the warranty was up and I took of the back cover and tightened down the screws on the the right panel and all is good. Been a couple of months and no more sound. Poor workmanship as far as I am concerened.

I'm going to break out the stethoscope and zero in on the area this weekend. The tv is mounted high on an articulating mount and standing behind it, it seems to have more noise from above the A board(rt side from behind). I'll post the result here. I plan on initiating a warranty claim next week.

I would be extremely cautious. My VT30 started buzzing, and it would get louder when the screen had a lot of white on it. About a month later, I heard a big POP and now it's dead. It has the 7 blinks of death. Needs a new SU or SD board.

I bought a P55ST30 just over a year ago. About 2 months ago the buzz started and just got worse. I found the multiple threads and videos about fixing it. today me and the wife took apart the TV and tightened all the screws. None of them required more than a 1/4 of a turn, but most of them needed a small bit. Powered her back up (the TV not the wife) and the buzzing is nearly gone! The only buzzing is coing from the rear of the TV if i am within a few inches. I can NOT hear it at all from the front of the TV and definitely not from the couch.

Thanks for the pointers!

-Will (and Liz)

That buzzing (in the back) is normal for a plasma. Now I know what to do if my VT30 starts buzzing (silent since I bought it, knock on wood).

The AVS forums come through again.

My Panasonic VT30 started buzzing pretty bad last week. I found this thread and never would have guessed it could be from a loose screw. Even though the TV is still under warranty I decided to take the back off and take a look myself. Sure enough, in the location that I heard the buzzing I found a screw that was only about a quarter turn loose. But, that fixed the problem! For good measure I put a tiny bit of lock-tite on all the screws for that particular circuit board.

Oh, and I remembered the post about the one person who saw that he was missing a mounting post for one of the cooling fans when he removed the back. So, I checked both fans and they were okay. But then I saw that I was missing a mounting screw and rubber gasket for the speakers. Come on Panasonic, what's going on in your assembly lines?

Over the last month or so my GT30 has started buzzing a good bit more than it had. Just noticed this thread.

Its wall mounted and I have my eye on a ZT60 late in the year, so Im not sure I will even worry about it. I cannot notice during normal levels, it just when I cut everything on and the AVR is low, its real loud.

my ST30 just started buzzing this week.. of course, I bought it from amazon on 2/9 last year so I'm just outside of my 1-yr warranty but did grab an extended warranty from squaretrade. Do I need to contact Amazon, SquareTrade or Panasonic? Or just check for a loose screw myself?

You should contact SquareTrade.

Nice to read a thread with 'rational' people attacking the "buzz" problem! Should make it a sticky b/c . . . . wait for it . . . . plasmas do not necessarily buzz . . . only when something is defective or failed in the TV!

Thanks for this thread. The buzzing started a few months ago and progressively got worse.

I found three loose screws--including one about to fall out. I tightened them down (didn't have lock washers or loctite) and the buzzing disappeared. It's only been about three days but so far so good. If it begins again I'll try washers or loctite.